On Saturday (October 8), the Cleveland Guardians, with the youngest team in the major leagues this season, upset the favored Rays to move on the next round of the 2022 MLB post season. They did it with a 1-0, 15-inning win – in game in which the two squads combined for just 11 hits (a combined .117 average), all but one of them singles.
Through 14 innings, it was the longest scoreless game in MLB post-season history and the contest prompted me to examine the path taken to the 1-0 final. As is usual with Baseball Roundtable “one thing led to another” and I ended up looking at topics ranging from rookies with walk-off post-season dingers, to how Saturday’s game might have looked under regular-season rules to trivia tidbits related to intentional walks. So, while this post may, at times, seem like looking at a series of unrelated slides, there is an (admittedly thin) tying thread.
And, The Oscar Goes To …
Fittingly, the winning blow for the youthful Guardians – the only extra-base hit of the game – was a 15th-inning, leadoff, walk-off home run by 24-year-old rookie RF Oscar Gonzalez. It made Gonzalez just the fourth rookie to record a walk-of home run in the post-season.
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Post Season Walk-Off Home Runs by MLB Rookies
Alfonso Soriano, 2B, Yankees – 2001 AL Championship Series, Game Four
The 25-year-old Alfonso Soriano, batting ninth, came up in the bottom of the ninth (against the Mariners’ Kazuhiro Sasaki) with one on, one out and the game knotted one-to-one. He then won the game by taking took a 1-0 pitch from Sasaki deep to right-center for a 3-1 Yankee win.
Soriano had gone .268-18-73, with 43 steals in his first full season in pinstripes. Still qualifying as a rookie, he had taken then field for the Yankees in 31 games over the previous two season. Soriano went on to go .270-412-1,159 over 16 MLB seasons – and was a seven-time All Star.
Chris Burke, LF, Astros – 2005 NL Division Series, Game Four
Chris Burke’s walk-off put an end to an 18-inning contest between the Braves and Astros – a game that the 25-year old utility player didn’t even enter until the bottom of the tenth – when he pinch-ran for Lance Berkman and then stayed in the game in CF. (He moved to LF in the 13th frame). Burke came up in the bottom of the 18th inning with the scored tied at 6 -6. With no one on and one out, he launched a game-winning, walk-off home run off Joey Devine.
During the 2005 season, Burke went .248-5-26 in 108 games. (He had appeared in 17 games for the Astros in 2004.) Burke played in six MLB seasons (477 games), hitting .239-23-111. During his career he started 25 or more game at SS and 2B, and in each of the OF positions.
Kolten Wong, 2B Cardinals – 2014 NL Championship Series, Game Two
The 23-year-old Kolten Wong started Game Two of the 2014 NLCS at 2B, batting seventh. He led off the bottom of the ninth of a 4-4 game (versus the Giants), facing Sergio Romo. Kolten’s solo shot (on an 0-1 pitch) ended the contest in favor of St. Louis. Wong, still active in 2022, has played in 10 MLB seasons, going .261-82-378. He has hit just .188 in 35 post-season games, but does have five post-season home runs.
Oscar Gonzalez. RF, Guardians – 2022 AL Wild Card Series, Game Two
The 24-year-old Oscar Gonzalez’ home run -as noted earlier – came in the bottom of the 15th inning of a scoreless tie between Hernandez’ Guardians and the Rays. It came on a 1-0 pitch from Corey Kluber.
In his rookie campaign, Gonzalez hit .296-11-43 in 91 games.
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After Saturday’s Guardians/Rays game, I saw a notable number of comments on Twitter and Facebook somewhat critical of the length of the game (particularly when it remained scoreless), with some indicating baseball may very well have wished they hadn’t suspended the ghost or placed runner rule for the post -season. I disagree with that train of thought. I am no fan of ghost runners. In fact, although I keep a scorecard at all the games I attend, I quit scoring after the ninth frame, due to my belief that a runner who didn’t earn his spot on the bases has not earned a spot on my scorecard.
This consideration then led me to contemplate how different the Guardians/Rays game might have been with the ghost-runner rule in place. That took me back to a Dodgers/Pirates game that took place on August 25, 2021. Looking at that game, it seems to me that if Saturdays’ game had been played under current regular-season rules, we may very well have been “treated” to more than a handful of intentional walks.
Let’s look back to August 25, 2021. The Dodgers won that contest 5-3 in 16-innings and, in the process, set a new MLB record for Intentional Walks in a game. All those intentional free passes, notably, came after the ninth inning (which ended with the game tied 1-1) – likely an unintended (or at least unanticipated) consequence of the ghost-runner rule. Side note: the Padres’ Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth were intentionally walked back-to-back in the tenth and thirteenth innings. Here’s the game’s Intentional Walking Path:
- Bottom of the tenth – With Alex Vesia pitching and the Padres’ Ha-Seong Kim placed at second base, 1B Eric Hosmer grounded out, moving Kim to third base; then Tommy Pham was intentionally walked (likely to put the double play in play). The Dodgers escaped on a pop up and strikeout (2B Adam Frazier, C Victor Caratini).
- Bottom of the eleventh – Caratini was placed at second base. Phil Bickford then retired the first two Padres’ batters on a muffed sacrifice (CF Trent Grisham) and a strikeout (RF Fernando Tatis, Jr. ). With only the placed runner having any importance, 3B Manny Machado and SS Jake Cronenworth (the number-three and -four hitters in the lineup) were intentionally walked, bringing pitcher Joe Musgrove to the plate. The Dodgers escaped as Bickford fanned Musgrove.
- Bottom of the twelfth – Cronenworth was placed at second base. Hosmer flied out against Justin Bruihl. Pham was intentionally walked setting up a force or double play possibility. The Dodgers escaped with a fly ball (Fraser) and ground out (Caratini).
- Bottom of the thirteenth, Caratini was placed at second base. Brusdar Graterol retired Grisham (ground out, with Caratini to third base) and Tatis, Jr. (strikeout). Machado and Cronenworth were again intentionally walked back-to-back. The Dodgers escaped as Graterol got pinch-hitter Ryan Weathers on a ground out.
- After the Dodgers scored two in the top of the fifteenth (including ghost runner Chris Taylor), Padres’ ghost runner Caratini scored on a one-out Tatis. Jr. home run (off Corey Knebel) to tie the game. Machado then popped out and Cronenworth was intentionally walked, before Knebel fanned P Daniel Camarena.
- Top of the sixteenth, the Dodgers scored two (including ghost runner 2B Justin Turner) on a home run by LF AJ Pollock.
- Bottom of the sixteenth, Cronenworth was placed at second base. The Dodgers’ Shane Greene got the Padres in order (strikeout, Hosmer; strikeout, Pham; ground out, Frazier). Dodgers win 5-3.
The Dodgers/Padres game, by the way, took 5 hours and 19 minutes, saw 19 pitchers strand 35 base runners, saw 47 players participate and involved ten pinch-hitting appearances.
You Be The Judge
Photo: DR. Buddie, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Now for some more of that “one thing leads to another.” Contemplating intentional passes. I checked to see how many intentional walks Aaron Judge was issued on his way to a new-single season American League record 62 home runs this past campaign. The number was 19. Why is that of interest? Because, in 1961, when Roger Maris’ 61 home runs broke Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a season, Maris had zero intentional free passes.
Hmm?
In 1961, when Roger Maris was the AL MVP, hit a then-record 61 homers and drove in a league-leading 141 runs, he drew no free passes. (Of course, Mickey Mantle often batted behind Maris.)
On May 2, 1962, Roger Maris – on his way to a 33-homer, 100-RBI season, set an MLB record (since broken) by drawing four intentional walks in a single game (a 12-inning Yankee 2-1 win over the Angels). As the Yankees squeezed by the Angels 2-1 in 12 innings. Maris drew five walks (four intentional) in six trips to the plate.
Don’t Want Anything to Do with Dawson
Andre Dawson, Cubs, drew a single-game record five intentional passes in a 16-inning game (versus the Reds) on May 22, 1990. Dawson came into the game with a .346-13-41 line on the season and had gone 8-for-16, with two home runs and nine RBI in his previous four games. As the marathon game went on, it became apparent Reds’ manager Lou Piniella wanted nothing to do with Dawson’s hot bat. Here’s how the Cubs’ RF and cleanup hitter’s day went:
- First inning – With the score at 0-0, two out and a runner on third, Reds’ starter Tom Browning intentionally walked Dawson The next batter – LF Lloyd McClendon– was retired to end the inning.
- Fourth inning – Score still 0-0, Dawson led off with a ground out on a 0-2 pitch from Browning.
- Sixth Inning – With the score still 0-0, one on and one out, Dawson lined out to left on an 0-2 pitch from Browning.
- Eighth Inning – Still 0-0, Dawson came up with a runner on third and two-out and Browning intentionally walked him. The next batter (McClendon) grounded out to end the frame.
- Eleventh Inning – Still 0-0, Dawson came to bat with a runner on first and no outs. He singled off reliever Norm Charlton, sending the runner to second – but the Cubs failed to score.
- Twelfth Inning – Still 0-0, Dawson faced Tim Birstsas with runners on first and second and two out. He was again intentional walked and the strategy again worked, as McClendon grounded out to end the inning.
- Fourteenth Inning – With the game tied 1-1 (both teams scored in the thirteenth), Dawson came up with a runner on first and two out (against Scott Scudder). A wild pitch sent the runner to second and Dawson was intentionally walked. Dave Clark, pinch hitting for McClendon then struck out to end the inning.
- Sixteenth Inning – Scudder faced Dawson with runner on first and third and one out. Dawson was intentionally walked. Clark followed with a single to end the game.
Dawson finished the 1990 season with a .310-27-100 stat line – leading the league with 21 intentional passes.
Barry Bonds – King of the Intentional Walk
Notably, when you talk intentional walks, the conversation pretty much has to focus on Barry Bonds. (We need to keep in mind, however, that IBB’s did not become an official statistic until 1955.) Bonds holds the records for:
- IBB in a season – 120 with the Giants in 2004. Bonds, in fact, holds the top-three single-season spots. The first non-Barry on the list is the Giants’ Willie McCovey with 45. In 2004, Bonds also set the single-season mark for total walks with 232.
Only three players had as many total walks as Barry Bonds had intentional walks in 2004 – Bobby Abreu, Lance Berkman, and Todd Helton (127 each).
- IBB in a career – Bonds recorded 688. Second place goes to the future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols of the Angels with 316.
- Most seasons leading the league in IBB – 12.
- Most IBBs in a nine-inning game – four, done twice by Bonds … May 1 and September 22, 2004. Although, IBB were not yet an official MLB statistic, the Indians’ Jeff Heath has been credited with drawing four intentional walks in a nine-inning game on July 14, 1941.
Barry Bonds hit .362 with 45 home runs and 101 RBI the year he drew an MLB record 120 intentional walks (2004). The season he hit 73 home runs (2001), he drew only 35 intentional free passes.
A Walk in the Park
A few other free-pass marks:
- Most IBB in a season in the American League – 33 by Ted Williams in 1957 and John Olerud in 1993.
- Most IBB to a rookie – 16 to Mariners’ OF Al Davis in 1984, when he hit ..284-27-116 and was the AL Rookie of the Year.
- Most at bats in a season without an intentional walk … Jose Reyes, Mets, 696 in 2005. In the AL. it’s the Twins’ Kirby Puckett, 691 in 1985.
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WHAT SKIPPER? PUT HIM ON? THERE’S NO PLACE TO PUT HIM?
On April 15, 2022, Rangers’ SS Corey Seager became just the seventh major leaguer documented to have been intentionally waked with the bases loaded. It came in the fourth inning of a Rangers/Angels game (in Texas). At the time, the Rangers were leading 3-2 and had the bases loaded with one out – Austin Warren on the mound and Seager at the plate. Rangers’ manager Joe Maddon chose to intentionally walk Seager – forcing in a run – and pitch to Mitch Garver, who drove in another tally with a sacrifice fly. (The Angels, by the way, ultimately won the game 9-6.)
After the contest , Maddon said he was just trying to avoid the “big blow.” And “stir the group up.” Adding “I thought by just going out there and doing something like that, the team might respond.”
Six additional players have received documented intentional walks with the bases loaded: Abner Dalrymple (August 2, 1881); Nap Lajoie (May 23, 1901); Del Bissonette (May 2, 1928); Bill Nicholson (July 23, 1944); Barry (of course, he did) Bonds (May 28, 1998); and Josh Hamilton (August 17, 2008). For more detail and Baseball Roundtable’s rating of those based-loaded IBB’s click here.
Primary Resources: Baseball-Almanac.com; Baseball-Reference.com; MLB.com; Why did Joe Maddon walk Corey Seager intentionally with the bases loaded? Angels manager had his reasons, by Tom Gatto, Sporting News, April 16, 2022.
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