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113-404: The stadium has a roof over the field and the stands, like other indoor ballparks. However, it lacks a wall behind the stands so that natural air comes into the field. This makes it possible for home runs to leave the stadium, something not possible in typical domed stadiums. The stadium was built in 1979 without the roof and named Seibu Lions Stadium ( 西武ライオンズ球場 , Seibu Raionzu Kyūjō ) as

226-447: A "mental mistake" by the defense. Rather, errors are charged when the defense attempts to make a logical play against the offense, but fails to record an out or prevent an advance due to a mechanical misplay. There is one rare exception to this rule against charging an error for a "mental mistake". If a fielder fails to tag the runner, batter, or a base in a force situation in time to record an out when he could have done so, that fielder

339-476: A "mental mistake" by the outfielder, so the batter is usually credited with a hit. On that topic Bill Shannon, who was an official scorer for the New York Yankees , said "That's a base hit whether we like it or not. As a practical matter, we don't charge errors on those plays. No one says that baseball is entirely fair." Outfielders are generally charged with an error on a fly ball when they arrive at

452-415: A ball-in-play leaves the playing field without ever touching the ground). In the latter case, all base runners including the batter are allowed to cross the plate. A leadoff home run is a home run hit by the first batter of a team, the leadoff hitter of the first inning of the game. In MLB (major league Baseball), Rickey Henderson holds the career record with 81 lead-off home runs. Craig Biggio holds

565-415: A batter attempts a sacrifice bunt and the resulting bunt is so well-placed that he safely reaches first base, the official scorer may elect to credit the batter with a hit instead of a sacrifice if there is no error on the play and an ordinary effort by the defense would not have recorded an out. Finally, when the starting pitcher of the winning team does not qualify for the win under rule 10.17, and

678-422: A fielder's choice. If the defense attempts to put out a preceding runner during the play, the official scorer must determine whether the batter would have reached second or third base safely had the defense attempted to limit the batter's advance. For example, if a runner on second attempts to score after a soft hit to center field and the center fielder chooses to throw to home while the batter advances to second,

791-403: A forced preceding runner, and when any fielder attempts and fails to put out an unforced preceding runner who returns to their original base. In these situations, the official scorer is required to determine whether the batter-runner would have safely reached first base if the defense made an ordinary effort to put him out. If the defense could not be reasonably expected to make the play, the batter

904-471: A game. By the 1970s, writers who were willing to score games for MLB were required to have attended 100 or more games per year in the prior three years and to be chosen by the local chapter chairman of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Qualified candidates for scoring were submitted to the leagues for approval. It's always safer to call it a hit. The batting team is happy, and

1017-496: A hit and a run, with additional runs charged for each base-runner that scores. Home runs are among the most popular aspects of baseball and, as a result, prolific home run hitters are usually the most popular among fans and consequently the highest paid by teams—hence the old saying, "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs , and singles hitters drive Fords " (coined, circa 1948, by veteran pitcher Fritz Ostermueller , by way of mentoring his young teammate, Ralph Kiner ). Nicknames for

1130-464: A home run include "homer", "round tripper", "four-bagger", "big fly", "goner" "dinger", "long ball", "jack", "quadruple", "moon shot", "bomb", "tater", and "blast", while a player hitting a home run may be said to have "gone deep" or "gone yard". A home run is most often scored when the ball is hit over the outfield wall between the foul poles (in fair territory ) before it touches the ground ( in flight ), and without being caught or deflected back onto

1243-414: A judgment call include unintentionally dropped foul balls that allow the batter to continue his at-bat, and poor throws to the next base when a runner attempts to advance. One of the most controversial and poorly understood situations related to the charging of an error occurs when an outfielder misjudges the flight of a ball and allows the ball to drop out of his reach. This is usually considered to be

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1356-620: A lead change in each instance. On July 23, 2017, Whit Merrifield , Jorge Bonifacio , and Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox. The Royals went on to win the game 5–4. On June 20, 2018, George Springer , Alex Bregman , and Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning against

1469-409: A lead. If the home team has two outs in the inning, and the game is tied, the game will officially end either the moment the batter successfully reaches first base or the moment the runner touches home plate—whichever happens last. However, this is superseded by the "ground rule", which provides automatic doubles (when a ball-in-play hits the ground first then leaves the playing field) and home runs (when

1582-637: A mail order company out of Ageo City, Saitama Prefecture , bought the naming rights to the stadium after MetLife's naming right deal expired. The stadium is located in front of Seibukyūjō-mae Station , the terminal station of the Seibu Sayama Line railway (a branch of the Seibu Ikebukuro Line connecting Tokorozawa with Tokyo ) and the Seibu Yamaguchi Line people mover . Both lines are operated by Seibu Railway ,

1695-687: A new stadium in Odaiba , but due to requiring to get approval from the three other Tokyo-based teams at the time (the Nippon-Ham Fighters , the Yomiuri Giants , and the Yakult Swallows ), opposition from local fans, and the cost to build a new stadium, they decided to just add a roof to the stadium. On March 1, 2005, the stadium was named Invoice Seibu Dome ( インボイスSEIBUドーム , Inboisu Seibu Dōmu ) as Invoice Inc. bought

1808-414: A pitch is not a wild pitch merely because it is off-target. If the official scorer determines that the catcher should have been able to control the pitch and prevent an advance with ordinary effort, then the catcher is charged with a passed ball on the advance. One exception to this rule occurs when a baserunner attempts to steal a base. If the runner "starts for the next base" before the pitcher delivers

1921-476: A preceding runner is forced out or if an unforced preceding runner is put out while attempting to return to their original base, a hit is automatically not credited and the batter by rule is judged to have reached by a fielder's choice. In some situations this rule may appear unfair to the batter. For example, if the batter is a fast runner, the ball is slowly hit to the third baseman, and an unforced runner from second realizes (too late) that he can not safely advance,

2034-473: A rare " triple crown " in hitting after a questioned error caused him to finish the season one hit short of winning the American League batting title. Although scoring decisions were widely believed to favor the hitter over the defense , many players believed this bias shifts in favor of the pitcher when he carries a no-hitter (where a pitcher throws a complete game without giving up a hit) into

2147-797: A walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series , leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to win against the New York Yankees 3-6 in the bottom of the 10th inning. Freeman is the only player in MLB history to do so in the World Series. These types of home runs are characterized by the specific game situation in which they occur, and can theoretically occur on either an outside-the-park or inside-the-park home run. A walk-off home run

2260-531: A walk-off inside-the-park grand slam in a 9–8 Pittsburgh Pirates win over the Chicago Cubs , at Forbes Field . On April 23, 1999, Fernando Tatís made history by hitting two grand slams in one inning, both against Chan Ho Park of the Los Angeles Dodgers. With this feat, Tatís also set a Major League record with 8 RBI in one inning. On July 29, 2003, against the Texas Rangers, Bill Mueller of

2373-405: Is "clearly erroneous". Finally, within 36 hours of a game's conclusion (including the conclusion of a suspended game ), the official scorer is required to create a summary of the game using a form established by the league. This task is performed for each game that is scored, including called games which must be completely replayed at a later date, and games that end in forfeit. The information in

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2486-423: Is a home run hit by the home team in the bottom of the ninth inning, any extra inning , or other scheduled final inning, which gives the home team the lead and thereby ends the game. The term is attributed to Hall of Fame relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley , so named because after the run is scored, the losing team has to "walk off" the field. Two World Series have ended via the "walk-off" home run. The first

2599-399: Is allowed to reach over the wall to try to catch the ball as long as his feet are on or over the field during the attempt, and if the fielder successfully catches the ball while it is in flight the batter is out, even if the ball had already passed the vertical plane of the wall. However, since the fielder is not part of the field, a ball that bounces off a fielder (including his glove) and over

2712-413: Is assigned to a stadium for the season, with each stadium having one or more scorers. Scorers now have access to replay video from different angles which they can review before making a decision. As of 2012, MLB official scorers earned $ 150 per game. Official scorers are not required to meet the old BBWAA requirements, and are also no longer required to pass a written test, which was once administered by

2825-408: Is charged with an error. The most common judgment call involving an error occurs when the defense fails to put out a batter-runner who puts the ball in play. If the out is not recorded and the official scorer believes that an "ordinary effort" by the defense would have resulted in an out, the defense is charged with an error, and the batter is not credited with a hit. Other common situations requiring

2938-405: Is charged, then the batter would be credited with an " inside the park " home run. If an error is charged to the outfielder, then the batter would likely be credited with either a double or triple . When a baserunner is able to advance after a pitch is not caught or controlled by the catcher, the official scorer must determine whether the advance was due to a wild pitch or a passed ball. The pitch

3051-446: Is credited with a hit, otherwise he is ruled to have reached by fielder's choice. If an error is made on the attempt to put out a preceding runner, that has no impact on this decision. It is instead noted to have occurred in addition to the hit or fielder's choice. In some cases the official scorer is not given the discretion to decide between awarding a hit to the batter or ruling that he safely reached first base by fielder's choice. If

3164-494: Is generally credited with the invention of scorekeeping in baseball. Chadwick was also the inventor of the modern box score and the writer of the first rule book for the game of baseball. Since baseball statistics were initially a subject of interest to sportswriters, the role of the official scorer in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early days of the sport was performed by newspaper writers. A judgment call that

3277-536: Is labeled an error by the official scorer, a home run is not scored. Instead, it is scored as a single , double , or triple , and the batter-runner and any applicable preceding runners are said to have taken all additional bases on error. All runs scored on such a play, however, still count. An example of an unexpected bounce occurred during the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 10, 2007. Ichiro Suzuki of

3390-427: Is less likely to be unduly influenced by the players, the coaches, and the crowd. Rule 10.01 states that the scorer is never allowed to make scorekeeping decisions that conflict with the official rules governing scorekeeping. The official scorer is permitted to view available replays and to solicit the opinions of others, but the official scorer is given the sole authority to make the judgment calls that are required in

3503-464: Is lower when playing conditions are better, but these factors do not fully explain variations in error rate. After other known factors are accounted for, evidence was found that official scorers are biased toward the home team, but that this bias was reduced after the end of the writer-scorer era in 1979. Further, errors are significantly more likely to be called in the National League than in

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3616-400: Is never considered to be an error. If a pitch is thrown so high, wide, or low in relation to the strike zone that a catcher is not able to catch or control the ball with ordinary effort before a runner can advance, the advance is ruled to have occurred by a wild pitch. Any such pitch which strikes the ground before it reaches home plate is automatically considered to be a wild pitch. However,

3729-418: Is never used. Instead, it's called a "grand slam". Hitting a grand slam is the best possible result for the batter's turn at bat and the worst possible result for the pitcher and his team. A grand slam occurs when the bases are "loaded" (that is, there are base runners standing at first, second, and third base) and the batter hits a home run. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary , the term originated in

3842-439: Is not charged in that situation if a wild throw allows the runner to reach safely . If a wild throw allows the runner to advance an additional base, an error may then be charged for the additional advance. However, if an accurate throw is made in time to complete a double play or triple play, but the fielder on the base fails to make the catch, an error may be charged. Rule 10.12 also states that an error should not be charged for

3955-437: Is primarily discussed in rules 10.05 and 10.06, and it generally occurs when it is judged that a batter-runner would have been put out had the defense chosen to do so. Most judgment calls made by the official scorer under this rule occur in three situations: when an infielder, pitcher, or catcher attempts to put out an unforced preceding runner who is attempting to advance one base, when any fielder attempts and fails to put out

4068-411: Is required by the official scorer does not alter the outcome of a game, but these judgments impact the statistical records of the game. As the subjective scoring decisions which are used to calculate baseball statistics began to be used to determine the relative value of baseball players, MLB began to require approval from the league before a writer-scorer could be assigned to produce the scoring report for

4181-403: Is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is usually achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles (or hitting either foul pole) without the ball touching the field . Inside-the-park home runs where

4294-549: Is the only major league game to begin and end with back-to-back home runs. On May 5, 2019, Eugenio Suarez , Jesse Winker and Derek Dietrich of the Cincinnati Reds, hit back-to-back-to-back home runs on three straight pitches against Jeff Samardzija of the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the first inning. On October 30, 2021, Dansby Swanson and Jorge Soler hit back-to-back home runs for

4407-656: The 2007 American League Championship Series , also against the Indians. The Indians returned the favor in Game One of the 2016 American League Division Series . Twice in MLB history have two brothers hit back-to-back home runs. On April 23, 2013, brothers Melvin Upton Jr. (formerly B.J. Upton) and Justin Upton hit back-to-back home runs. The first time was on September 15, 1938, when Lloyd Waner and Paul Waner performed

4520-519: The American League team hit a fly ball that caromed off the right-center field wall in the opposite direction from where National League right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. was expecting it to go. By the time the ball was relayed, Ichiro had already crossed the plate standing up. This was the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history, and led to Suzuki being named the game's Most Valuable Player . Home runs are often characterized by

4633-615: The Atlanta Braves off Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier to give the Braves a 3–2 lead in the bottom of the seventh in Game 4 of the World Series . On October 18, 2024, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back quadruples to take the lead in a game of the American League Championship Series. The record for consecutive home runs by a batter under any circumstances is four. Of

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4746-595: The Boston Red Sox became the only player in major league history to hit two grand slams in one game from opposite sides of the plate; he hit three home runs in that game, and his two grand slams were in consecutive at-bats. On August 25, 2011, the New York Yankees became the first team to hit three grand slams in one game vs the Oakland A's. The Yankees eventually won the game 22–9, after trailing 7–1. On October 25th, 2024, Freddie Freeman made history by hitting

4859-518: The Boston Red Sox were trailing the New York Yankees 3–0 when Manny Ramirez , J. D. Drew , Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek hit consecutive home runs to put them up 4–3. They eventually went on to win the game 7–6 after a three-run home run by Mike Lowell in the bottom of the seventh inning. On September 18, 2006, trailing 9–5 to the San Diego Padres in the ninth inning, Jeff Kent , J. D. Drew , Russell Martin , and Marlon Anderson of

4972-589: The National League before it was phased out in the mid-1990s. Potential scorers are generally required to briefly apprentice under an existing scorer before they are allowed to work alone. Official scorers are only occasionally terminated, but there have been cases when a scorer was replaced after making decisions which displeased the home team. In 1992 the Seattle Mariner players signed a petition to have their official scorer replaced, and in 2001

5085-538: The National League career record with 53, fourth overall to Henderson, George Springer with 60, and Alfonso Soriano with 54. As of August 21 2024, George Springer holds the career record among active players, with 60 leadoff home runs, which also ranks him second all-time. In 1996, Brady Anderson set a Major League record by hitting a lead-off home run in four consecutive games. When consecutive batters hit home runs, it's referred to as back-to-back home runs. The home runs are still considered back-to-back even if

5198-682: The Philadelphia Phillies . Nolan Arenado , Nolan Gorman , Juan Yepez , and Dylan Carlson hit consecutive home runs during the first inning off starting pitcher Kyle Gibson . On June 9, 2019, the Washington Nationals hit four in a row against the San Diego Padres in Petco Park as Howie Kendrick , Trea Turner , Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon homered off pitcher Craig Stammen . Stammen became

5311-404: The league to record the events on the field , and to send the official scoring record of the game back to the league offices. In addition to recording the events on the field such as the outcome of each plate appearance and the circumstances of any baserunner's advance around the bases, the official scorer is also charged with making judgment calls that do not affect the progress or outcome of

5424-399: The naming rights of the stadium for the next two seasons. Upon expiration of the previous contract, on January 1, 2007, the name was changed again to Goodwill Dome ( グッドウィルドーム , Guddowiru Dōmu ) to reflect the sponsorship of Goodwill Group, Inc. The naming rights contract with Goodwill was intended to remain in effect for five years. Although Seibu Dome was still the official name of

5537-419: The 17th; walked as a pinch-hitter on the 18th; there was no game on the 19th; hit another pinch-homer on the 20th; homered and then was lifted for a pinch-runner after at least one walk, on the 21st; and homered after at least one walk on the 22nd. All in all, he had four walks interspersed among his four homers. Official scorer In the game of baseball , the official scorer is a person appointed by

5650-471: The 1951 National League pennant for the New York Giants , along with many other game-ending home runs that famously ended some of the most important and suspenseful baseball games. A walk-off home run over the fence is an exception to baseball's one-run rule. Normally if the home team is tied or behind in the ninth or extra innings, the game ends as soon as the home team scores enough runs to achieve

5763-568: The American League. Changes have been proposed over the years to reduce possible inconsistencies between scorers and possible mistakes made by the official scorer, especially as the end of the writer-scorer era began to seem likely in the late 1970s. The BBWAA and professional baseball umpires have suggested the creation of a "fifth umpire". Four-man umpire crews rotate officiating responsibilities after each game, and travel to several stadiums per year. This new fifth umpire would travel with

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5876-473: The Los Angeles Dodgers hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs to tie the game. After giving up a run in the top of the tenth, the Dodgers won the game in the bottom of the tenth, on a walk-off two-run home run by Nomar Garciaparra . J. D. Drew has been part of two different sets of back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs. In both occurrences, his home run was the second of the four. On September 30, 1997, in

5989-642: The Tampa Bay Rays. The Astros went on to win the game 5–1. On April 3, 2018, the St. Louis Cardinals began the game against the Milwaukee Brewers with back-to-back home runs from Dexter Fowler and Tommy Pham . Then in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs and the Cardinals leading 4–3, Christian Yelich homered to tie the game; and Ryan Braun hit the next pitch for a walk-off home run. This

6102-406: The above manners is an automatic home run. The ball is dead, even if it rebounds back onto the field (e.g., from striking a foul pole), and the batter and any preceding runners cannot be put out at any time while running the bases. However, if one or more runners fail to touch a base or one runner passes another before reaching home plate, that runner or runners can be called out on appeal , though in

6215-399: The above rules are straightforward, but some judgment is required by the official scorer when a baserunner advances due to a defensive lapse and later scores. In this situation, the official scorer must decide what would have happened if the runner had not advanced. This is often an easy decision, but it can occasionally be difficult. In one difficult example with a runner on first and two outs,

6328-419: The ball and can end the play by preventing further advance, but fails to do so because of a mental mistake (not an error) and a runner subsequently scores, the official scorer must decide whether to credit the batter with a run batted in (RBI). If the runner recognized the mistake after slowing or pausing his advance, an RBI is not credited. If the runner was oblivious to the mistake or runs home without slowing,

6441-431: The ball's destination with sufficient time to make a catch with an ordinary effort, but simply miss the catch or drop the ball. Earned runs are runs that are directly attributable to a pitcher's efforts without a lapse by the defense. An unearned run does not adversely impact a pitcher's earned run average (ERA), and is only possible when an error (including catcher's interference ) or a passed ball occurs earlier in

6554-412: The baseball leaving the field of play. Unlike with an outside-the-park home run, the batter-runner and all preceding runners are liable to be put out by the defensive team at any time while running the bases. This can only happen if the ball does not leave the ballfield. In the early days of baseball, outfields were much more spacious, reducing the likelihood of an over-the-fence home run, while increasing

6667-419: The baseball players and managers to favor the home team when making the required judgment calls during the course of a game. Criticism of scoring decisions date to the earliest days of the game. Some historians claim that Joe DiMaggio 's record 56-game hitting streak in 1941 was made possible by several generous rulings at Yankee Stadium . In 1953, Al Rosen narrowly missed being recognized for achieving

6780-406: The batter hits a single but a defensive error allows an advance by the lead runner from second to third, and a soft run-scoring single is hit followed by an out. In that situation, the offense "should" have had runners on first and second with 2 outs when the run-scoring single was hit. Since the next batter was put out, the official scorer must decide based on the hit, the speed of the baserunner, and

6893-432: The batter is credited with an RBI. If a runner advances because the defense does nothing to try to stop the advance, the scorer may rule that the advance was due to defensive indifference and no stolen base is credited. However, a throw is not required for a stolen base. If a fielder begins to visibly make an attempt to prevent an advance but then elects not to throw, the advance is not due to defensive indifference. When

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7006-428: The batter reaches home safely while the baseball is in play on the field are infrequent. In very rare cases, a fielder attempting to catch a ball in flight may misplay it and knock it over the outfield fence, resulting in a home run. An official scorer will credit the batter with a hit , a run scored, and a run batted in (RBI), as well as an RBI for each runner on base . The pitcher is recorded as having given up

7119-404: The batter would have advanced as far as he did had the error not occurred. For example, if a batter hits a ball into an outfield gap, the ball is badly misplayed by an outfielder attempting to retrieve and throw the ball back into the infield, and the batter is able to reach all four bases to score, then the official scorer must decide whether an error should be charged to the outfielder. If no error

7232-405: The batter-runner will lose the potential hit on a fielder's choice by the third baseman. This occurs regardless of whether the batter-runner would have reached first base with an ordinary effort to put him out. In cases where a batter indisputably gets a hit and is able to safely advance past first base on the play, the value of that hit may be adjusted by the official scorer because of an error or

7345-401: The batters hit their home runs off different pitchers. A third batter hitting a home run is commonly referred to as back-to-back-to-back. Four home runs in a row has only occurred eleven times in Major League Baseball history. Following convention, this is called back-to-back-to-back-to-back. The most recent occurrence was on July 2, 2022, when the St. Louis Cardinals hit four in a row against

7458-404: The card game of contract bridge . An inside-the-park grand slam is a grand slam that is also an inside-the-park home run , a home run without the ball leaving the field, and it is very rare, due to the relative rarity of loading the bases along with the significant rarity (nowadays) of inside-the-park home runs. On July 25, 1956, Roberto Clemente became the only MLB player to have ever scored

7571-469: The case of not touching a base a runner can go back and touch it if doing so will not cause them to be passed by another preceding runner and they have not yet touched the next base (or home plate in the case of missing third base). This stipulation is in Approved Ruling (2) of Rule 7.10(b). An inside-the-park home run is a rare play in which a batter rounds all four bases for a home run without

7684-432: The defense would have either recorded an out or prevented a runner from advancing, but the defense fails to do so. When an error is charged, the official scorer must charge the error to one of the fielders who were involved in the play. Errors are primarily discussed in rule 10.12. One exception in this rule occurs when the defense makes at least one out and attempts to complete a double play or triple play . An error

7797-761: The early days of Major League Baseball (MLB). As the importance of baseball player statistics increased, teams began to pressure writer-scorers for favorable scoring decisions for their players in games played at home stadiums, and a home team scoring bias was perceived by many coaches, players, and writers. Controversies related to perceived bias or errors in scoring have led to questions about important baseball records, including several no-hitters and Joe DiMaggio 's 56-game hitting streak of 1941. By 1979, many major newspapers decided to ban their writers from scoring baseball games due to conflict-of-interest concerns, and in 1980 MLB began to hire independent official scorers. Since 1980, some reforms have been suggested to improve

7910-472: The feat. Simple back-to-back home runs are a relatively frequent occurrence. If a pitcher gives up a home run, he might have his concentration broken and might alter his normal approach in an attempt to "make up for it" by striking out the next batter with some fastballs. Sometimes the next batter will be expecting that and will capitalize on it. A notable back-to-back home run of that type in World Series play involved " Babe Ruth's called shot " in 1932, which

8023-409: The field by a fielder. A batted ball is also a home run if it touches either a foul pole or its attached screen before touching the ground, as the foul poles are by definition in fair territory. Additionally, many major-league ballparks have ground rules stating that a batted ball in flight that strikes a specified location or fixed object is a home run; this usually applies to objects that are beyond

8136-414: The fielding team can be ambivalent ... But you have to make the proper call. Baseball writer-scorers usually worked at the games played at the home stadium of the team which they covered for their newspaper. The writer-scorers were tasked with making objective decisions that could impact the statistics of the team they were writing about. Because of this affiliation, the official scorer was often presumed by

8249-561: The fifth pitcher to surrender back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs, following Paul Foytack on July 31, 1963, Chase Wright on April 22, 2007, Dave Bush on August 10, 2010, and Michael Blazek on July 27, 2017. On August 14, 2008, the Chicago White Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 9–2. In this game, Jim Thome , Paul Konerko , Alexei Ramírez , and Juan Uribe hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in that order. Thome, Konerko, and Ramirez hit their home runs against Joel Peralta, while Uribe did it off Rob Tejeda. On April 22, 2007,

8362-590: The first inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox . The Mariners batted around in the inning, and Boone and Cameron came up to bat against reliever Jim Parque with two outs, again hitting back-to-back home runs and becoming the only pair of teammates to hit back-to-back home runs twice in the same inning. On June 19, 2012, José Bautista and Colby Rasmus hit back-to-back home runs and back-to-back-to-back home runs with Edwin Encarnación for

8475-415: The game, Jerry "cursed [Neal] thoroughly and imaginatively, and told him, 'Never talk to me again. ' " They reportedly did not speak to each other for almost four years. In the early days of baseball, a disagreement over a scoring decision occasionally led to physical altercations between the player and the writer. Confrontational incidents decreased after 1974 following a warning from MLB. The pressure and

8588-401: The game. Judgment calls are primarily made about errors , unearned runs , fielder's choice , the value of hits in certain situations, and wild pitches , all of which are included in the record compiled. This record is used to compile statistics for each player and team. A box score is a summary of the official scorer's game record. Newspaper writers initially performed this function in

8701-416: The hit recorded by Pittsburgh should have been recorded as an error by the pitcher, but Pittsburgh official scorer Bob Webb disagreed. Yost commented, "That's a joke. That wasn't even close. Whoever the scorekeeper was absolutely denied major league baseball a nice no-hitter right there." The official scorer had argued that the batter was too close to first base to be put out by a clean play. Milwaukee appealed

8814-544: The hole between shortstop and third was narrowly missed by third baseman Ken Reitz . The official scorer Neal Russo (who was a writer for a local newspaper) judged the play to be an error rather than a hit, and Forsch went on to pitch the first no-hitter of the 1978 season. A player's baseball statistics can increase or reduce the leverage which he may have in future contract negotiations. Many players also have monetary incentives written in their contracts which are based on statistical measurements, and official scorers have

8927-416: The inning. Unearned runs are primarily discussed in rule 10.16 and often require a judgment call by the official scorer. At the conclusion of an inning during which runs are scored after an error or passed ball, the official scorer attempts to recreate the events of the inning without the errors or passed balls. If in the official scorer's opinion a run would not have scored without the defensive lapses, then

9040-406: The intentions of this rule is to improve consistency in scorekeeping decisions between different official scorers working on different games at the same stadium, and between scorers in different stadiums. Second, the press box is the most neutral position within the stadium. Seated in the press box, the official scorer is surrounded by writers and broadcasters who are ostensibly neutral, and the scorer

9153-413: The late innings . Infielder Davey Johnson said, "I've been involved in five or six no-hit games, and all of them were suspected of being helped by hometown scoring." One of the last controversies of the writer-scorer era was seen in a 1978 game at St. Louis. In that game, St. Louis pitcher Bob Forsch was pitching a no-hitter in the 8th inning against Philadelphia when a hard ground ball hit into

9266-403: The league to change a scoring decision that is "clearly erroneous". The committee has used this authority on a few occasions, having overturned three scoring decisions in the 2009 season. The scoring committee came under some scrutiny after a game on August 31, 2008. Milwaukee pitcher CC Sabathia threw a disputed 7–0 one-hit shutout against Pittsburgh . Milwaukee manager Ned Yost argued that

9379-466: The league. The rules which govern the official scorer are spelled out in Rule 10 of the official rules of baseball. The fundamental responsibilities of the official scorer are explained in rule 10.01. The rules of baseball require that the official scorer views the game only from the press box, for two basic reasons. First, this ensures that every scorer has nearly the same perspective of the game. One of

9492-443: The likelihood of an inside-the-park home run, as a ball getting past an outfielder had more distance that it could roll before a fielder could track it down. Modern outfields are much less spacious and more uniformly designed than in the game's early days. Therefore, inside-the-park home runs are now rare. They usually occur when a fast runner hits the ball deep into the outfield and the ball bounces in an unexpected direction away from

9605-708: The major daily newspapers published in Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia. In 1980, MLB resolved the conflict by directly hiring official scorers for each stadium. Today, the MLB commissioner's office directly employs the official scorers who are responsible for producing score reports, although most scorers are hired on the recommendation of the public relations directors of baseball teams. Official scorers are typically retired writers, coaches, and umpires. Unlike umpiring teams, MLB official scorers do not typically travel between stadiums. Each official scorer

9718-424: The management of the Boston Red Sox ordered that a rookie scorer not be allowed to score another game after pitcher Hideo Nomo lost a no-hitter on a close play in right field that was ruled a hit rather than an error. In 2001, MLB formed a scoring committee to evaluate the performance of official scorers. In 2008, the scoring committee was given the authority to enforce the portion of rule 10.01(a) which allows

9831-448: The nearest outfielder (e.g., off a divot in the field or off the outfield wall), the nearest outfielder is injured on the play and cannot get to the ball, or an outfielder misjudges the flight of the ball in a way that he cannot quickly recover from the mistake (e.g., by diving and missing). The speed of the runner is crucial as even triples are relatively rare in most modern ballparks. If any defensive play on an inside-the-park home run

9944-468: The new home field of the Lions that moved from Fukuoka to Tokorozawa that year. Initially an open-air stadium, the installation of its roof took place in two phases: the first phase after the 1997 season, and the second phase after the 1998 seasons. At the beginning of the 1998 season, the stadium was renamed Seibu Dome although the domed roof had not completed yet. Originally, the Lions had planned to build

10057-440: The number of runners on base at the time. A home run hit with the bases empty is never called a "one-run homer", but rather a solo home run , solo homer , or "solo shot". With one runner on base, two runs score (the base-runner and the batter) and thus the home run is often called a two-run homer or two-run shot . Similarly, a home run with two runners on base is a three-run homer or three-run shot . The term "four-run homer"

10170-502: The official scorer is required to decide whether to credit a hit to the batter, the scorer is guided by rule 10.05. This rule directs the official scorer to "give the benefit of the doubt to the hitter when the scorer believes that the decision to credit the batter with a hit is equally valid to an alternative scoring decision". In a similarly difficult judgment call where the official scorer believes that an earned run or an unearned run are equally valid scoring decisions, rule 10.16 directs

10283-406: The official scorer must decide the value of the hit. In this situation, the scorer may either choose to credit the batter with a double , or the scorer may rule that the batter hit a single with an advance to second by fielder's choice. This is often referred to as "an advance on the throw". If an error occurs during the play when a batter records a hit, the official scorer must determine whether

10396-422: The official scorer to "give the benefit of the doubt to the pitcher". The decision to charge an error to the defense is the most well-known responsibility of the official scorer. Some situations automatically call for an error to be charged to the defense, but most charged errors are the result of a play that requires a judgment call. Broadly speaking, an error is charged to the defense when an "ordinary effort" by

10509-404: The option to reverse a scoring decision within 24 hours of the conclusion of a game. Because of this, baseball writer-scorers were often subject to pressure from the players they were covering in their newspaper. After a game in 1962, infielder Jerry Adair asked for a meeting with local writer Neal Eskridge after learning that he was the scorer for the game. Angry about an error he had received in

10622-413: The organizer of the competition. Baseball players, managers, and writers have speculated about bias by the official scorer for decades, but this subject has been objectively studied only recently. In 2006, the rate at which errors have been recorded in MLB by the official scorer was investigated under many situations. The rate at which errors are called is higher when the quality of fielding is suspect and

10735-457: The outfield wall but are located such that it may be difficult for the umpire to judge. In professional baseball, a batted ball that goes over the outfield wall after touching the ground (i.e. a ball that bounces over the outfield wall) becomes an automatic double . This is colloquially referred to as a " ground rule double " even though it is uniform across all of Major League Baseball , per MLB rules 5.05(a)(6) through 5.05(a)(9). A fielder

10848-420: The owner of the stadium and the Lions. Queen performed at the stadium for their Hot Space Tour in 1982. New Japan Pro-Wrestling held the finals of the 2014 G1 Climax on August 10, 2014, at the arena. Lady Gaga performed two sold-out shows at the stadium for her Chromatica Ball tour on September 3 & 4, 2022. Home run In baseball , a home run , homerun or homer (abbreviated HR )

10961-490: The perceived conflict of interest faced by the baseball writers who scored games for MLB eventually led many major newspapers to end the practice for their employees. In 1958, The Washington Post prohibited their writers from scoring baseball games. Over the next two decades other major newspapers joined in the writer-scorer ban, including The New York Times , the Los Angeles Times , The Boston Globe , and

11074-449: The performance of official scorers. In 2001, MLB formed a scoring committee to review their performance, and by 2008 the committee was given the authority to overturn scoring decisions. This authority was used by the scoring committee three times during the 2009 season. In 2006, an academic study seemed to confirm the historical existence of a home-team bias in scoring decisions, but this measurable bias decreased after 1979. Henry Chadwick

11187-402: The pitch, the runner is credited with a stolen base and a wild pitch or passed ball is not charged. If a wild pitch or passed ball allows a runner to advance beyond the base that is stolen, the scorer may rule that the further advance occurred by a wild pitch or passed ball. Some relatively uncommon situations may also require a judgment call by the official scorer. When a defensive player has

11300-412: The positioning of the defense whether the runner would have been able to score from second in the reconstruction of the inning without the error. In the rules of baseball, aside from the rare case of interference or obstruction, a batter who puts a ball into play and safely reaches first base is ruled to have reached in one of three possible ways: a hit, an error, or by fielder's choice. Fielder's choice

11413-526: The ruling to the scoring committee, but on September 3 the committee reviewed the footage and supported the ruling by Webb, saying the ruling was not "clearly erroneous" as required by rule 10.01(a). Official scorers in the minor leagues are generally hired by the teams to score games at their stadium. Some minor league scorers have a history or connection with the team, including former players, former coaches, and local writers. Official scorers for international baseball competitions are generally selected by

11526-458: The run is unearned. If the scorer believes that a run would have scored anyway, the run is earned and charged to the pitcher. In one basic example, if the first batter reaches by an error, the second batter hits a home run , and the next three batters strike out , then one of the two runs scored was unearned. There are rules and restrictions which govern this general guideline. When reconstructing an inning without errors or passed balls: Most of

11639-442: The score report includes the date, location of the game, the names of the teams, the names of the umpires who officiated the game, the final score, and the data that is required in rule 10.02. Most plays in the game are resolved in such a way that the scorer is not given multiple choices when recording the outcome of the play, but several types of plays are open to the interpretation of the official scorer. In any judgment call where

11752-401: The score report. When a judgment call is made, the official scorer is obligated to immediately communicate that decision to the media in the press box and to the broadcasters, usually through a microphone. The official scorer has up to 24 hours to reconsider or reverse a judgment call that was made during the game. In rare circumstances, MLB's scoring committee may reverse a scoring decision that

11865-540: The series, to help the Toronto Blue Jays capture their second World Series Championship in a row. Such a home run can also be called a " sudden death " or "sudden victory" home run. That usage has lessened as "walk-off home run" has gained favor. Along with Mazeroski's 1960 shot, the most famous walk-off or sudden-death home run would most likely be the " Shot Heard 'Round the World " hit by Bobby Thomson to win

11978-463: The sixteen players (through 2012) who have hit four in one game, six have hit them consecutively. Twenty-eight other batters have hit four consecutive across two games. Bases on balls do not count as at-bats, and Ted Williams holds the record for consecutive home runs across the most games, four in four games played, during September 17–22, 1957, for the Red Sox. Williams hit a pinch-hit home run on

12091-621: The sixth inning of Game One of the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians , Tim Raines , Derek Jeter and Paul O'Neill hit back-to-back-to-back home runs for the Yankees. Raines' home run tied the game. New York went on to win 8–6. This was the first occurrence of three home runs in a row ever in postseason play. The Boston Red Sox repeated the feat in Game Four of

12204-439: The stadium, the stadium and media used the sponsored name almost exclusively during this period. However, at the end of 2007, Goodwill's naming rights for both the stadium and team were seized due to Goodwill's illegal business movements. The dome's name was restored to Seibu Dome in 2008. On January 16, 2017, MetLife , a New York City -based financial institution, purchased naming rights for five years. On March 1, 2022, Belluna,

12317-414: The umpiring crew to score games and take his turn on the bases, but MLB has been reluctant to incur the increased cost. More recently, there have been suggestions to move the official scorer out of the press box and closer to the field behind the plate to get the best view of the game. MLB has conceded that this could be a good idea, but it is not currently feasible because of the design of most stadiums in

12430-416: The wall without touching the ground is still a home run. A fielder may not deliberately throw his glove , cap , or any other equipment or apparel to stop or deflect a fair ball, and an umpire may award a home run to the batter if a fielder does so on a ball that, in the umpire's judgment, would have otherwise been a home run (this is rare in modern professional baseball). A home run accomplished in any of

12543-431: Was accompanied by various Ruthian theatrics, yet the pitcher, Charlie Root , was allowed to stay in the game. He delivered just one more pitch, which Lou Gehrig drilled out of the park for a back-to-back shot, after which Root was removed from the game. In Game 3 of the 1976 NLCS , George Foster and Johnny Bench hit back-to-back home runs in the last of the ninth off Ron Reed to tie the game. The Series-winning run

12656-530: Was scored later in the inning. Another notable pair of back-to-back home runs occurred on September 14, 1990 , when Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. hit back-to-back home runs, off Kirk McCaskill , the only father-and-son duo to do so in Major League history. On May 2, 2002 , Bret Boone and Mike Cameron of the Seattle Mariners hit back-to-back home runs off starter Jon Rauch in

12769-685: Was the 1960 World Series when Bill Mazeroski of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a ninth inning solo home run in the seventh game of the series off New York Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry to give the Pirates the World Championship. The second time was the 1993 World Series when Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays hit a ninth inning three-run home run off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams in Game 6 of

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