Rashad Eldridge of the Oklahoma Redhawks walks to first base after drawing a base on balls.

A base on balls (BB) is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules,^[1] and further detail is given in 6.08(a).^[2] It is called a "walk" because the batter is then entitled to walk to first base, or more specifically (as defined in the rules of baseball) he is "entitled to first base without liability to be put out." However, the term "base on balls" is used in official context because it is considered a faux pas for a professional player to walk to first base (as opposed to physically running), and also to distinguish from the other manners in which a batter can be awarded first base without liability to be put out (e.g., hit by pitch, catcher's interference).

A batter who draws a base on balls is commonly said to have been "walked" by the pitcher. When the batter is walked, runners advance one base without liability to be put out only if forced to vacate their base to allow the batter to take first base. If a batter draws a walk with the bases loaded, all preceding runners are forced to advance, including the runner on third base who is forced to home plate to score a run, and the batter is credited with an RBI per rule 10.04.^[3]

Receiving a base on balls does not count as a hit or an at bat for a batter but does count as a time on base and a plate appearance. Therefore, a base on balls does not increase nor decrease a player's batting average, but it does increase his on-base percentage, unless a player's on-base percentage is 1.000, in which case it remains the same.^[4]

A hit by pitch is not counted statistically as a walk, though the effect is mostly the same, with the batter receiving a free pass to first base. The one exception is that on a HBP, the ball is dead and any runners who were stealing on the play must return to their original base unless forced to the next base anyway.

History[link]

In 1880, the National League changed the rules so that eight balls instead of nine were required for a walk. In 1884, the National League changed the rules so that six balls were required for a walk. In 1886, the American Association changed the rules so that six balls instead of seven were required for a walk; however, the National League changed the rules so that seven balls were required for a walk instead of six. In 1887, the National League and American Association agreed to abide by some uniform rule changes and decreased the number of balls required for a walk to five. In 1889, the National League and the American Association decreased the number of balls required for a walk to four.^[5]

Intentional base on balls[link]

A subset of the base on balls, an intentional base on balls (IBB) or intentional walk is when the pitcher deliberately pitches the ball away from the batter in order to issue a base on balls. As with any other walk, an intentional walk entitles the batter to first base without liability to be put out, and entitles any runners to advance if forced. Intentional walks are a strategic defensive maneuver, usually done to bypass one hitter for one the defensive team believes is less likely to initiate a run-scoring play (e.g., a home run, sacrifice fly, or RBI base hit), or to set up a double play or force out situation for the next batter. They do carry an inherent risk, however, as they give the offensive team another runner on base, without any effort on their part, who could potentially score a run.

Mark Hendrickson of the Florida Marlins intentionally walking the Atlanta Braves' Yunel Escobar in 2008. Note the Florida catcher, Mike Rabelo, in a standing position behind the opposite batter's box to receive the pitch

An intentional walk is signaled by the catcher standing and extending one arm to the side away from the batter. The pitcher then pitches the ball to that side several feet outside from home plate, usually outside the reach of the batter. A ball pitched in this manner is called an intentional ball and counts as a ball in the pitcher's pitch count. In order to count as an intentional ball, the ball must be legally pitched, i.e., the pitcher's foot must be on the pitcher's rubber, the catcher must be in the catcher's box, and the batter must be in the batter's box appearing ready to take a pitch at the time the ball is thrown. An intentional walk may be signaled at any time during the batter's turn at the plate; in these cases only enough additional intentional balls need to be thrown to bring the total to four. Only walks issued by the catcher signaling as described above are recorded as intentional walks (see below); walks issued without the catcher signaling – even if the pitches are intentionally thrown outside of the strike zone – are not recorded as intentional.

Another risk taken by the defensive team in issuing a base on balls is that since intentional balls must be pitched in a legal manner, they can legally become wild pitches or passed balls. Likewise, a baserunner can attempt to steal a base, or the batter can choose to swing at an intentional ball; however, these rarely occur since taking these risks is rarely more beneficial to the offensive team than allowing the walk. In the Major Leagues, the most recent example of a swing at an intentional ball resulting in a hit occurred during a June 22, 2006 game between the Florida Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles. In the top of the 10th inning, with a runner on second base, Baltimore pitcher Todd Williams was signaled to intentionally walk the Marlins' Miguel Cabrera. Noticing that the intentional ball came in too close to the plate, Cabrera swung at the ball, resulting in a base hit, and a run scored for Florida.^[6]

Though intentional walks are recorded as such in the records of the official scorer, they are combined with standard, non-intentional walks when calculating a player's on-base percentage, and have only received a separate column in a player's statistics since 1955.

Batters, on occasion, have been given intentional walks with the bases loaded (effectively giving the offensive team a risk-free run), although this occurs very infrequently.^[7]

A common nickname for the intentional walk is four-finger salute, since most managers call for an intentional walk by holding up four fingers. Outside the professional leagues, such as in high school or college baseball, the manager may simply request to the plate umpire to let the batter go to first instead of having the pitcher waste four outside pitches.

Barry Bonds is the all time record holder with 688 intentional bases on balls (as of the start of the 2008 season). The next most is Hank Aaron with 293.

Major League Baseball leaders[link]

Career[link]

All statistics through October 8, 2009

Active[link]

Single-season[link]

See also related lists[link]

• Baseball statistics
• Top 100 MLB leaders in base on balls (walks)
• List of Major League Baseball players with 4,000 Total bases
• List of Major League Baseball players with a .400 on-base percentage
• List of Major League Baseball players with a .900 on-base plus slugging
• 3000 strikeout club
• Top 15, and List of active MLB players in the Top 50 in strikeouts

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career walks leaders, Baseball-Reference.com
• Single-season walks leaders, Baseball-Reference.com

Santiago Casilla
San Francisco Giants – No. 46
Relief pitcher
Born: (1980-07-25) July 25, 1980 (age 31) San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 9, 2004 for the Oakland Athletics
Career statistics (through 2011)
Win-Loss	15-8
Earned run average	3.80
Strikeouts	239
WHIP	1.410
Teams
Oakland Athletics (2004–2009) San Francisco Giants (2010-present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2010)

Santiago Casilla (born July 25, 1980^[1]) is a Dominican professional baseball player. A right-handed relief pitcher, he currently plays for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.

Baseball career[link]

Casilla was originally signed by the Oakland A's on January 31, 2000, as an amateur free agent, and pitched from from then through 2005 under the name of Jairo Garcia. During spring training in 2006 he revealed his real name to be Santiago Casilla, and that he had used false documents which listed him as three years younger than his actual age when he first signed in 2000.^[2]

Casilla pitched small parts of 2004, 2005, and 2006 for the Athletics as a reliever. In 2007, Casilla was recalled by the Athletics from Triple-A after going 2–1 with a 4.13 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 24 innings. He stepped into a bullpen that had Huston Street, Justin Duchscherer, and Kiko Calero on the disabled list. Casilla started off well, going 2–1 with 2 saves and a 0.45 ERA in his first 16 games. But he wound up finishing the season with a 3–1 record and a 4.44 ERA in 46 games.^[3] He pitched in the A's bullpen in the 2008 and 2009 seasons with mixed success.

At the end of 2009, he was granted free agency by the A's and signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants for 2010. He made his Giants debut on May 21, 2010 against his former team in Oakland and remained with the team for the remainder of the season until they won the World Series. He returned to the Giants for 2011 as a member of the bullpen and took over as its closer after Brian Wilson went on the disabled list in August.^[4]

Scouting[link]

Casilla works with a prototypical power pitcher repertoire, chiefly throwing a mid to high-90s two-seam fastball and a hard-breaking slider. He also occasionally mixes in a curveball and changeup. However at times he struggles with control of his pitches.

References[link]

1. ^ "Santiago Casilla Stats, Video Highlights, Photos, Bio". SFGiants.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=433586. Retrieved 2012-02-07. 
2. ^ Urban, Mychael (2006-02-13). "Mailbag: What's ahead for Scutaro?". Athletics.MLB.com. Major League Baseball. http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060211&content_id=1310094&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
3. ^ Baseball Reference
4. ^ San Francisco Giants win 2–1 behind Tim Lincecum

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Santiago Casilla

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)