Type of scoring play in baseball
In 2007,
Ichiro Suzuki
became the first, and to date only, player to record an inside-the-park home run during an
MLB All-Star Game
.
In
baseball
, an
inside-the-park home run
is a rare play in which a
batter
rounds all four bases for a
home run
without the baseball leaving the
field of play
. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker",
[1]
"in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer".
Discussion
[
edit
]
The vast majority of home runs occur when a batter hits the ball beyond the outfield fence on the fly, which requires striking the ball with enough power at the correct flight angle to clear the outfield, allowing the batter to trot around the bases at leisure
albeit at a decent pace
to avoid infuriating the opposition. Though an inside-the-park home run is scored in the same manner, achieving the feat requires the batter to touch all four bases (in the order of first, second, and third, ending at
home plate
) before being tagged
out
by an opposing player, all while the ball remains in play.
Inside-the-park home runs typically occur when a fast baserunner either hits the ball to the portion of the field farthest from where the opposing team's fielders are positioned or when a sharply hit ball takes an unexpected bounce away from defenders. They can also be the result of weather conditions like wind gusts or fog that reduces defenders' ability to track a moving ball. Sometimes (such as
Alcides Escobar
's inside-the-park homer in the
2015 World Series
), an outfielder could lose sight of the ball in the stadium
floodlights
or against a light-colored roof of a domed stadium. Since a play is usually not ruled an
error
unless a fielder touches the ball, these mistakes can result in a home run if the batter is able to circle the bases before the defenders can track down the ball and get it to home plate.
[2]
[3]
If the defensive team is charged with an error on the play, the batter is not credited with a home run, but rather as having advanced on an error.
[4]
At advanced levels of play, the batter scoring due to one or more errors by the defense is colloquially referred to as a
Little League home run
.
[5]
Though never an everyday occurrence, inside-the-park homers were more common in the early days of
Major League Baseball
(MLB). MLB has never set the standard shape or size of the outfield, and many early
ballparks
featured outfields that were large, irregular, or contained odd angles in the outfield wall to accommodate the size of the property on which they were situated. This could result in a batted ball getting past
outfielders
to the far reaches of the playing field or bouncing off a wall in an unexpected direction, forcing defensive players to chase after it while the batter sprints around the bases. The smaller and more circumferential outfields of the modern baseball era reduce opportunities for the ball to take odd bounces, helping to reduce the number of inside-the-park homers while increasing the number of "regular" homers. Today, inside-the-park homers are rare, generally totaling ten to twenty per season.
Major League Baseball statistics
[
edit
]
Jesse Burkett
Of the 154,483 home runs hit between 1951 and 2000, only 975 (0.63%; about one per 158) were inside-the-park. The percentage has dwindled since the increase in emphasis on power hitting, which began in the 1920s. While
Jesse Burkett
, who played in the major leagues from 1890 to 1905, had 55 career inside-the-park home runs, the leader in the live-ball era is
Willie Wilson
, who played in the major leagues from 1976 to 1994, and hit 13 inside-the-park home runs.
[6]
Records
[
edit
]
Source:
[6]
In the World Series
[
edit
]
Date
|
Game
|
Player
|
Team
|
Opponent
|
October 1, 1903
|
1
|
Jimmy Sebring
|
Pittsburgh Pirates
|
Boston Americans
|
October 2, 1903
|
2
|
Patsy Dougherty
|
Boston Americans
|
Pittsburgh Pirates
|
October 13, 1915
|
5
|
Duffy Lewis
|
Boston Red Sox
|
Philadelphia Phillies
|
October 9, 1916
|
2
|
Hy Myers
|
Brooklyn Robins
|
Boston Red Sox
|
October 11, 1916
|
4
|
Larry Gardner
|
Boston Red Sox
|
Brooklyn Robins
|
October 10, 1923
|
1
|
Casey Stengel
|
New York Giants
|
New York Yankees
|
October 3, 1926
|
2
|
Tommy Thevenow
|
St. Louis Cardinals
|
New York Yankees
|
October 7, 1928
|
3
|
Lou Gehrig
|
New York Yankees
|
St. Louis Cardinals
|
October 12, 1929
|
4
|
Mule Haas
|
Philadelphia Athletics
|
Chicago Cubs
|
October 27, 2015
|
1
|
Alcides Escobar
|
Kansas City Royals
|
New York Mets
|
Rare occurrences
[
edit
]
Roberto Clemente
- On July 13, 1896,
Ed Delahanty
of the
Philadelphia Phillies
hit
four home runs in one game
(itself an extraordinarily rare feat), two of which were inside-the-park home runs. This event was the only time any homers in a four-homer game were inside-the-park.
[7]
- On April 27, 1949,
Pete Milne
hit an inside-the-park grand slam for his only career home run. It gave the
New York Giants
an 11?8 lead over the
Brooklyn Dodgers
,
[8]
which was also the final score.
[9]
- On July 25, 1956,
Roberto Clemente
became the only MLB player to hit a
walk-off
inside-the-park grand slam in a 9?8
Pittsburgh Pirates
win over the
Chicago Cubs
, at
Forbes Field
.
[10]
- On August 27, 1977,
Texas Rangers
teammates
Toby Harrah
and
Bump Wills
hit back-to-back inside the park home runs.
[11]
- Due to its proximity to
Lake Ontario
,
Exhibition Stadium
facilitated a weather-assisted three-run inside-the-park homer for
Kelly Gruber
of the
Toronto Blue Jays
when
Detroit Tigers
outfielders lost sight of a routine fly ball in thick fog in 1986. By the time the ball was located, it had landed behind the defenders, and Gruber was able to complete his circumnavigation of the bases before the ball was thrown back to the infield.
[12]
- On October 4, 1986, during a Twins' home game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome,
Greg Gagne
tied a modern-era major league record by hitting two inside-the-park home runs against the Chicago White Sox. Only 18 players in major league history have performed this feat, with Gagne being just the second since 1930. Both home runs were hit off Chicago starting pitcher Floyd Bannister, who also tied a modern-era major league record by allowing two inside-the-park home runs in one game. The Twins went on to win the game, 7?3.
[13]
- On June 17, 2007,
Prince Fielder
of the
Milwaukee Brewers
hit a popup to center field that became an inside-the-park home run when
Minnesota Twins
outfielder
Lew Ford
lost the ball after it struck a speaker on the ceiling of the
Metrodome
. Fielder weighed 262 pounds (119 kg) at the time, becoming the third-heaviest player to hit an inside-the-park homer.
[14]
On June 19, 2008, he hit another inside-the-park-homer at Miller Park in Milwaukee, versus the Toronto Blue Jays.
- In the
2007 All-Star Game
,
Ichiro Suzuki
became the only player to hit an inside-the-park home run in an
All-Star Game
,
[15]
hitting it at
AT&T Park
in
San Francisco
. Suzuki, playing for the victorious
American League
All-Stars, earned
Most Valuable Player
honors.
- On April 6, 2009,
Emilio Bonifacio
of the
Florida Marlins
became the first player in 41 years to hit an inside-the-park home run on
Opening Day
, which was also the first home run of Bonifacio's major league career.
[16]
Kyle Blanks
- On August 18, 2009,
Kyle Blanks
of the
San Diego Padres
hit an inside-the-park home run against the
Chicago Cubs
. Weighing 285 pounds (129 kg), he became the heaviest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.
[17]
- On July 18, 2010,
Jhonny Peralta
of the
Cleveland Indians
hit a three-run inside-the-park home run when
Detroit Tigers
outfielder
Ryan Raburn
crashed through the bullpen fence while trying to catch the ball. Peralta was one of the slowest runners then on the Indians' roster, and would be traded to the Tigers ten days later.
[18]
He took 16.74 seconds to round the bases, which was, at that point in the 2010 season, the slowest of any inside-the-park home run and slower than five regular home run trots.
[19]
- On May 25, 2013,
Angel Pagan
of the
San Francisco Giants
hit an inside-the-park home run at AT&T Park in San Francisco, a tenth inning, two-run walk-off home run, with teammate Brandon Crawford on base. It was the first walk-off inside-the-park home run since 2004, when Rey Sanchez of the Devil Rays hit one, also in the bottom of the tenth inning, also against the Rockies, albeit in a tie game.
[20]
- On July 8, 2015,
Logan Forsythe
of the
Tampa Bay Rays
hit an inside-the-park home run in the 4th inning against the
Kansas City Royals
when, in attempting to field the ball, Royals left fielder
Alex Gordon
injured his groin. Gordon was replaced by
Jarrod Dyson
, who hit an inside-the-park home run of his own in the 6th inning of the game. Dyson's hit went past Rays left fielder
David DeJesus
, who, like Gordon, had been injured five years earlier, on July 22, 2010, while playing for the Royals on a play that led to an inside-the-park home run for
Derek Jeter
.
[21]
- On September 2, 2015,
Ruben Tejada
of the
New York Mets
hit the ball down the right-field foul line, under the glove of
Philadelphia Phillies
outfielder
Domonic Brown
who, running full speed, crashed into and flipped over a short wall on the side of the playing field. While Brown was shaken up in the first row, the ball rolled out to the right field fence in
Citi Field
, where Phillies second baseman
Cesar Hernandez
finally retrieved it, though it was too late to prevent Tejada from rounding the bases. Brown later left the game with concussion-like symptoms. At 74.5 mph off the bat, it was the softest-hit home run of the season to that point.
[22]
- On October 27, 2015,
Alcides Escobar
of the
Kansas City Royals
hit an inside-the-park home run in Game 1 of the
2015 World Series
. It was the first in a World Series game since
Mule Haas
in the
1929 World Series
[2]
[3]
and the first hit by a leadoff batter since
Patsy Dougherty
did it for the
Boston Americans
(now Red Sox) in
1903
.
[23]
- During the regionals for the
2022 College World Series
,
Louisiana Tech Bulldog
catcher Jorge Corona hit a high fly ball to centerfield in a bases loaded situation, with the
Dallas Baptist Patriot
centerfielder losing the ball in the lights of
UFCU Disch?Falk Field
, it bouncing well behind him to the wall and Corona easily clearing the bases standing up for an inside-the-park grand slam.
[24]
- On July 22, 2022,
Raimel Tapia
of the
Toronto Blue Jays
hit a high fly ball to center field with 2 outs and the bases loaded against the
Boston Red Sox
at
Fenway Park
.
Jarren Duran
, the center fielder, lost sight of the ball in Fenway's lights and it landed far behind him on the
warning track
, allowing Tapia to easily clear the bases giving him an inside-the-park grand slam. Toronto went on to score a franchise-record 28 runs in the game.
[25]
- On October 15, 2022,
J. T. Realmuto
of the
Philadelphia Phillies
hit an inside-the-park home run at
Citizens Bank Park
during a playoff game against the
Atlanta Braves
, becoming the first catcher to do so in postseason history.
[26]
[27]
- On August 8, 2023
Stuart Fairchild
of the
Cincinnati Reds
hit a fly ball to right field with no outs in the 5th inning against the
Miami Marlins
at
Great American Ball Park
.
Jesus Sanchez
, the right fielder could not make the catch in foul territory and the ball landed against the wall and ran into the corner, Fairchild made the turn at 3rd base while a throw came in that bounced out of the catcher's glove, allowing Fairchild to dive over the catcher and make the play at home.
[28]
- During a game on September 24, 2023, the Toronto Blue Jays's
George Springer
hit a drive to centre field in the 2nd inning, with 2 on base, off pitcher
Taj Bradley
of the
Tampa Bay Rays
that rebounded off the wall of
Tropicana Field
and out of the reach of Rays outfielder
Manuel Margot
. Springer rounded the bases in 16.6 seconds and dove into home plate, also cashing in
Whit Merrifield
and
Kevin Kiermaier
.
[29]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Konerko's inside-the-parker"
.
MLB.com
. April 12, 2000
. Retrieved
September 1,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Gonzalez, Alden (October 28, 2015).
"Escobar's inside-the-park HR one for the ages"
.
mlb.com
. Archived from
the original
on October 30, 2015
. Retrieved
October 28,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Snyder, Matt (October 28, 2015).
"Alcides Escobar hits 1st World Series inside-the-park HR since 1929"
.
cbssports.com
. CBS Interactive
. Retrieved
October 27,
2015
.
- ^
Major League Baseball Rule 10
- ^
"
'Little League Home Runs' in MLB History: The Denouement ? Society for American Baseball Research"
.
- ^
a
b
"Inside The Park Home Run Records"
.
Baseball Almanac
. Retrieved
November 6,
2020
.
- ^
"Box Score of Four Home Run Game by Ed Delahanty"
.
Baseball Almanac
. Retrieved
2016-05-05
.
- ^
"Pete Milne Career Home Runs"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. Retrieved
2016-05-05
.
- ^
"1949 Giants results from Baseball Reference"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. Retrieved
4 October
2014
.
- ^
Fleitz, David.
"Walk-Off Grand Slams"
.
David Fleitz's Baseball Page
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-10-06.
- ^
"Bump blasts two HRs"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 28, 1977. p. D1.
- ^
"Tigers in a Fog as Blue Jays romp to win"
.
Montreal Gazette
. Canadian Press. 2013-06-13
. Retrieved
2016-06-23
.
- ^
Jaffe, Chris (2011-10-04).
"25th anniversary: two Greg Gagne inside-the-park homers"
.
The Hardball Times
. Retrieved
2016-05-05
.
- ^
"Milwaukee Brewers vs. Minnesota Twins ? Recap ? June 17, 2007"
.
ESPN.com
. Retrieved
4 October
2014
.
- ^
Brock, Corey (2007-07-10).
"Ichiro runs into record book"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
2007-07-10
.
- ^
"Dunn/Bonifacio"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
"Blanks' inside-the-parker"
.
Major League Baseball
. Archived from
the original
on 10 July 2015
. Retrieved
30 March
2015
.
- ^
"Peralta goes inside-the-park after Raburn falls through fence"
.
Yahoo! Sports
. Retrieved
4 October
2014
.
- ^
"Tater Trot Tracker: July 18"
. Retrieved
4 October
2014
.
- ^
"Watch: Angel Pagan hits first inside-the-park walk-off since 2004"
.
SI.com
. 26 May 2013
. Retrieved
4 October
2014
.
- ^
"Rays and Royals exchange inside-the-park home runs in Royals' win"
.
- ^
"Ruben Tejada hits an inside-the-park home run"
.
Major League Baseball
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-09-05
. Retrieved
2015-09-03
.
- ^
Berg, Ted (October 27, 2015).
"Alcides Escobar hits leadoff inside-the-park home run in World Series Game 1"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
October 28,
2015
.
- ^
Jackson, Devin (3 June 2022).
"WATCH: La. Tech catcher hits inside-the-park grand slam as fans go wild in Austin Regional"
.
The Advocate
. Retrieved
4 June
2022
.
- ^
"Tapia hits second inside-the-park GS in Blue Jays history"
.
TSN
. Retrieved
22 Jul
2022
.
- ^
Yahoo Sports
playoffs: J.T. Realmuto smacks inside-the-park homer as Phillies lead Braves, Astros seek sweep vs. Mariners https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-playoffs-braves-phillies-astros-mariners-yankees-guardians-dodgers-padres-alds-nlds-live-174417884.html!title=MLB playoffs: J.T. Realmuto smacks inside-the-park homer as Phillies lead Braves, Astros seek sweep vs. Mariners
. Retrieved
15 Oct
2022
.
;
- ^
"WATCH: Realmuto is First Catcher to Hit Inside-the-Park Home Run in Playoffs"
. 15 October 2022.
- ^
U.S.A Today
Stuart Fairchild made a miraculous dive to turn a triple into a Little League home run https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/reds-stuart-fairchild-little-league-home-run-marlins!title=Reds' Stuart Fairchild made a miraculous dive to turn a triple into a Little League home run
. Retrieved
9 Aug
2023
.
;
- ^
"Blue Jays put the boots to Rays, fuelled by George Springer's glove and bat"
.
Sportsnet
. Retrieved
24 Sep
2023
.
External links
[
edit
]