{"id":93,"date":"2025-06-19T18:53:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T18:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/glossary\/?p=93"},"modified":"2026-06-19T15:50:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:50:43","slug":"walk-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/glossary\/walk-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk-Off (WO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is a Walk-Off in baseball?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A walk-off<\/strong> (aka WO) is any event that ends the game by giving the home team the lead in the bottom of the final inning of the game. (This can be the 9th inning, any extra inning<\/a>, or any other regularly-scheduled final inning.) The term “walk-off” comes from the fact that the teams walk off the field immediately afterward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, WOs are hits. The walk-off home run is the most famous kind of walk-off, but any hit can be a walk-off if it drives a runner home. Technically, a WO isn’t official until the winning run crosses home plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are Walk-Offs used?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WOs are fairly uncommon, so they aren’t typically used to evaluate player performance. However, the rarity of walk-offs makes them exciting when they do happen. Walk-off home runs are especially rare, and therefore especially celebrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walk-Off Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There have been thirteen major league postseason series<\/a> that have ended in a walk-off home run, including two World Series. The subject of the most famous walk-off home run in the history of Major League Baseball<\/a> is one that creates a great deal of argument:<\/p>\n\n\n\n