Golden pitch

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A golden pitch refers to a pitch in a baseball game in which the outcome of the pitch could produce a World Series championship for either team. By definition, a golden pitch can only be thrown in the winner-take-all final game of the World Series (usually Game 7) and only in the bottom half of the ninth inning or a later inning when the road team has the lead, and the home team has at least one runner on base.

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As of the end of the 2025 baseball season, 49 golden pitches have been thrown, by nine pitchers to 15 batters in nine different World Series: 1912, 1926, 1962, 1972, 1997, 2001, 2014, 2016 and 2025. [1]

Background

The term was coined by Wade Kapszukiewicz, a politician from Toledo, Ohio (as of 2025 the city's mayor [2] ), who introduced the concept in an article for the Spring 2016 edition of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) Baseball Research Journal. [1]

Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees is tagged out by St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby to end the 1926 World Series. Yankees batter Bob Meusel was facing a "golden pitch" from Cardinals pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander when Ruth was caught stealing to end the game and give the Cardinals their first World Series championship. Ruth1926-3.jpg
Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees is tagged out by St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby to end the 1926 World Series. Yankees batter Bob Meusel was facing a "golden pitch" from Cardinals pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander when Ruth was caught stealing to end the game and give the Cardinals their first World Series championship.

The most recent golden pitches occurred in the 2025 World Series when Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw seven against the Toronto Blue Jays in the 11th inning of Game 7. [3] After the Dodgers had taken a 5-4 lead in the top of the 11th on a home run by Will Smith, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the bottom of the 11th with a double. After he advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the teams entered a golden pitch situation by which either team could win on the next pitch. The next batter, Addison Barger, reached base on a four-pitch walk. Then Alejandro Kirk stepped to the plate. He hit a foul ball and took a strike for an 0-2 count. On the third pitch of his at-bat, Kirk hit a broken-bat ground ball to Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, who touched second base and threw to first baseman Freddie Freeman to complete the double play and clinch the Dodgers' ninth world championship. [4]

Plate appearances with golden pitches

Of the 15 plate appearances with golden pitches, five ended with the batter getting out to end the game and the series; a sixth ended when a base runner was caught stealing. None of the 15 at-bats ended with the batting team winning the game, but three concluded with the batter hitting the ball in play and tying the game, and all three times the batting team won later in the game. Five of the 15 plate appearances occurred in extra innings: two in the 10th inning of Game 8 in 1912 1, one in the 10th inning of Game 7 in 2016, and two in the 11th inning of Game 7 in 2025.

Three of the 15 batters to have faced a golden pitch are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame as of 2025: Tris Speaker, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. Four of the nine pitchers are Hall of Famers: Christy Mathewson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Rollie Fingers and Mariano Rivera. Three of the players involved in golden pitches were awarded the World Series MVP in the same year: Ralph Terry in 1962, Madison Bumgarner in 2014 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in 2025.

YearBatter, teamPitcher, teamScore during pitchesInning, outs, runners# of pitchesResult of plate appearance
1912 Steve Yerkes, Boston Red Sox Christy Mathewson, New York Giants Giants 2–110th, 1 out, runner on 2nd5 [1] Walk
Tris Speaker, Boston Red Sox10th, 1 out, runners on 1st & 2nd2 [1] RBI single, tie game
1926 Bob Meusel, New York Yankees Grover Cleveland Alexander, St. Louis Cardinals Cardinals 3–29th, 2 outs, runner on 1st1 [5] [6] Babe Ruth caught stealing, St. Louis Cardinals win [7]
1962 Chuck Hiller, San Francisco Giants Ralph Terry, New York Yankees Yankees 1–09th, 1 out, runner on 1st7 [8] [9] Strikeout
Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants9th, 2 outs, runner on 1st3 [1] Double
Willie McCovey, San Francisco Giants9th, 2 outs, runners on 2nd & 3rd2 [1] Lineout, New York Yankees win
1972 Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds Rollie Fingers, Oakland A's A's 3–29th, 2 outs, runner on 1st1 [10] Flyout, Oakland A's win
1997 Charles Johnson, Florida Marlins José Mesa, Cleveland Indians Indians, 2–19th, 1 out, runner on 1st4 [11] Single
Craig Counsell, Florida Marlins9th, 1 out, runners on 1st & 3rd3 [11] Sacrifice fly, tie game
2001 Jay Bell, Arizona Diamondbacks Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees Yankees 2–19th, 0 outs, runners on 1st & 2nd1 [12] Bunted fielder's choice, force out at 3rd base
Tony Womack, Arizona Diamondbacks9th, 1 out, runners on 1st & 2nd5 [12] RBI double, tie game
2014 Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants Giants 3–29th, 2 outs, runner on 3rd6 [13] Foul popout, San Francisco Giants win
2016 Michael Martinez, Cleveland Indians Mike Montgomery, Chicago Cubs [14] Cubs 8–710th, 2 outs, runner on 1st2 [15] Groundout, Chicago Cubs win
2025 Addison Barger, Toronto Blue Jays Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers Dodgers 5–411th, 1 out, runner on 3rd4 [16] Walk
Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays11th, 1 out, runners on 1st & 3rd3 [16] Groundout double play, Los Angeles Dodgers win

Footnotes

1The golden pitches in the 1912 World Series occurred in Game 8. Game 2 of the series ended in a tie.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Golden Pitches: The Ultimate Last-at-Bat, Game Seven Scenario – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  2. ↑ Tanber, George (2025-11-12). "Third-term Mayor Wade K: Father of the Golden Pitch". Toledo Free Press. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
  3. ↑ Kepner, Tyler (2025-11-02). "Gangster. Gutsy. Greatness. Yoshinobu Yamamoto authors a World Series for the ages". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  4. ↑ Kepner, Tyler (2025-11-03). "Why the Dodgers and Blue Jays just played the greatest Game 7 in World Series history". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  5. ↑ Thorn, John (2016-10-29). "Grover Cleveland Alexander Remembers: 1926 World Series, Game 7". Medium. Retrieved 2025-11-09. ...on my first pitch to Meusel, the Babe broke for second.
  6. ↑ "Alexander provides ultimate relief for Cardinals in 1926 World Series | Baseball Hall of Fame". baseballhall.org. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
  7. ↑ Fleming, John (2016-11-09). "The "golden pitch" which led to the first Cardinals title". Viva El Birdos. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  8. ↑ Retro Sports Radio (2024-11-23). 1962-Oct-16 • NYY/SFG • World Series G7 • New York Yankees vs San Francisco Giants - Baseball Radio. Event occurs at 2:26:08. Retrieved 2025-11-09– via YouTube.
  9. ↑ "1962 World Series Game 7, New York Yankees vs San Francisco Giants: October 16, 1962". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
  10. ↑ "1972 World Series Game 7, Oakland Athletics vs Cincinnati Reds: October 22, 1972". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  11. 1 2 "1997 World Series Game 7, Cleveland Indians vs Florida Marlins: October 26, 1997". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  12. 1 2 "2001 World Series Game 7, New York Yankees vs Arizona Diamondbacks: November 4, 2001". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  13. ↑ "2014 World Series Game 7, San Francisco Giants vs Kansas City Royals: October 29, 2014". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  14. ↑ "Trister: Mike Montgomery traded, but place in Cubs history secure – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  15. ↑ "2016 World Series Game 7, Chicago Cubs vs Cleveland Indians: November 2, 2016". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  16. 1 2 "2025 World Series Game 7, Los Angeles Dodgers vs Toronto Blue Jays: November 1, 2025". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
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