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Inbaseball, awild pitch (WP) is charged against apitcher when hispitch is too high, too short, or too wide ofhome plate for thecatcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing abaserunner, or the batter (on anuncaught third strike), to advance.[1]
A wild pitch usually passes the catcher behind home plate, often allowing runners on base an easy chance to advance while the catcher chases the ball down. Sometimes the catcher may block a pitch, and the ball may be nearby, but the catcher has trouble finding the ball, allowing runners to advance.
A closely related statistic is thepassed ball. As with manybaseball statistics, whether a pitch that gets away from a catcher is counted as a wild pitch or a passed ball is at the discretion of theofficial scorer. The benefit of the doubt is usually given to the catcher if there is uncertainty; therefore, most of these situations are scored as wild pitches. If the pitch was so low as to touch the ground, or so high that the catcher has to jump to get to it, or so wide that the catcher has to lunge for it, it is usually ruled a wild pitch and not a passed ball.[1] Because the pitcher and catcher handle the ball much more than other fielders, certain misplays on pitched balls are defined in Rule 10.13 as wild pitches and passed balls. Noerror shall be charged when a wild pitch or passed ball is scored.
A wild pitch may only be scored if one or more runners advance. If the bases are empty, or if the catcher retrieves the ball quickly and no runner is able to advance, a wild pitch is not charged. A run scored on a wild pitch is recorded as anearned run. A runner who advances on a wild pitch is not credited with astolen base unless he breaks before the pitcher begins his delivery.
Nolan Ryan is the modern-era leader in the wild pitches, throwing 277 over his 27 years inMajor League Baseball (MLB).[2] He also led his league in the category in six different seasons.[3] However, the all-time record belongs toTony Mullane, who threw 343 in the early years of the game from 1881 to 1894. After Ryan's 277, the next pitcher on the list isMickey Welch with 274, followed byBobby Matthews, who threw 253.[2]
The single-season record for wild pitches is held byMark Baldwin, who threw 83 in 1889 while pitching in theAmerican Association. Second place on the season list is held jointly by Tony Mullane andBill Stemmyer, who threw 63 wild pitches in 1884 and 1886, respectively. Since 1900, the highest total in a season has been 30, byRed Ames in 1905.[4]
The modern-era MLB record for wild pitches in a single game is six, shared by three pitchers:Bill Gullickson,Phil Niekro, andJ. R. Richard.[5] The modern-era MLB record for wild pitches in a single inning during the regular season is four, shared by six pitchers:Walter Johnson,Kevin Gregg,R. A. Dickey, Phil Niekro,Ryan Madson,[5] andBrooks Kriske.[6]Bert Cunningham of thePlayers' League (considered a major league) threw five wild pitches in an inning in 1890.[5] On June 26, 2017,Adam Ottavino allowed five runs on four wild pitches, the most runs allowed on wild pitches in a single game in at least 50 years.[7]
On June 3, 2023, theChicago White Sox andDetroit Tigers scored three runs in a 2–1 game on wild pitches, marking the first modern instance where all runs were scored on wild pitches in a game where three or more runs were scored.[8][9]
As of March 2025[update], the active career leader for wild pitches thrown in MLB isSonny Gray with 104, followed byClayton Kershaw with 103.[10]
Rick Ankiel of theSt. Louis Cardinals threw five wild pitches in the third inning of the first game of the2000 National League Division Series against theAtlanta Braves.[11]
Only oneWorld Series has ended on a wild pitch—the1927 edition.[12] An errant delivery byPittsburgh Pirates relieverJohnny Miljus in the ninth inning of Game 4 allowedEarle Combs of theNew York Yankees to score the winning run.[13]
In the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the1986 World Series, with theBoston Red Sox leading 5–4, theNew York Mets had runners on first and third with two outs. Bostonrelief pitcherBob Stanley threw a wild pitch which allowedKevin Mitchell to score the tying run from third andRay Knight to move from first to second base. With Knight inscoring position, he was able to score the winning run on first basemanBill Buckner's now infamouserror.[14]
