Forfeit (baseball)

Forfeit (baseball)

In rare cases, baseball games are forfeited, usually in the event when a team is no longer able to play. In the event of forfeiture, the score is recorded as "9 to 0", as per rule 2.00 of the Major League Baseball Rules Book. However, the actual game statistics are recorded as they stand at the point of forfeit, and recorded as a loss in the standings for the forfeiting team, and a win for the other team, even if the forfeiting team is ahead at that point. The "9 to 0" score equates to the number of innings in a regulation game. Seven-inning regulation games, such as softball and Little League Baseball, generally award a rule-based score of "7 to 0".

Forfeits were more common in the early days of Major League Baseball. There were five forfeits in the National League in 1886. Game 2 of the 1885 World Series was forfeited when St. Louis pulled its team from the field to protest the umpiring.

However, in modern times, forfeits generally occur only when fans disrupt the game to a point where the stadium staff cannot control them, at which point the home team is forced to forfeit. Game 7 of the 1934 World Series was in jeopardy of being forfeited when Detroit Tigers fans began showering the outfield with debris after St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Joe Medwick slid hard into Tigers third baseman Marv Owen. However, a potential black eye to the Series was averted by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis ordering both Medwick and Owen replaced in the one-sided game.

Forfeits have become extremely rare in recent years. There was a spate of them in the 1970s, when the last prior forfeit had occurred in 1954. There have been no forfeits in Major League Baseball since 1995; prior to that the last forfeit had been in 1979.