Since 2000, ESPN has poisoned baseball lexicon by calling a home team scoring a game winning run (via base hit or homerun) a walk off. No one "walks" in the process of getting a game winner. It totally insults the intelligence of a baseball fan. Whatever happened to sipmly calling a game ending RBI a game winner?
Also a side question: Is anyone else annoyed with ESPN in general? The "Who's Now" popularity contest is a joke. Simply crown LeBron James and get it over with (it's what they're going to do anyway). While I'm not a Sidney Crosby fan, he was totally railroaded by "voters" and the so-called "panelists" (a washed up NFL crybaby, a loser of a college quarterback who never made it in the NFL, and a hack Washington Post writer), not to mention the overrated Stuart Scott (boo-ya got old a loooooong time ago, fella). Totally diminished Crosby's accomplishments ("Jeter is on the Yankees, after all", that and I don't recall Jeter ever winning a regular season MVP). Weigh in people!
2007-07-29 03:56:39 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Baseball
jft_24- I do not get annoyed by the traditional baseball jargon. I like two-baggers and around the horn, along with the can of corn, texas leaguer, frozen rope, and so on.
When I asked this question, I indeed was referring to the term being applied to simple hits, not just homeruns.
nachud- I saw it a couple times when it started and thought it was stupid. I feel no need to further justify an opinion to you.
Chipmaker- Right on!
2007-07-29 04:25:44 · update #1
As long as the term "walk off" is used for homeruns only it doesn't bother me. Someone used the term for a single once. That kinda don't work.
I agree that ESPN goes over-board on certain topics and issues. I guess those guys are under pressure to keep coming up with new things to keep viewers coming back.
I will admit there have been many times I'd wish they'd just shut up and give the results.
2007-07-29 04:23:51 · answer #1 · answered by steven5ball 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just another case of ESPN getting something wrong, which it s famous for. Any simpleton knows that virtually EVERY win is a walk-off win. You get the third out in the ninth inning, and you walk off the field shaking hands. Coming up with a term that describes something the losing team does, not the winning team, is backwards, forced, and totally counterintuitive. But that s ESPN for you. "Game-ending hit" is more precise, and also more dramatic. If you re a sheep without a brain, "walk-off" it is.
2016-09-20 15:11:28 · answer #2 · answered by Reid 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The phrase itself doesn't bother me, honestly. But the question remains: what the hell are you doing watching ESPN with the sound up?
As far as the side question: remember ESPN is all about popularity. While I'm not saying Jeter deserved to be picked ahead of Crosby, the fact is Jeter is MUCH more famous and popular in the US despite Crosby's accomplishments, simply because baseball is much more popular than hockey.
2007-07-29 04:40:03 · answer #3 · answered by hulidoshi 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the term "walk off" refers to the defense walking off the field after the hit. A "game winner" can happen at anytime of the game and refers to the hit that scored the run that equaled the losing team score + 1.
As for ESPN's "Who's Now", if it's such a joke (which it is and as soon as the contest was explained, i switched the channel) why do you watch and form such strong opinions of it?
2007-07-29 03:59:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Walk off" originally was applied to, and only to, a game-ending, game-winning home run. And this was good, as it had a certain style to it, and such things were both rare and generally delightful (not for the losing visitors, of course).
And then it started getting attached to game-winning singles and such, and yeah, it lost the luster of being exclusive to home runs. Really, take it further to its logical endpoint, and any game-ending play is a "walk off" whatever. "Annndd... strike three! Eckersley nails the walk off strikeout, and the Angels fall to the A's!" And that simply drains the term completely.
But, that's ESPN (any media outlet, really) for you -- grab hold of a good thing (invented elsewhere, as media creativity is nonexistent) and squeeze it to death. Feh.
2007-07-29 04:11:48 · answer #5 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have always known it as a "walk-off" hit...I don't think ESPN has anything to do with it and no I am not annoyed...it's a baseball term. Do you get annoyed by "around the horn" and "two-bagger?"
I will give you the Who's Now thing is annoying...it seems stupid and a waste of time.
2007-07-29 04:03:24 · answer #6 · answered by JT-24 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
What are you talking about.. all announcers say "walk off" not just espn. It makes perfect sense. When someone gets a game winner they do just walk off. It makes total sense and you just need to watch baseball to find out or something because they literally walk off.
2007-07-29 05:13:47 · answer #7 · answered by BK 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i also am annoyed with the term walk off. When I was younger I thought walk-off was only for homers and walks. I don't understand the point of saying a walk off double if the runner was on first. That guy on first had to run around the bases and for him it was no walking off. Also like sometimes with a single and there is a close play at the plate, then it is not a walk off because there is a large play involved. I think they should only use it for homers because the players walk around the bases and for literally walks.
2007-07-29 04:02:47 · answer #8 · answered by S 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is called a walk-off home run, hit, ect.. because the losing team (visitor) has to walk off the field--the game is over.
2007-07-29 04:02:40 · answer #9 · answered by harry r 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I like the term walk off. It doesnt inulst anyone intelligence. I just think you have way too much time on your hands.
2007-07-29 04:08:50 · answer #10 · answered by SF Giants 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋