Why is the K used in baseball to represent a strike out?

Answer 1

Henry Chadwick, who is credited with creating the scoring system, had already used the letter "S" for sacrifice, so he chose the "K" for strikeout because it was the prominent letter in that word. Some sources also say he chose the "K" because it was the last letter of the word struck, which was more widely used at the time than the word strikeout.

Answer 2

The Chadwick answer is correct (he was a newspaper man who got the idea of a box score going). There are also tales of how there are three lines in the letter "k" and it takes three strikes for the out to be recorded. And as boxing was all the rage back in the 19th century, there were many who were familiar with the term "knockout", and that begins with K.

While I know the backwards k is used for a called third strike, I am unsure of its origin.

Perhaps a broadcaster, maybe radio, someone looking to add detail to his notes?

Answer 3

In the 1860's new york journalist Henry Chadwick devised a scoring system that used s for sacrafice and S was already taken so he used the most prominent letter in strikeout whic is the K in strike.

He also said it meant 1000 as where we get the term 100 k a year.. etc.
peace

Answer 4

I believe this originated in 1986 with Dwight Gooden of the Mets. It stands for KO - as in Knock Out. Good old Dwight was called Dr. K.
I could be wrong about Gooden being the first, but that's the first I remember seeing it.

Answer 5

The "K" stands for kill. Kill is a strikeout.
Hope i helped!