In rare cases,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

games are forfeited, usually when a team is no longer able to play. Although not uncommon in baseball's early days, forfeits are now rare. There have been only five forfeits in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) since 1954; the last forfeit was in 1995, and prior to that, 1979. Since 1914, there has only been one incident where a team deliberately made a decision to forfeit a game, by the 1977 Baltimore Orioles.

Usage

In the event of forfeiture in MLB, the score is recorded as 9–0, as stated in rule 2.00 of the ''

Official Baseball Rules The rules of baseball differ slightly from league to league, but in general share the same basic game play. Rules There are several major rules, which differ only slightly. The "Official Baseball Rules" govern all professional play in the Unite ...

'' issued by the league. The 9–0 score equates to one run per each regulation game inning not played. Actual game statistics are recorded as they stand at the time of the forfeit; the game is 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. Leagues with seven-inning games, such as high school baseball or softball, generally award a rule-based score of 7–0. The same is true for

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationwin and loss using the same criteria as if the game were called for any other reason (such as weather), otherwise no pitcher will be credited for a win, nor charged with a loss. In

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

has the authority to retroactively vacate results if the winning team is found to have violated NCAA rules; however although this is sometimes considered a retroactive "forfeiture" by fans and media, this is not actually the case, as for the losing team the loss is ''not'' retroactively changed to a win. The vacating of results is pursuant to a general NCAA rule that is not exclusive to baseball. In the NCAA, regardless of the sport, wins are usually vacated retroactively as a consequence of recruiting violations, if players or teams are caught violating the NCAA's strict rules regarding amateurism or if one or more players are otherwise found to have been ineligible to play for some reason. Retroactive forfeiture can happen for

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

games, and occurred following the and events, in both cases after the offending teams were found to have fielded players in violation of age or residency restrictions.

MLB forfeits

Before 1960

Forfeits were more common in the early days of

. In 1871, six games were forfeited in two months. There was at least one forfeit almost every year from 1882 until 1909. 1884 saw forfeits in the double digits, many because one team failed to appear for a game or refused to continue playing. Game 2 of the 1885 World Series was forfeited when St. Louis pulled its team from the field to protest the umpiring. There were five forfeits in the National League in 1886. Sometimes teams would forfeit games if they lacked enough players to take the field. During the 19th century, major league club rosters were typically much smaller than today since owners were often reluctant to spend more than absolutely necessary on payroll. Moreover, the fastest means of communication and transportation between cities was

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

respectively, thus teams often could not replace players who became unavailable for whatever reason for several days. In addition, prior to the 20th century it was not uncommon for businessmen to outright own more than one team (or at least to have financial interests in multiple teams), obvious

conflicts of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, finance, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, t ...

that would later be prohibited. Often, such owners would unscrupulously transfer players from a weaker team to a stronger one, sometimes without regard to whether the weaker team would have enough players to play upcoming games. Particularly if the team was also floundering at the gate, ownership interests sometimes disregarded such considerations and forfeited one or more game(s). The high rate of forfeits slowed after 1910, with one forfeit every few years. Game 7 of the 1934 World Series was in jeopardy of being forfeited when

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

fans began showering the outfield with debris after

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

left fielder

Joe Medwick Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), nicknamed "Ducky" and "Muscles", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder with the St. Louis Cardinals during the " Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also pla ...

slid hard into Tigers third baseman

Marv Owen Marvin James Owen (March 22, 1906 – June 22, 1991) was an American baseball player, manager, coach and scout. A native of northern California, Owen played both baseball and football at Santa Clara University. He made his Major League Baseb ...

. A potential blemish to the Series was averted when Commissioner

Kenesaw Mountain Landis Kenesaw Mountain Landis (; November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a United States federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death. He is remembered for his ...

ordered both Medwick and Owen replaced in the one-sided game. In games that were played before the advent of stadium lighting (or had an enforced curfew), forfeits were also sometimes declared as a result of a team's stalling tactics. A baseball game is not official until 5 innings have been completed, or innings if the home team is winning. Consequently, a team that was behind by a considerable number of runs before the end of the fifth inning might deliberately slow down the game, in the hopes that darkness or the curfew would come before the game was declared official. Note, however, that deliberate attempts to slow down play for this reason are subject to a forfeiture being declared. The last such incident took place in 1954. On July 18, the visiting

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

were leading the hometown

8–1 in the fifth inning of the second game of a doubleheader. With darkness approaching and the game not yet official, Cardinals manager

Eddie Stanky Edward Raymond Stanky (born Stankiewicz (September 3, 1915 – June 6, 1999) was an American professional baseball second baseman, shortstop, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston ...

brought in three new pitchers in the inning. Umpire

Babe Pinelli Ralph Arthur "Babe" Pinelli, born Rinaldo Angelo Paolinelli (October 18, 1895 – October 22, 1984), was an American third baseman and umpire in Major League Baseball. Born in San Francisco, his playing career was mostly with the Cincinnati Reds ...

, citing an unnecessary delay of the game on the part of the Cardinals, forfeited the game to the Phillies. There are three known instances when MLB games were initially ruled a forfeit by umpires but the ruling was later overturned. Each occurred in the latter part of the season, in 1913 (later played to completion), in 1918 (doubleheader left unplayed), and in 1939 (set to be played to completion, but rained out and left as a tie). None had an effect on the postseason.

Since 1960

Forfeits have become extremely rare in MLB. The advent of night baseball eliminated the use of stalling tactics to beat the sunset. No major league city has been regularly subject to a general curfew in recent decades. In the sort of extraordinary circumstances that would warrant a temporary curfew in a city scheduled to host MLB games (such as the 1989 World Series earthquake), it is extremely unlikely that MLB would allow the game(s) to be played. In such cases, MLB typically reschedules the game(s) or moves the game(s) to the opponents' stadium or a neutral venue. In one exceptional case when the 2015 Baltimore protests caused local authorities to impose a curfew, MLB satisfied the terms of the curfew by ordering the affected game to be played earlier in the day and without spectators. Finally, major league rosters today are of a standard size with ample personnel to replace sick or injured players, and the modern minor league farm system as well as modern transportation and communication infrastructure allows teams to rapidly replace players unavailable for a longer period, meaning it is extremely unlikely that a team would be unable to play a game due to lack of players. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, when teams occasionally had multiple players unable to play without warning, MLB opted for a policy of rescheduling games rather than forcing affected teams to forfeit. Of the five forfeits that have occurred in the expansion era of baseball (post-1960), all but one have been the result of fans disrupting the game to a point where the stadium staff cannot control them, at which point the home team is forced to forfeit. * Washington Senators' final game at RFK Stadium: On September 30, 1971, the home team led the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

by 7–5 with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Senators fans were angered by the team's impending move to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

–

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, where the Senators were to become the Texas Rangers in 1972. Apparently unaware that there was one out left in the game, spectators began to storm the field and vandalize the stadium. With no prospect of order being restored after the security staff had simply left during the game, resulting in thousands of people walking in without paying, the umpires forfeited the game to the Yankees. *

Ten Cent Beer Night Ten Cent Beer Night was a promotion held by Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians during a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Stadium on Tuesday, June 4, 1974. The promotion was meant to improve attendance at the game by offering c ...

: A promotion held by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

on June 4, 1974, backfired when intoxicated Cleveland fans ran onto the field and attacked Texas Rangers

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Jeff Burroughs Jeffrey Alan Burroughs (born March 7, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from through , for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers (1970–76), Atlanta Braves (1977– ...

with the score tied 5–5 in the ninth inning. This led to a riot in which the drunk and rowdy fans, armed with an array of improvised weapons and various other objects, including chunks of the stadium seating, brawled with players and officials from both teams as well as with the umpires, who subsequently forfeited the game to Texas. * During the September 15, 1977, game between the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Exhibition Stadium Canadian National Exhibition Stadium (commonly known as Exhibition Stadium or CNE Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally built for Canadian National E ...

, the grounds crew placed a tarpaulin over the two mounds in the Blue Jays' bullpen, which was in foul territory, outside the left field foul line after light rain. Before the start of the bottom of the fifth inning (with the Blue Jays leading 4–0), Orioles manager

Earl Weaver Earl Sidney Weaver (August 14, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was an American professional baseball manager, author, and television broadcaster. After playing in minor league baseball, he retired without playing in Major League Baseball (MLB). He be ...

came out of the dugout and claimed to umpire

Marty Springstead Martin John Springstead (July 9, 1937 – January 17, 2012) was an umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1966 to 1985 and had since worked as an umpire supervisor. He was the youngest umpire ever to serve as crew c ...

that the tarp endangered his players by exposing them to the risk that they could slip or trip on it when entering the bullpen to catch a fly ball; Weaver ordered his team from the field, and said that they would not return until the tarp was removed. Springstead ordered the tarp removed from the mound that was closest to fair territory, but not the tarp from the other mound, and told Weaver that he could play the game under protest. After arguing with Springstead for nearly 20 minutes, Weaver returned to the dugout. Springstead then waited five minutes (the period of time specified by the rule book) for the Orioles to retake the field. When Weaver said they would not do so, Springstead ordered the game forfeited to the Blue Jays. *

Disco Demolition Night Disco Demolition Night was a Major League Baseball (MLB) promotion on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, that ended in a riot. At the climax of the event, a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field ...

: On July 12, 1979, the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

held a promotion in which Chicago radio personality

Steve Dahl Steven Robert Dahl (born November 20, 1954) is an American radio personality. He is the owner and operator of the Steve Dahl Network, a subscription-based podcasting network. Dahl gained a measure of national attention after organizing and hostin ...

came onto the field to blow up a box full of

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

records between games of a doubleheader with the

. After the box was blown up, rowdy and intoxicated fans who had packed Comiskey Park beyond capacity stormed the field, engaged in various acts of vandalism and theft, and did not leave the field until Chicago police arrived in full riot gear. The field was so badly damaged that the umpires and managers decided the second game could not be played.

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

president Lee MacPhail later forfeited the second game to Detroit. * On August 10, 1995, the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

gave out baseballs to paying customers as they entered the

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...

gates for a game against the

. Fans interrupted the game in the seventh inning when they threw these baseballs onto the field, and again in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the Cardinals leading 2–1, when the first Dodgers batter,

Raúl Mondesí Raúl Ramón Mondesí Avelino (born March 12, 1971) is a Dominican former politician and baseball player. Mondesí played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and made his MLB debut with them in ...

, was called out on strikes and ejected by home plate umpire

Jim Quick James Edward Quick (born September 6, 1943 in Sacramento, California) is a former Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the National League in and again from to . Quick wore uniform number 15 for most of his career. Minor leagues Quick b ...

for arguing, followed by Dodger manager

Tommy Lasorda Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Natio ...

moments later for arguing with and abusing Quick. Dodger fans, fueled by a series of close calls, again threw their souvenir baseballs onto the field. The Cardinals left the field due to safety concerns, causing a several-minute delay, but when the Cardinals returned to the field, Dodgers fans threw more balls out of the center field bleachers, forcing the umpires to forfeit the game to St. Louis. As a result of this incident, MLB ruled that in any future promotional giveaways of baseballs or any other throwable object, the items would be given out as fans exited the stadium.

References

External links

List of MLB forfeits
at

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...