An annoying phrase popularized by ESPN in the late 1990's. The phrase is slowly being adopted both on radio and in print.

A walk-off homerun is nothing more than a game-ending homerun. In every baseball game there is a game-ending hit or out. The game being over, players can walk off the field. Why 'walk-off ' is replacing 'game-ending' is unknown. Apparently it sounds more hip.

Of course if the player(s) run off the field following the homerun will they start saying 'run-off' homerun? Trot-off? Hop-off? Two skips and a jump-off?

You think I jest, but while originally applied only to homeruns, it is now being applied to singles, doubles, double-plays, and even walks - giving us 'walk-off walk'. Ugly, absolutely ugly. Grantland Rice must be turning in his grave.

When a team is behind in the bottom of the 9th and a player hits a home run that puts his team in the lead, the game is over, regardless of how many outs are left. This is the difference between a simple game-ending fly and a game-ending home run: The latter affects the winning team. I always assumed it was called a "walk-off" rather than a "game-ending" home run because the team walks off the field, the game being over, even though there have not yet been three outs.

According to an article by ESPN.com's Rob Neyer on April 14, 2000, in the early 1990s pitcher Dennis Eckersley used the phrase "walk-off piece" to describe giving up a game-ending homer and walking off the field, as described above. Whether he's the first to use the term or not is unknown, but in the years since, "walk-off homer" or "walk-off homerun" has spread such that it's as common a part of baseball lingo as the infield fly rule or suicide squeeze.

Walk-off homeruns are notable due to their sudden death nature. Since the home team bats last, a walk-off homer can only be hit by the home team, which leads to celebration. Additionally, they immediately end games, and are among the most exciting moments in sports. In fact, on Major League Baseball's 2002 list of the 30 Most Memorable Moments, 5 of them are walk-off homers:

• 1951: Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard 'Round The World


• 1960: Bill Mazeroski's blast to win the World Series


• 1975: Carlton Fisk's homer to win Game 6 of the World Series


• 1988: Kirk Gibson's pinch hit homer off Eckersley to win Game 1 of the World Series


• 1993: Joe Carter's shot that won the Series