An intentional walk usually happens for one of two reasons:
- to fill an empty first base and enable a force out at second, third or home, or set up a double play
- to avoid an exceptional hitter and pitch to a weaker batter following him
Unless there are two outs already, an intentional walk is a risky choice. It may yield an additional, perhaps winning run on a home run, or allow the walked runner to advance to second or third (hence reach scoring position). Any walk that loads the bases could allow a run to score on another walk, or a hit batter.
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Generally speaking there are certain circumstances when an intentional walk can lead to a disaster and is rarely given in a close game. If a team is ahead, it's almost a rule of thumb to never give a walk to a batter that will place the winning run on base. This happened in a World Series game years ago. The result was that the winning run was due to a base runner scoring because that player was on base due to an intentional walk.