Why is an intentional walk in a close baseball game rarely a good idea?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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.