Intentional base on balls

In baseball statistics, an intentional base on balls (denoted by IBB), is used in baseball to counts the number of times a walk was issued with no intent of ever allowing a hit. When a batter receives an intentional base on balls, he is entitled to walk to first base. Receiving an intentional base on balls does not count as an official at bat for a batter but does count as a plate appearance. When pitching an intentional base on balls, the pitcher will generally throw to an area several feet outside the plate, where it would be physically impossible for the batter to hit the ball.

The purpose of an intentional walk is to allow a good hitter to get on base in order to face a batter that the team in the field feels they have a better chance at getting out. The danger of pitching the intentional walk is that an extra batter is now on base for the following hitter. Often times, however, there is an additional danger that the batter who the opposing team thought would be an easier out would feel slighted and work harder to get a hit.

Barry Bonds holds almost every Major League Baseball record in existence for intentional walks with four in a nine-inning game (2004), 71 in a season (2004) and 484 in his career. Bonds, a prolific home run hitter, is an easy choice for an intentional walk by opposing teams. In the first month of the 2004 baseball season, Bonds drew 43 walks, 22 of them intentional. He broke his previous record of 68 intentional walks, set in 2002, on July 10, 2004 in his last appearance before the All-Star break.