# Another Baseball Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-baseball-question/246425 "2004-05-21T20:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-baseball-question/246425/1 "2004-05-21T20:29:48Z")
Lately I’ve been noticing an abbreviation in baseball box scores that I can’t figure out. In the section describing the pitching activityI will often see something like: Lowe (7 innings, WP), Timlin (H, 1), Foulke (S, 10). I know what WP and S mean. But to what does H in his context refer? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-baseball-question/246425/2 "2004-05-21T20:36:05Z")
Hold. It stands for ‘Hold’. Hold is an unofficially official sort of stat in which credit for a ‘Hold’ is given to a pitcher when they enter a game in a theoretical ‘save’ situation but are not permitted to close the game. In other words…if a relief pitcher enters the game in a save situation (that is with a lead of less than 3 runs or the tying batter in the on-deck circle etc ad nauseum…) and hands the game over to another relief pitcher with the save situation still intact (cannot blow a lead and then have the offense take the lead again…that would lead to a W for Win) then he may be credited with a ‘H’ for Hold by the official scorer … _if in the opinion of the scorer that pitcher has pitched ‘effectively’_.