# Baseball No Hitters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670 "2003-07-20T01:12:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sferrell5004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@sferrell5004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sferrell5004)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/1 "2003-07-20T01:12:23Z")
What does it mean when you see people putting up a sign with a “K” on it when a pitcher has a no hitter going? I have noticed it in two movies now, and I am wondering what it means. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/2 "2003-07-20T01:22:42Z")
The fans are calling for a strikeout; why it means that I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/3 "2003-07-20T01:23:57Z")
“K” means strikeout, from notation used by scorers. “KKK” used to indicate a three-strikeout inning by a pitcher can be a bit disconcerting. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/4 "2003-07-20T01:35:44Z")
As others have said it’s for a strikeout. It doesn’t have to be a no-hitter, it can be done in any game. It’s usually done for “strikeout pitchers” and it’s used to keep track of how many strikeouts they’ve had. Sometimes other symbols will be used. I believe ice cream cones have been used in the past for David Cone, beer mugs used for David Wells, Japanese symbols for Nomo or Irabu … “K” is used to signify a strikeout because SO is already used in scoring, though I can’t remeber what it means. A backwards “K” means the batter was struck out “looking.” ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/5 "2003-07-20T01:58:42Z")
Staff Report on the subject: [In baseball scoring, why is a strikeout marked with a K?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mstrike.html) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/6 "2003-07-20T01:58:42Z")
Staff Report on [In baseball scoring, why is a strikeout marked with a K?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mstrike.html) The K apparently comes from the last letter of “struc **K** ” ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/7 "2003-07-20T02:26:24Z")
Without looking at the reports, which probably answer this, I can tell you that “SO” is used to mean “shutout.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/8 "2003-07-20T02:34:58Z")
“SO” may be “shutout,” but K was applied to a strikeout because “S” was taken for “sacrifice.” In the days of Henry Chadwick, who came up with all this stuff, a player who went down on strikes was often said to have “Struck,” rather than “struck out.” ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/9 "2003-07-20T02:48:42Z")
Here’s another nifty cite on scoring a baseball game. [http://www.baseballscorecard.com/downloads/tutorial.pdf](http://www.baseballscorecard.com/downloads/tutorial.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/10 "2003-07-20T23:09:58Z")
Just to play devil’s advocate: There is no clear-cut evidence to definitely say that Chadwick or Kelly first used the “K” to indicate a strikeout. Almost certainly one of them did so. If you have a definitive cite to show who did it, please step up. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/11 "2003-07-21T15:58:49Z")
It may be worth mentioning the origin of Dwight “Doc” Gooden’s nickname, “Dr. K,” as a play on the nickname of Julius “Dr. J” Erving of the NJ Nets. I recall Gooden having a “K corner” at Shea where people hung out signs recording each of his Ks in each game. I believe it started his “Rookie of the Year” season of 1984. How common was this practice before Gooden? ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/12 "2003-07-21T16:52:31Z")
**Colibri** I asked this question a while ago and we were not able to come up with any earlier than Gooden. Some people were guessing but no one could remember an earlier usage. Here’s the link: When did fans start with counting K’s in baseball? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=130678](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=130678) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/13 "2003-07-21T18:22:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yabob \* > \*\*“K” means strikeout, from notation used by scorers. “KKK” used to indicate a three-strikeout inning by a pitcher can be a bit disconcerting. \*\* Don’t they usually put the third “K” upside-down for that reason? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/14 "2003-07-21T18:35:39Z")
A backwards “K” indicates a called third strike (as opposed a batter swinging and missing.) ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-no-hitters/189670/15 "2003-07-22T04:11:31Z")
Years ago, a friend and I went to a Pittsburgh Pirates game. Since, we were poor college students we got the cheapest tickets and sat in the nose-bleed section. There weren’t many people in the outfield section, so we moved down and sat next to the “Kmart K-club” guy. He was the guy who put the Ks up after every strikeout. I asked the guy if I could do it and he said I could if I bought him a beer. I did and I placed the Ks after every strike out. For the third strikeout, he told me to leave a space bewteen the Ks, so it wouldn’t look like KKK. After the fourth strikeout, I filled in the blank space.