The most popular form of baseball played in the United States and Canada is known as Major League Baseball (MLB). It had originally functioned as two separate leagues - the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). However, with the formation of Major League Baseball, the two leagues were brought together under one. The MLB has 30 teams, of which 29 are in the United States, while one is based in Canada.
The Major League Baseball season starts with the regular season every year. All 30 teams play against each other until the respective divisions' champions are crowned. Following the regular season, the postseason starts, where the teams participate in various stages like Wild Card games, Division Series games, and League Championship games. The last stage is the MLB World Series game, where one team emerges as the MLB World Series champion every season.
Meaning of IBB in MLB
IBB stands for Intentional Walk in MLB as per the MLB official site. It happens when a defending team decide to make their batter walk intentionally and put him on first base instead of trying to hit the pitcher. It is considered a walk for the hitter and a walk allowed by the pitcher. It can also set up a double play by putting a runner on first base.
Although an intentional walk takes place when there is no one on the first base, it can also occur when the first base is occupied. However, the latter instance is extremely rare. Notably, before 2017, teams were not allowed to intentionally walk their batters without throwing four balls. That rule has changed from the 2017 season and teams do not need to throw four balls for intentionally walking their batter during games as per the MLB official site.
Players with the notable IBB’s MLB
The following table shows the MLB players that have some of the best IBB’s in their career as per Baseball Reference -
| Players | Player Name | No. of IBB |
| 1. | Barry Bonds | 688 |
| 2. | Albert Pujols | 316 |
| 3. | Stan Musial | 298 |
| 4. | Henry Aaron | 293 |
| 5. | Willie McCovey | 260 |
| 6. | Ted Williams | 258 |
| 7. | Vladimir Guerrero | 250 |
| 8. | Ken Griffey Jr. | 246 |
| 9. | Miguel Cabrera | 238 |
| 10. | George Brett | 229 |
| 11. | Willie Stargell | 227 |
| 12. | Eddie Murray | 222 |
| 13. | Frank Robinson | 218 |
| 14. | Manny Ramirez | 216 |
| 15. | Willie Mays | 214 |
| 16. | David Ortiz | 209 |
| 17. | Tony Gwynn | 203 |
| 18. | Ernie Banks | 202 |
| 19. | Mike Schmidt | 201 |
| 20. | Rusty Staub | 193 |
| 21. | Carl Yastrzemski | 190 |
| 22. | Chili Davis | 188 |
IBB in MLB FAQs
A. Barry Bonds has the most IBB in MLB history with 688 IBB.
A. No, the MLB have not banned intentional walks (IBB).
A. No, it is no longer required to throw four pitches for an intentional walk.
A. An MLB team can intentionally walk only one player per nine innings.
A. Yes, a batter can be intentionally walked with a runner on their first base.
