The term "9 to 0" is an event in Baseball, where the games are forfeited. This happened on occasional times, where a team had deliberately forfeited the game. According to Rule 2.00 under the "Forfeit" section in the Major League Baseball Rule Book, the score will be recorder as "9-0" to equate the inning of the game. In this case, this will cause a win for the other team. For the record, only 5 forfeits happened in Major League Baseball from 1954 to 1995. In college baseball, the score became 7-0 instead of 9-0.
"Forfeit" Events Before 1950
Before the 1950s, 9 to 0 incidents became very common, such as what happened in 1871 where 6 games were forfeited within 2 months. These incidents continue to happen every year from 1882 to 1909. Perhaps one of the most controversial incidents was in the National League in 1886, where 5 teams decided to forfeit the games. At the same time, during the 1934 World Series, St. Louis left fielder dropped out after he fought with the Detroit Tiger's baseman. Eventually, after the 1950s, forfeits became rare, because Major League Baseball allowed rescheduling the game when unfavorable to the other team, because of the mandatory curfews.
Reasons for Forfeiting
Many unfortunate things can cause forfeits, such as player's injuries, natural calamities, or loss of crowd control. The Major League Baseball can only reschedule the game if the local government imposes a curfew, just like what happened in the 2015 Baltimore protests. If this happens, the affected game will be rescheduled to an earlier time to gain more spectators. Another reason for forfeiting the game is when the MLB found out that rules are being violated, so they can decide to forfeit the game and the team's ineligibility to play for a specific length of time.
The Effects of 9 to 0 to the Sports Event
This event is unfortunate to everyone, especially to the team who lost the game. As for the fans, they'll leave the stadium with a big disappointment on their face not to witness their favorite team to play. At this point, the score will always favor the opposing team. Forfeits can also cause suspension of teams to play for a season or a disadvantage to win the championship.
