Why is "K" used for a strikeout?

[John Corn]

I honestly don't know!! :confused:

[Maniacal1]

John, there are several stories out there on how "K" came to designate a strikeout, but the most commonly accepted one is that Henry Chadwick, who originated the scoring system used today (1 for pitcher, 2 for catcher, etc.) used "K" for strikeout because "S" was used for sacrifice and that "K" was the most prominent letter in the rest of the word.

[John Corn]

Wecome to DBSTalk, Maniacal1. It's great having another Sports/DBS member around here. :)
Intresting, I had no idea there were stories even regarding this.

[Kevin]

I always thought that "K" stood for "Kill" because your at-bat is "killed" when you strike out. However, Maniacal1's theory makes more sense.

Koufax :)

[Maniacal1]

John, thanks for the welcome! It's good to be here.

If you're interested in how the scoring system and box scores developed, there's a terrific little book called "The Joy of Keeping Score" by Paul Dickson. I think it runs about $10.

Henry Chadwick is the sportswriter who started the modern scoring system and invented the box score. He's in the Hall of Fame because of it. Anything you can find on him will give you a lot of the history.

[John Corn]

Thanks Maniacal1, I just did some looking on the Internet and its exactly as you've stated. :) I'll have to keep tha book in mind.