a brief history of all-star plunks

In 1998, Craig Biggio became the 28th batter ever to be plunked in the All Star Game. He was the 18th National League batter hit, and the 2nd Houston Astro plunked in an All Star Game. The pitcher who hit him, Roger Clemens, was the 28th pitcher to hit a batter in the All Star Game, the 18th American League pitcher and the only Toronto Blue Jay ever to hit a batter in the midsummer classic. There have been 76 All Star Games in all since 1933, and in those games there have been 31 different batters hit by 31 different pitcher. No player has ever been plunked twice in All Star play, and no pitcher has hit more than one batter. The only All Star Game in which two batters on the same team were hit was on July 10, 1962 when Don Drysdale hit Rich Rollins to lead off the game, and Bob Shaw hit Brooks Robinson in the 8th inning. In 1975 and 1977 a batter from each team was plunked.
19 National League batters have been hit so far to only 11 American Leaguers.
Here's the complete list:

Date	Batter	Team	Pitcher	Team
07/06/1938	Ival Goodman	Reds	Johnny Allen	Indians
07/09/1940	Pinky May	Phillies	Bob Feller	Indians
07/06/1942	Jimmy Brown	Cardinals	Spud Chandler	Yankees
07/13/1943	George Case	Senators (1)	Mort Cooper	Cardinals
07/12/1949	Andy Seminick	Phillies	Mel Parnell	Red Sox
07/08/1952	Stan Musial	Cardinals	Bob Lemon	Indians
07/14/1953	Eddie Mathews	Braves (Mil)	Allie Reynolds	Yankees
07/12/1955	Al Kaline	Tigers	Harvey Haddix	Cardinals
07/08/1958	Ernie Banks	Cubs	Bob Turley	Yankees
07/11/1960	Bill Mazeroski	Pirates	Jim Coates	Yankees
07/11/1961	Frank Robinson	Reds	Hoyt Wilhelm	Orioles
07/31/1961	Orlando Cepeda	Giants	Don Schwall	Red Sox
07/10/1962	Rich Rollins	Twins	Don Drysdale	Dodgers
07/10/1962	Brooks Robinson	Orioles	Bob Shaw	Braves (Mil)
07/30/1962	Dick Groat	Pirates	Dave Stenhouse	Senators (2)
07/09/1963	Zoilo Versalles	Twins	Jim O'Toole	Reds
07/07/1964	Elston Howard	Yankees	Turk Farrell	Astros
07/14/1964	Denis Menke	Astros	Jim Perry	Twins
07/13/1971	Willie Stargell	Pirates	Vida Blue	A's
07/15/1975	Thurmon Munson	Yankees	Jerry Reuss	Pirates
07/15/1975	Larry Bowa	Phillies	Rich Gossage	White Sox
07/19/1977	Jerry Morales	Cubs	Sparky Lyle	Yankees
07/19/1977	Ken Singleton	Orioles	Rick Reuschel	Cubs
07/17/1979	Chet Lemon	White Sox	Joaquin Andujar	Astros
07/16/1985	Darryl Strawberry	Mets	Bert Blyleven	Indians
07/13/1993	Cecil Fielder	Tigers	John Burkett	Giants
07/12/1994	Gregg Jefferies	Cardinals	David Cone	Royals
07/07/1998	Craig Biggio	Astros	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays
07/13/1999	Cal Ripken	Orioles	Kent Bottenfield	Cardinals
07/15/2003	Edgar Martinez	Mariners	Jason Schmidt	Giants
07/13/2004	Scott Rolen	Cardinals	Mark Mulder	A's

Note: From 1959 to 1962, 2 All Star Games were played each year.
(1) The 1943 George Case Senators became the Twins franchise while the
(2) 1962 Dave Stenhouse Senators became the Rangers franchise.

As you can see, Craig Biggio is in a 31 way tie for first place on the all time All Star HBP list.

The Cardinals hold the all time franchise record for batters who were hit during the All Star Game with 4, followed closely by the Twins, Phillies, Orioles, and Pirates with 3 each, and the Cubs, Reds, Yankees, Tigers and Astros with 2. The Yankees hold the record for hitting the most batters in All Star play with 5, followed by the Indians with 4, and the Cardinals with 3.

If you compare the lists above with your encyclopedic knowledge of the Baseball Hall of Fame (or, look it up), you'll note that 9 batters who have been plunked in the All Star Game have been inducted to the Hall of Fame, and a 10th is a mortal lock for next season. The 9 current Hall of Famers are Stan Musial, Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews, Al Kaline, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Willie Stargell, Orlando Cepeda and Bill Mazeroski. Cal Ripken should get in next year (and if he doesn't, I'm demanding mandatory testing of the BBWAA for performance inhibiting drugs).

While 9 batters with All Star HBPs are in the Hall, only 4 of the pitchers who have hit a batter are in - Hoyt Wilhelm, Don Drysdale, Bob Lemon and Bob Feller. But Gossage and Blyleven are still on the ballot receiving solid support, and Clemens will obviously get in if he ever actually retires. Blyleven, by the way, is the only pitcher to hit a batter in the All Star game and be traded in the same season.

22 of the 31 batters plunked in All Star play have been right handed batters, 5 were left handed and 4 were switch hitters. All 4 switch hitters were most likely batting left handed since they were all hit by right handed pitchers. 24 of the plunks thrown came out of the right hands of pitchers, and only once did a left handed pitcher hit a left handed batter. Including the switch hitters 8 right handers plunked left handed batters, and 6 left handed pitcher plunks right handed batters.

Only 10 of the 31 plunked All Stars scored a run after being plunked (Biggio did not score), and no one has been hit with the bases loaded in an All Star game. 7 plunks have come in the 1st inning, with 4 of those being leadoff plunks. The innings with the next most HBPs have been the 8th with 5 plunks, and the 2nd and 5th with 4 each. Frank Robinson had the only extra innings plunk in an All Star game in 1961 when Hoyt Wilhelm hit him in the 10th inning. Wilhelm subsequently gave up a single to Roberto Clemente which drove in Willie Mays to win the game. There has been at least 1 All Star plunk in every inning from 1 to 10.

The team that has been plunked the most has 13 wins and 12 losses (with a tie in 1961). The pitchers who have hit a batter have been awarded 3 wins, 5 losses and 1 save, with the rest not being involved in the decision. The home team has absorbed 22 of the 31 All Star plunks.

Scott Rolen is the only participant this year who has been plunked in an All Star game, and Jason Schmidt is the only player on this year's team who has thrown an All Star plunk in the past.