Two more with the Rockies to add to 284

As you may have seen, Craig Biggio was hit by a pitch last night, for the 284th HBP of his career. Fogg became the 19th pitcher to plunk Biggio for the Rockies, and Biggio now has been plunked by Colorado an amazing 33 times. Fogg is the 18th pitcher to plunk Biggio while throwing for two different teams, having previously plunked Biggio for the Pirates. Biggio's last 6 plunks recorded in the month of June have all been thrown by the Rockies, and last night's was his first June HBP in exactly 2 years - since June 29, 2005 when he passed Don Baylor on the all time HBP list.

Umpire Bruce Dreckman sent Biggio to first base after a plunk for the 8th time in his career, moving himself into a tie for 3rd place on the last of Umpires who have ruled Biggio to be plunked the most times. He's 3 behind Charlie Reliford for the all time record, but he's tied with 8 other umpires.

Biggio scored after reaching on a plunk for the 99th time in his career, and Lance Berkman became the 4th player to drive in Biggio after a plunk using a triple. And, the Astros won the game on a Mark Loretta walk-off homer, 9-8, for their second consecutive walk-off homer win. The Astros are now 2-0 this season when Biggio gets plunked and 148-116 all time.

Tonight, the Astros will perhaps see if they can put the game in the win column a little earlier than their final at bat, but at least their recent method of winning keeps the pressure off their closer. Jeff Francis pitches for the Rockies - he's never hit Biggio with a pitch buy he has hit 4 batters this year and led the Rockies with 13 plunks last season. Jeff McCurry plunked Biggio on June 30, 1995 and Allen Levrault and Mike Buddie both hit Biggio with pitches on June 30, 2001.

Tomorrow, Rodrigo Lopez pitches against the Astros. He's never plunked Biggio and hasn't hit anyone this season, but he does have 28 career hit-batters. John Hope is the only pitcher to plunk Biggio on July 1, having done so in 1995.

284!!!

On the elbow with no elbow pad! 5th inning by Josh Fogg. Looks like the record may be chasing Biggio.


And the 99th run after a plunk for Biggio (although you may see Elias Sports Bureau claim it was number 100 - their total does not seem to agree with what the box scores show on Retrosheet.org)

hits by sign

Much as I'd like to write another glowing post about Biggio, his 3002 hits, his hall of fame credentials, or his general awesomeness, wouldn't you rather find out how his 3002 hits break down by the astrological sign of the pitcher he hit them off? I thought so. If you prefer the serious post, it's here.

Craig Biggio's hits by astrological sign of pitcher:

Sign	Pitchers	Hits	HBP	AVG
Leo	122	320	28	0.283
Aries	95	315	25	0.270
Taurus	101	305	24	0.272
Sagittarius	105	279	29	0.290
Scorpio	101	273	23	0.297
Capricorn	97	242	27	0.269
Libra	113	240	21	0.290
Virgo	103	223	24	0.283
Pisces	82	222	25	0.299
Gemini	85	204	19	0.266
Aquarius	105	190	18	0.269
Cancer	73	189	20	0.306

Craig Biggio's hits by Chinese Zodiac sign of pitcher:

Sign	Pitchers	Hits	HBP	AVG
Horse	113	377	22	0.289
Dog	103	267	26	0.282
Rat	104	262	28	0.302
Ram	107	258	29	0.272
Snake	104	257	38	0.267
Rooster	96	256	25	0.291
Monkey	110	242	16	0.272
Rabbit	95	232	21	0.286
Tiger	82	220	26	0.291
Ox	79	218	20	0.275
Pig	94	207	18	0.301
Dragon	95	206	14	0.258

Hopefully his relatively week numbers against Dragons won't keep him out of the Hall.

One very special night in Houston

It didn't exactly go according to script, but Craig Biggio wasted little time, in the Astros first game back in Houston, mixing and pouring the cement and watching it harden to solidify his place in baseball history as one of the greatest of all time. Hit number 2,998 came with Bagwell in the announcers both. 2,999 showed up on a scorers decision after a moment of suspense - it could have been Biggio's 178th time reaching base on an error - but the scorer ruled it a hit. Then, in the 7th inning with the crowd standing and chanting as they did every other time he stepped to the plate, Biggio hit number 3000. Everyone on the planet knew that one was supposed to be a double - one more for the greatest right handed doubles hitter of all time. It would have been his 3000th hit AND his 1000th extra base hit, but Wily Taveras, the former Astro, didn't get the memo. Taveras threw out Biggio trying to stretch hit number 3000 to a double. But that hit did tie the game, and being thrown out allowed the celebration to go on between innings rather than stopping the game. Always thinking that guy is. Biggio came back around in the 9th, leading off the bottom of the inning with the game tied at 4 - and slapped number 3001, just in case someone changed their mind about the ruling on 2999. Biggio got on base to lead off a ninth inning, representing the tying run. That's what he's done for 20 seasons, but it didn't work out to a game winning run in the 9th. Instead the game went to 11 innings, and the Astros fell behind 5-4 and the Astros were down to their final out. Biggio was down to his final strike, but instead of ending the game with an extra-inning loss, he found hit number 3002. The Astros loaded the bases behind him, and Carlos Lee emptied them with a game winning Grand Slam. It was Biggio's 2nd career 5 hit game, and the first time anyone had 5 hits in the game they passed 3000 hits.

It was a remarkably fitting ending to the game - everyone would have loved to see Biggio end the game with a walk-off homer, but that's not really Biggio's game. He can and has won games by himself but he hasn't gotten 3002 hits trying to win every game by himself with home run power. No, he's the table setter - getting on base, and extending the game, to give the power hitters behind him the chance for the rbi - be it Bagwell, Berkman, or Carlos Lee - and making sure those guys have someone on base, someone to drive in as often as he possibly can, even if he has to let the ball hit him 283 times.

Biggio moved into 26th place on the all time hits list last night, but he also moved into a tie for 14th place on the all time runs scored list. That's the real point here - accumulating 3000 hits, or 283 HBPs is a great thing on it's own, but the real point is scoring runs and winning baseball games. Biggio's done that by being on base as much as he possibly can - sort of like having a 5 hit game so you can be on base for that walk-off grand slam, but spread out over a 20 season career. Today is also the 19th anniversary of Biggio's first career hit - in a game in which Orel Hershiser allowed only 2, and shut out the Astros on June 29, 1988. Since then, Biggio has out-hit every guy who put on a major league uniform.




Baseball moves on, after bad games and fantastic ones, and the Astros play again tonight against Rockies starter Josh Fogg. He plunked Biggio on May 11, 2002. It remains to be seen how the Astros will use Biggio now that 3000 is in the books - the talk for weeks has been that he'll see less playing time, but suddenly he's batting .360 over the past two weeks. It also remains to be seen whether or not the race for 288 plunks resumes. Will Biggio put the elbow-pad back on and make it clear he's going to spend his remaining time in the majors taking plunks? Will he leave it off, and still go for the record hard-core style? Will he leave the arm-guard off, actively try not to get hit, and see if the record chase turns into a record that chases him, and if so, can it catch him?

Two years ago today, Byung-Hyun Kim (of the Rockies) gave Biggio the so-called "modern" HBP record, throwing plunk 268, which moved Biggio past Don Baylor. Biggio has also been plunked on this date in 2001 by Ben Sheets, and in 2002 by Anthony Telford.


Once again, Congratulations, Craig Biggio. And some of us still want to see what else you can do in this career. They might not top last night, but surely there's a few more special moments to come. Breaking a certain 104 year old HBP record would be a good choice...

3000 HITS!!!!!

Congratulations Craig Biggio - 3000th hit, and tying the game as well - a few inches short of getting his 1000th extra base hit on the same hit as his 3000th hit.












(is a celebratory plunk too much to ask?)

Killer B, Killer of Bs?

With Craig Biggio on the brink of 3000 hits, and Aaron Cook pitching at him tonight, fans might be interested to know that Biggio has 162 career hits and 22 HBPs against pitchers whose last names begin with the letter C. Biggio has had more career hits against pitchers with 6 last initials other than C, and his .271 average against pitchers whose last names start with C ranks 17th among his averages against pitchers grouped by last initial.

Biggio's highest batting average has been against pitchers with the last initial U - he bats .400 against them with a .933 slugging pct, but he's only had 15 career at bats against 2 pitchers with that last initial. Obviously he'd have reached 3000 hits a lot quicker if the league had more pitchers with last names starting with U. On the other hand though, he's never been plunked by a pitcher with that last initial.

301 of Biggio's career hits have been recorded against pitchers whose last name starts with B. B pitchers have also thrown more plunks (39) than pitchers with any other last initial, but he's also had more plate appearances against B pitchers than against any other group. Biggio's career average against pitchers who share his last initial is .282 - exactly mirroring his overall career average.

Below is an overview of Biggio's key stats, broken down by last initial of the pitcher. Hopefully, opposing managers won't go using this to bring in a Q pitcher to face Biggio, knowing he only bats .154 against them. I wouldn't want it to become a trend and slow the game down even more, as managers start switching pitchers based on last initial.

Last Initial	Pitchers	PA	H	HBP	HR	2B	AVG	SLG	PA/HBP
A	50	567	143	19	14	26	0.300	0.455	29.8
B	104	1240	301	39	22	67	0.282	0.416	31.8
C	77	693	162	22	15	30	0.271	0.42	31.5
D	56	538	140	9	8	31	0.293	0.412	59.8
E	24	164	43	5	7	7	0.301	0.510	32.8
F	46	366	98	9	12	26	0.312	0.510	40.7
G	50	527	119	11	8	22	0.254	0.360	47.9
H	87	957	249	20	21	59	0.298	0.454	47.9
I	5	46	9	1	1	3	0.243	0.405	46.0
J	29	273	70	12	10	14	0.311	0.516	22.8
K	30	187	42	8	4	7	0.271	0.394	23.4
L	58	537	134	14	20	21	0.282	0.465	38.4
M	109	1215	286	16	21	75	0.268	0.404	75.9
N	23	237	60	2	4	12	0.288	0.433	118.5
O	23	262	74	3	11	12	0.320	0.541	87.3
P	66	575	142	12	15	36	0.280	0.451	47.9
Q	3	28	4	0	0	1	0.154	0.192	n/a
R	80	862	213	21	20	41	0.291	0.443	41.0
S	108	1152	265	16	23	59	0.263	0.396	72.0
T	36	424	106	9	13	27	0.281	0.467	47.1
U	2	16	6	0	2	2	0.400	0.933	n/a
V	24	322	79	6	10	15	0.280	0.454	53.7
W	77	947	224	27	21	55	0.275	0.425	35.1
Y	9	46	12	0	2	4	0.273	0.545	n/a
Z	6	68	16	2	2	6	0.291	0.509	34.0

(There has never been a major league player whose last name began with X.)

back at home, time for 3 hits.

The 3000 hits countdown starts for real today, now that the Astros are back at home. If there's a step above "having the green light" for a batter, that's where Craig Biggio is today. Three hits away, back at home, facing a team he has a .347 career average against, and a pitcher he's hit .333 against.

Biggio's only plate appearance in Milwaukee yesterday was a popped up bunt attempt, in the 11th inning of the Astros 6-3 loss.

Tonight, the Colorado Rockies are in town, and giving the ball to Aaron Cook. Biggio is 3 for 9 against Cook, and got plunked by him on April 2, 2003. He had two hits in that game, but it's not inconceivable that he could reach 3000 hits and get hit by a pitch tonight. Biggio has been hit by a pitch and still had time for 3 or more hits in 16 games in his career. In total, he's had three or more hits in a game 222 different times. He has 11 3+ hit games against the Rockies, and 3 or more hits AND a plunk twice against the Rockies.

Today is also a good day for important milestones in Biggio history - two years ago today, he tied Don Baylor on the all-time HBP list on a plunk thrown by Jason Jennings, then of the Rockies. Mark Clark also plunked Biggio on June 28, 1996. That one might not have been quite as historic, but they can't all be milestones. What could be better than tying Roberto Clemente on the hits list on the anniversary of tying Don Baylor on the HBP list?

The waiting has gone on long enough - it's time to count 2,998, 2,999 and 3,000 (transylvanian muppet voices optional). Then, it's time to put the arm-guard back on and get back to counting 284, 285, 286, 287 and 288.

more facts about Biggio's nearly 3000 hits

Craig Biggio's single of Claudio Vargas was his second career hit of Vargas. At the moment, there are 160 pitchers against whom Biggio has 2 career hits. Since there are 160 of them, and those pitchers have each given up 2 hits to Biggio, that means that as a group they've allowed 320 of Biggio's 2,997 hits, and that's more than any other grouping. There are 275 pitchers Biggio has one hit off (for a total, obviously, of 275), and 55 pitchers who Biggio has 5 hits again, for a total of 275.

But, if you take all the pitchers Biggio has faced and group them by the number of hits Biggio has against them, the group that has plunked Biggio the most are the pitchers who he hasn't gotten a hit off of. Biggio has been plunked 35 times by pitchers against whom he's never hit safely. 34 pitchers have plunked Biggio but not given up a hit to them, with Jorge Julio being the only one to hit Biggio twice, but never allow a hit against him. Five other pitchers have given up at least one hit to Biggio, but still have given up more plunks than hits.

Here's the total number of pitchers who have given up each number of hits to Biggio, along with the total hits and total HBPs for each group, and his batting average against pitchers in each group:

BGOhits	# of pitchers	total hits	total HBP	Avg
0	376	0	35	0
1	275	275	29	.280
2	160	320	31	.320
3	88	264	14	.332
4	68	272	14	.282
5	55	275	26	.303
6	33	198	20	.305
7	32	224	22	.349
8	10	80	10	.271
9	19	171	14	.304
10	12	120	10	.335
11	9	99	11	.306
12	16	192	13	.301
13	3	39	1	.302
14	4	56	1	.238
15	6	90	6	.309
16	6	96	4	.330
17	2	34	6	.266
18	2	36	7	.321
20	1	20	0	.278
22	1	22	3	.250
24	1	24	0	.245
25	1	25	3	.410
27	1	27	1	.260
38	1	38	2	.299

If you do some math from that chart, you can see that Biggio has faced 1,182 pitchers in his career, and they've given up an average of about 2.5 hits to him. More than half his hits have come against pitchers who have given up 6 hits or less to him. And, for some reason, Craig Biggio doesn't hit very well against the pitchers he has 14 hits against. (luckily, the only one of those 4 pitchers who is active this year is Curt Schilling, and the Astros won't be seeing him - so their's no point running to your favorite message board or sports radio show demanding Biggio be benched due to his low batting average against pitchers he has 14 hits against - even if Mark Loretta does have a .368 average against pitchers he has 14 hits against)

Here's the same data, grouped by number of times each pitcher has plunked Biggio:

HBP:BGO	# of pitchers	total hits	total HBP	Avg
0	970	1877	0	0.278
1	163	695	163	0.287
2	34	259	68	0.288
3	12	119	36	0.274
4	1	12	4	0.293
5	1	17	5	0.327
7	1	18	7	0.327

As you can see from this, most of his hits have come against the large majority of pitchers who have not plunked him, but his career batting average is .287 against those who have hit him, and .278 against those who haven't.

Biggio has faced 342 pitchers who have neither hit him or given up a hit to him. But he only has a total of 833 plate appearance in that group. Josh Beckett holds the record, facing Biggio 18 times without giving up a hit or hitting him, but Beckett did walk him once. Kelly Downs faced Biggio 11 times without hitting, walking or giving up a hit to him, but Biggio did reach on an RBI fielder's choice once againts Downs. Michael Wuertz holds the record for most times facing Biggio without allowing him to reach base, at 9 times.


Most of this data is available on baseball-reference.com which has complete and up to date stats for Biggio against every pitcher he ever faced here. Which, clearly, I find very handy.

2997

Craig Biggio had one hit last night, moving his career total to 2,997, just three away from Roberto Clemente for 26th on the all time hits list. Unfortunately the Astros needed a few more hits, or maybe an HBP, because the Brewers defeated them 11-5. Biggio did not get hit by a pitch.

The Astros are expected to keep Biggio out of the starting lineup today, but he might be available for pinch-hitting duty. Jeff Suppan pitches for the Brewers today - he contributed to Biggio's HBP total on July 5, 2003.

Danny Jackson, Pete Harnisch and Omar Daal have all plunked Biggio on June 27th. Daal did it most recently, in the 2000 season, Harnisch in 1999 and Jackson in 1995.

Pitchers who plunk 3000 hit club members

If Craig Biggio wanted to do something to really make his entry into the 3,000 hit club special, he'd get hit by a pitch in the same game he reaches 3,000. As far as can be determined from the available boxscores on the internet (retrosheet.org), no one has ever been plunked in the same game they reached 3000 hits. Retrosheet has the box scores for the last 19 games when someone joined the 3000 hit club, so it's possible that Paul Waner, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Nap Lajoie, or Cap Anson got plunked in the game they hit 3000, but it doesn't seem likely. If nothing else, Biggio could be assured he was the only player to do it after 1942.

The closest anyone has come to being plunked in their 3000 hit games was Paul Molitor - he got plunked by Salomon Torres the day before he got his 3000th hit. Torres plunked Molitor when he was sitting on 2,998, in an 0-3 performaces on September 15, 1996. That was a home game, and the 2-hit shutout Torres through that day Molitor's 3000th hit to September 16, 1996 - on the road.

Torres is also one of 4 pitchers who has hit a batter during the season he hit 3,000 and also plunked Craig Biggio. Biggio has been hit by both of the pitchers who plunked Tony Gwynn in 1999 - Shawn Estes and Ismael Valdez, and one of the pitchers who got Cal Ripken in 2000 - Cory Lidle. All but Valdez have plunked Biggio twice. Jorge Julio will join the list this season, as soon as Biggio gets to 3000. And, Julio and whoever else plunks Biggio this season will be the only ones to plunk Biggio in the same season they hit a batter who joined the 3000 hit club that year (although, in this case, both feats would have been accomplished on the same pitch).

The only Astros pitcher to hit someone in the season they reached 3000 was Jack Billingham. He hammered Hank Aaron in 1970. No pitcher among the available data has plunked two different batters in the seasons they hit 3000. While all of the eligible 3000 hit club members have gone on to the Hall of Fame, only one pitcher (since 1942 at least) has plunked a batter the year he joined the 3000 hit club and gone on to be inducted to the Hall - Don Sutton. Sutton hit Willie Mays with a pitch in 1970.

Here's the list of the 3000 hit club, and who hit them with pitches in the season they joined the club. Only three pitchers on the list are active this season - Joe Beimel, Salomon Torres and Tom Gordon.

Player	Year	Plunked By
Rafael Palmeiro	2005	Jeff Nelson, John Halama
Rickey Henderson	2001	Luke Prokopec, Joe Beimel, Felix Rodriguez
Cal Ripken	2000	Jose Paniagua, Cory Lidle, Jeff Zimmerman
Tony Gwynn	1999	Shawn Estes, Ismael Valdes
Wade Boggs	1999	Nobody
Paul Molitor	1996	Jeff Montgomery, Juan Guzman, Salomon Torres
Eddie Murray	1995	Nobody
Dave Winfield	1993	Nobody
George Brett	1992	Dave Stewart, Mike Flanagan, Floyd Banister, Scott Radinsky, Joe Hesketh, Sterling Hitchcock
Robin Yount	1992	Tom Gordon, Melido Perez, Mike Boddicker
Rod Carew	1985	Ed Vande Berg
Lou Brock	1979	Randy Jones, Jerry Reuss, Rudy May
Carl Yastrzemski	1979	Eduardo Rodriguez, David Clyde
Pete Rose	1978	Mickey Mahler, Gerry Pirtle, John Montefusco
Al Kaline	1974	Jim Colborn
Roberto Clemente	1972	Nobody
Willie Mays	1970	Cal Koonce, Dan McGinn, Don Sutton
Hank Aaron	1970	Jack Billingham, John Strohmayer
Stan Musial	1958	Jack Sanford
Paul Waner	1942	?
Eddie Collins	1925	?
Tris Speaker	1925	?
Ty Cobb	1921	?
Honus Wagner	1914	?
Nap Lajoie	1914	?
Cap Anson	1894	?

day off yesterday, playing tonight?

Craig Biggio was given the night off in Milwaukee last night, but the Astros didn't fare very well without him. The team lost 6-1, moving their record to 2 wins and 5 losses in games in which Craig Biggio doesn't play. Throwing in games when he's come off the bench to play this season, the Astros are 4-10 when Craig Biggio is out of the starting lineup. But they're 1-0 when he gets hit by a pitch.

Claudio Vargas will pitch for the Brewers tonight, and Craig Biggio is expected to be in the starting lineup. Vargas has hit 29 batters in his career but he hasn't plunked anyone this season, and he's never plunked Biggio. I'm sure he'll do the right thing and plunk Biggio in any subsequent plate appearances if Biggio starts out the game 3-3 and gets up to 2,999 hits. He'll be booed like he's never been booed before on his next trip to Houston if he gives up 4 hits to Biggio in Milwaukee tonight, denying him the chance to reach 3000 at home. (While I hope Biggio records plunk 288 at home, I'd also prefer to see it not quite so orchestrated.)

Tim Worrell plunked Biggio on June 26, 1996 and Mark Petkovsek did the same on June 26, 1995. The Astros are 2-0 when Craig Biggio gets hit by a pitch on June 26th.

Claudio Vargas hit Placido Polanco on June 26, 2005.

plunks in the season a player reaches 3000 hits

Craig Biggio needs a total of 6 HBPs this season to pass Hughie Jennings for the all time HBP record. Coincidentally, 6 is also the most plunks any player has recorded in the season he reached 3000 hits. George Brett holds that record, from his 1992 season when he got hit by 6 pitches, and reached 3000 hits on September 30th. He's the only player to get plunked more than 4 times, and both players with that many plunks in the season of their 3000th hit did it in 1925 - Eddie Collins and Tris Speaker.

3 of the last 8 players to join the 3000 hit club did so in seasons in which they weren't plunked at all.

Player	Season	HBP
George Brett	1992	6
Eddie Collins	1925	4
Tris Speaker	1925	4
Ty Cobb	1921	3
Cap Anson	1894	3
Lou Brock	1979	3
Pete Rose	1978	3
Willie Mays	1970	3
Rickey Henderson	2001	3
Cal Ripken	2000	3
Paul Molitor	1996	3
Robin Yount	1992	3
Rafael Palmeiro	2005	2
Tony Gwynn	1999	2
Carl Yastrzemski	1979	2
Hank Aaron	1970	2
Honus Wagner	1914	2
Nap Lajoie	1914	2
Rod Carew	1985	1
Stan Musial	1958	1
Paul Waner	1942	1
Al Kaline	1974	1
Roberto Clemente	1972	0
Wade Boggs	1999	0
Eddie Murray	1995	0
Dave Winfield	1993	0

Biggio sits 4 hits away, as you've probably heard, from 3,000. The longest he's ever taken to get 4 hits was 16 games - that was going from career hit number 14 to 18, back in 1988. His longest 4 hit span this season was 11 games, getting from hit 2,978 to 2,982. So, it won't be long before he can stop worrying about hitting the ball and get back to... reaching base in a wider variety of ways.

hit counter moves to 2,996

Craig Biggio's HBP count remains stuck at 283, but he did go 3-5 in yesterday's game, and drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning of last night's 12-9 win. Biggio's 10th inning RBI double moved him to 658 - which, if you hadn't heard, is more doubles than any right handed hitter has ever hit. The Astros did not win the coveted Silver Boot, losing the season series with the Rangers 4-2, but Biggio retained his 1-hit lead over Michael Young in the all time Lone Star Series batting chart. They both had 4 hits over the weekend, so Biggio has 54 hits against he Rangers and Young has 53 against the Astros. Craig Biggio is batting .327 over his last 11 games.

The Astros move on to Milwaukee tonight, for three games against the Brewers, beginning with a matchup against Ben Sheets tonight. Sheets plunked Biggio on June 29, 2001 and August 17, 2006. And, with Biggio perched on the brink of 3000 hits, and on the road, this is the perfect opportunity for him to put the elbow pad and work his way back into the get-hitting form he needs to find to break the all time plunk record. The Astros would obviously prefer the he get his 3000th hit in a home game, and if he doesn't spend a few plate appearances looking to get hit rather than looking to hit, he might get that 3000th hit in Milwaukee. I'm sure the fans at Miller Park would hate to see that, like how they refused to watch an all-star game that ended in someone actually winning, and demanded it end in a tie. They make take steps... or measures... to prevent such a thing.

Miguel Batista plunked Biggio on June 25, 2001.

And, Rod Beck plunked Biggio on September 7, 1997. Beck reportedly died Saturday, which sadly means that 3 of the 212 pitchers who hit Craig Biggio with a pitch are no longer with us. That, of course, is entirely too many.

Silver Boot in jeopardy

Well, if the Astros beat the Rangers in the final two games of the Lone Star series this weekend, and win by a total combined score of more than 19 runs, they can still win the Silver Boot. In the event that the teams split their 6 games in a season, the boot is given to the team who scores more runs, but after last night's 11-3 loss, the Astros are down 3 games to 1 in the series, and down 33 to 14 in total runs.

Biggio did get one hit last night, bringing his career total to 2,993. And he scored one of the Astros three runs. Somehow, despite the low batting average, and low OBP, and the near total lack of getting hit by pitches this season, Craig Biggio still leads the Astros in runs scored.

The Astros are expected to rest Biggio today, keeping him out of the starting lineup even though the Rangers are sending Jamey Wright to the mound. Wright is third on the all time list in the category of hitting Craig Biggio with pitches, with 4. He trails only Pedro Astacio and Mark Gardner. Jamey Wright plunked Biggio on August 24, 1997, September 9, 1997, July 23, 2002, and . If he Biggio does get into the game and happens to get plunked by Wright, Wright could become the first pitcher to plunk Biggio while pitching for three different teams, and the 3rd pitcher to hit Biggio with a pitch while pitching in both leagues. The Astros are 4-0 when Jamey Wright hits Craig Biggio with a pitch.

Biggio has been plunked once on June 23rd - by Francisco Cordova of the Pirates in 1997.


On Sunday, Robinson Tejeda is expected to pitch for the Rangers. He's never plunked Biggio, but he has hit 5 batters this season and 16 in his 232.1 inning career. Biggio has never been hit by a pitch on June 24th.

Lone Star Series records

Craig Biggio comes into tonight's game against the Rangers tied with Lance Berkman for the all time HBP record in the Lone Star Series. Both Biggio and Berkman have been plunked 5 times by the Rangers. There have only been 28 plunks thrown in the 39 games Texas and Houston have played each other so far, and Biggio and Berkman have been the target of more than a third of them. Berkman has had 2 more games to get plunked against Texas though - he's the only player for either team to play in all 39 games. Biggio and Michael Young have played in 37. Biggio is also the only player ever to be plunked twice in a game between the Rangers and Astros.

Here's the all time HBP list in the battle for Texas:
Craig Biggio - 5
Lance Berkman - 5
Alex Rodriguez - 3
Kevin Mench - 2
Mark Teixeira - 2
Jeff Bagwell - 2
Glen Barker - 2
Carlos Beltran - 1
Frank Catalanotto - 1
Brad Fullmer - 1
Carlos Lee - 1
Gerald Laird - 1
Willy Taveras - 1
Ivan Rodriguez - 1

Biggio also holds the lead in hits, runs and doubles in games between Houston and Texas, and he is only 1 Home Run away from the lead in that category.

All time hits in Rangers-Astros games (top ten):
Craig Biggio - 50 (37 games)
Michael Young - 49 (37 games)
Lance Berkman - 39 (39 games)
Mark Teixeira - 29 (25 games)
Kevin Mench - 26 (28 games)
Richard Hidalgo - 25 (25 games - 16 for the Astros, 9 for the Rangers)
Hank Blalock - 24 (24 games)
Morgan Ensberg - 21 (25 games)
Jose Vizcaino - 21 (24 games)
Alex Rodriguez - 20 (18 games)
Jeff Bagwell - 20 (23 games)

Runs in Rangers-Astros games (top ten):
Craig Biggio - 34
Michael Young - 23
Mark Teixeira - 20
Lance Berkman - 20
Hank Blalock - 19
Morgan Ensberg - 19
Jeff Bagwell - 17
Alex Rodriguez - 16
Rafael Palmeiro - 12
Alfonso Soriano - 12
Richard Hidalgo - 12

Double in Rangers-Astros games (top ten):
Craig Biggio - 11
Lance Berkman - 10
Michael Young - 9
Richard Hidalgo - 9
Mark Teixeira - 7
Gary Matthews - 6
Hank Blalock - 6
Jeff Bagwell - 5
Kevin Mench - 5
Alex Rodriguez - 5

Home runs in Rangers-Astros games (top ten):
Mark Teixeira - 8
Kevin Mench - 7
Craig Biggio - 7
Morgan Ensberg - 7
Lance Berkman - 5
Rafael Palmeiro - 5
Michael Young - 5
Ivan Rodriguez - 4
Hank Blalock - 4
Moises Alou - 4

RBI in Ranger-Astros games (top ten):
Lance Berkman - 23
Morgan Ensberg - 20
Kevin Mench - 20
Michael Young - 19
Mark Teixeira - 18
Alex Rodriguez - 17
Jeff Bagwell - 16
Craig Biggio - 14
Hank Blalock - 12
Richard Hidalgo - 12

Top ten batting averages in Rangers-Astros games, minimum 50 ABs:
Gary Matthews - .352 (54 AB)
Craig Biggio - .345 (145 AB)
Michael Young - .331 (148 AB)
Richard Hidalgo - .325 (77 AB)
Mark Teixeira - .309 (94 AB)
Alex Rodriguez - .308 (65 AB)
Jose Vizcaino - .273 (77 AB)
Lance Berkman - .269 (145 AB)
Hank Blalock - .264 (91 AB)
Kevin Mench - .257 (101 AB)

3 more for the Silver boot

The Astros get back to work in Arlington tonight, for the first of the final three games in this years Lone Star series for the Silver Boot. Kevin Millwood will be pitching for the Rangers, but Craig Biggio will probably be dodging potential plunks in favor of looking for another hit, and another step toward 3000. Millwood has hit 5 batters this season (tied for the team lead in that category), and 45 in his career.

Two years ago today, Jason Jennings plunked Biggio twice on June 22, 2005 - that was the last time Biggio got hit twice in one game. Craig Biggio was also hit in a road game against the Rangers on June 22, 2003 by Joaquin Benoit, and by Mike Trombley of the Twins on June 22, 1998.

Last game in Anaheim

Craig Biggio scored a run last night, but he didn't get a hit or get hit by a pitch, and the Astros gave up a 6 run rally in the 7th inning to lose 8-4.

The Astros have today off, traveling back to Texas to finish up interleague play against the Rangers. So, Biggio won't be adding to the long list of pitchers who have plunked him on June 21st - Pete Harnisch, Carlos Perez, Ismael Valdes, Erasmo Ramirez and Jamey Wright.

All five of Biggio's HBPs on this date were recorded in the state of Texas - three at home and two - thrown by Ismael Valdes and Erasmo Ramirez on June 21, 2003 - for the Rangers at Arlington.
Pete Harnisch threw plunk 131 at the Astrodome, nine years and 152 plunks ago, on June 21, 1998.

Carlos Perez threw HBP number 168 on June 21, 2000, and Jamey Wright threw number 264 on June 21, 2005.

How Craig Biggio prevents Earthquakes.

According to data from the Southern California Earthquake Data Center, there have been 13,491 earthquakes in the Southern California area on days when Craig Biggio has been hit by a pitch. Most, obviously, have been very small, averaging about 1.48 in magnitude. The SCEDC has recorded about 48.6 earthquake events per day on days when Biggio gets hit by a pitch, but only 46.6 on days when he does not get plunked. When Biggio gets hit by pitches, he prevents 2 earthquakes a day. And since he's been hit on 263 dates, that means he's prevented 526 earthquakes, right? Now that's taking one for the team.

Also, the average magnitude of quakes recorded on days when Biggio plays but doesn't get plunked is 1.53, but it dips to 1.49 when he does gets hit once and 1.43 on days when he's been hit twice.

The most intense earthquakes to occur on days when Biggio has been hit by a pitch were both about 5.0 magnitude aftershocks of the Northridge Earthquake. The first was on June 26, 1995 when Mark Petkovsek plunked Biggio, and the other was April 26, 1997 when he was hit by Shawn Estes. But who knows how powerful those 2 he prevented on both of those days could have been.

The highest magnitude quakes recorded on days when Biggio got hit by a pitch in California were a pair of 3.68 quakes on June 6, 1997 when Biggio got hit by Joey Hamilton in San Diego. One of those had an epicenter just 21.5 miles from Jack Murphy Stadium.

Last chance for an Anaheim plunk

The Astros scored 9 runs for the 2nd consecutive night in Anaheim last night, but this time it was enough for a win - 9-5. Two of those runs were scored by Craig Biggio, which moved his career total to 1816, tied for 15th all-time with Carl Yastrzemski. Biggio also had 2 more hits, bringing his career total to 2,992, but the career plunk total remains stuck at 283.

Tonight, Craig Biggio will probably have his last chance to get hit by a pitch at Angels Stadium. Ervin Santana pitches for the Angels tonight, and he's hit 4 batters this season. Santana has hit 23 batters in his career, which is only 20 more plunks than Biggio has received on June 20th.

Craig Biggio was plunked on June 20th in three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000. Rick Krivda threw plunk 130 on June 20, 1998, Bobby Ayala threw number 148 on June 20, 1999, and Kevin Brown threw Biggio's 167th career HBP on June 20, 2000.

first games in a ballpark

Last night's game at Anaheim was Biggio's first at Angels Stadium, and that park became the 40th different ballpark in which Craig Biggio has hit safely. It was also the 29th park in which he hit safely in his first game. There are only four ballparks where Biggio took more than 2 games to get his first hit in that park. The Reds held him hitless for his first 4 games at Riverfront/Cinergy. He didn't get a hit until his 4th game as a rookie at the Astrodome, and his first two games on both sides of San Fransisco Bay - at Candlestick and whatever the A's park was called that week - resulted in 0 hit games, before he got a hit in his 3rd. Biggio waited for his 2nd game to get his first hit at both Atlanta Stadiums, both Busch Stadiums, Stade Olympique, Shea Stadium, and Dodger Stadium. He has now hit safely in his first career game at Chase Field, Citizen's Bank Park, Comiskey Park II, Coors Field, County Stadium, Great American Ball Park, Joe Robbie Stadium, Miller Park, Minute Maid Park, Camden Yards, Petco Park, PNC Park, Qualcomm Stadium, Royals Stadium, The Ballpark at Arlington, Three Rivers Stadium, Veterans Stadium, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium, Comerica Park, Jacobs Field, Mile High Stadium, Fenway Park, RFK Stadium, Safeco Field, Metrodome, AT&T Park, Tiger Stadium, and Angels Stadium though not in that order, and not necessarily when the parks had those names (which may or may not be their current names).

Craig Biggio has at least 1 hit in every major league park in which he's played a game.

He's gotten hit by a pitch in his first game at three different parks - the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and the Frequently Renamed Coliseum in Oakland. But, Citizen Bank Park was the only park at which he hit safely and got hit safely in his first game there. He got a hit their first in that game, so New Busch, Oakland Coliseum, and old Riverfront Park (where Biggio got hit in his 4th game, and got a hit in his 5th) are the only parks where he recorded an HBP before he recorded a hit.

Angels Stadium also became, last night, the 10th park at which Biggio has played but not been plunked, joining Fenway Park, Jacobs Field (Cleveland), Mile High Stadium, Tiger Stadium, Comerica Park (Detroit), the Metrodome, Safeco Field (Seattle), AT&T park (San Francisco), and RFK Stadium. AT&T Park holds the record, among the parks he's never been hit at, for the most games Biggio has played there, but it's still 15 games short of Dodger Stadium for the most games before Biggio records an HBP. He didn't get hit in a road game against the Dodgers until his 41st game at Dodger Stadium.

Biggio has only grounded into a double play at 27 different ballparks - three less than he's been plunked in - and only grounded into a double play more than once at 16 parks. At the moment, there are no road ballparks at which Biggio has reached double digits in grounding into double plays, and he's only done that in his first game at two parks - Pacbell/AT&T Park and Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins Stadium.

anaheim slugfest

The Astros and Angels exchanged 5 run innings last night, but the Angels came up on the winning end, defeating the Astros in the 9th inning, 10-9. Biggio hit a single in the 5th inning for his 2,990th hit, but he remained unplunked for the 52nd consecutive game.

Bartolo Colon throws for the Angels tonight. He's only hit 38 batters on 30,804 career pitches, but this season he's hit 3 batters, which equals his season total for each of the last 3 seasons. Bartolo Colon has never plunked Biggio, but he has given up 5 hits in 16 at-bats.

Shawn Chacon plunked Biggio on June 19, 2001.

Californians and home state plunks

Craig Biggio has been hit by more pitchers born in California than any other state - 31 California born pitchers have plunked him a total of 42 times, but only 4 of those pitchers actually plunked Biggio in a park in California. Biggio has been plunked as many times by pitchers from Georgia, in California, than by Californians.

Craig Biggio has only been plunked in three states by pitchers born in those states. 4 times in California by Californians (Rod Beck, Tom Candiotti, Tim Scott, and Tim Worrell), once in Georgia (Chuck James), and 14 times in Texas. Texans Frank Castillo, Jason Jennings and Greg Maddux did it twice each, and Danny Darwin, Xavier Hernandez, Danny Jackson, Michael Jackson, Mark Petkovsek, Scott Ruffcorn, and Kip Wells have all plunked Biggio in Texas.

John Lackey, tonight's starter in Anaheim, is from Texas. He'd be just the 2nd Texan to plunk Biggio in California, and the first since Calvin Schiraldi threw plunk #8 in 1990. 19 Californians have plunked Biggio 26 times in Texas, but of course, the majority of his HBPs have been in the Lone Star State.

obscure?

For those of you who spotted the article on abcnews.com about this site, I'd just like to point out that I didn't actually mean to call Craig Biggio "obscure". I was meaning to express that he was under-appreciated in much of the country, and doesn't receive the attention he deserves. But, the conversation was themed on obscure records and stats, and I became a bit vocabulary-challenged. (Mr. Ferran said he came upon the site while researching other records to go along with the article about Bobby Cox's ejection record.)

He also got my name wrong, but I don't really have a problem with that.

Angels - not Charlie's

The Astros swept three game series for the first time this season, with three straight wins over the Seattle Mariners, and Craig Biggio has increased his career hit total to 2,989. He's collected 11 hits in as few as four games, but he's only done it that quickly twice, and not since 1995. That Colorado series at Minute Maid Park, June 28th-30th looks like a good time to have Astros tickets, and hopefully Craig Biggio can go back to refusing to get out of the way of pitches after that.

Tonight the Astros are in Anaheim where the Los Angeles Angels are "of" and where they play baseball at Angels Stadium. The Angels have never plunked Biggio, and they'll be the last team on the Astros schedule this season who can say that. John Lackey is scheduled to pitch tonight, and baseball's he throws hit batters at a rate of about one per 94 batters faced. He's never plunked Biggio, but he has hit 47 other batters.

Pedro Astacio plunked Biggio on June 18, 2001, and the Astros are 1-0 on this date when Biggio gets plunked.

just 12 more hits

Craig Biggio went 3-5 in last night's 5-1 win over the Mariners, and hit his 657th double, tying him with Nap Lajoie for 6th all time in that category. His three hits moved him past Sam Rice into 27th place on the all time hits list, with no one left between him and Roberto Clemente at 3,000 - just 12 hits away. The fastest Biggio has ever gotten 12 hits was in 5 games, and he's done that several times, as recently as April 17-23, 2006. The longest he's ever taken to get 12 hits was 34 games, back in the '88 and '89 seasons. So, soon he should get back to being able to get hit by pitches instead of focusing on getting hits. The plunkless streak is now up to 50 games.

Tonight, the Astros face Seattle starter Cha Seung Baek. He's hit 6 batters, 2 this season, but he's never faced Craig Biggio. Rudy Seanez hit Biggio with a pitch on June 16, 1999.

Tomorrow, left-hander Jerrod Washburn throws for the Mariners. He's hit 4 batters this year and 49 in his career, at a rate of about 1 per 122 batters faced. Jeff Brantley plunked Biggio on June 17, 1998, and Oscar Villareal hit him on June 17, 2003.

Mariners notes

Until Ichiro gains 2 more plunks on Craig Biggio's franchise total, Biggio has been hit by more pitches than the top 5 players in Mariners franchise history. Edgar Martinez is their franchise leader with 89 HBPs, but their top 5, at the moment, has a total of 282 plunks.
Here's the Mariners top 10 franchis HBP list:
Edgar Martinez - 89
Dave Valle - 60
Jay Buhner - 53
Ken Griffey - 47
Bret Boone - 33
Ichiro Suzuki - 33
Alex Rodriguez - 31
Phil Bradley - 31
Mike Cameron - 31
Alvin Davis - 28

As you can see, only 4 players have been plunked more in their career with the Mariners than Biggio was in the 1997 season (34). Biggio's season high is twice the single season record for the Mariners. Dave Valle had 17 in 1993, but no other Mariner has had as many as Kenji Johjima's 13 last season. Jose Guillen, though, has been hit 9 times already this season.

By some strange coincidence, the Mariners record for hitting batters is the same number as their record for being hit. Randy Johnson has still hit more batters than any other pitcher in the franchise's 30.4 season history, with 89.
Top 10 pitchers in career hit batsmen for the Mariners:
Randy Johnson - 89
Jamie Moyer - 79
Jeff Nelson - 43
Bill Swift - 40
Joel Pineiro - 36
Ryan Franklin - 36
Freddy Garcia - 36
Mike Moore - 29
Matt Young - 29
Mark Langston - 26

Randy Johnson also holds the single season Mariners record for hitting batters with 18, but this year, Mariners reliever Sean White has an excellent chance to break the team record in hitting batters in relief appearances. Ron Villone hit 9 batters as a reliever in 2004 (and another 3 as a starter), but White has hit 7 in as a reliever already this season.

The Mariners have employed, at some point in their careers, 13 of the 212 pitchers who have plunked Biggio. Only the Twins and Devil Rays have had fewer members of the Biggio plunkers club pass through their rosters. It would be 14 for the Mariners, if Umpire Doug Eddings hadn't denied Biggio the HBP thrown by Jeff Weaver on August 28, 2005, claiming Biggio didn't try to get out of the way. Biggio claims the pitch was a slider that started out behind him, and he therefor had no place to go.

Oakland out, Seattle in

The Astros lost another extra innings game yesterday, 6-5, and Craig Biggio didn't start but he did get a pinch hit single moving him to 2,985 hits. A's pitchers continued, though, to avoid the negative publicity that comes with plunking someone who's making a run at 3000 hits. 15 more hits though, and hopefully we can get back to trying to do something no one has done, rather than something 26 of the best players ever have done.

Tonight, the Seattle Mariners visit Houston, with 21 year old Felix Hernandez scheduled to pitch. Hernandez was born only 14 months before Craig Biggio was drafted by the Astros, and he would be the 2nd youngest pitcher ever to plunk Biggio if he does so tonight. Hernandez is about 3 months older than Kerry Wood was the first time he hit Craig Biggio with a pitch. Despite his young age, Hernandez has already hit 9 batters in 52 career starts. He has never faced Craig Biggio.

None of Craig Biggio's 283 career HBPs was recorded on June 15th, but he does have 24 career hits on this date.

even more stuff about Jason Kendall

Craig Biggio's plunkless streak has now reached 48 consecutive games, tying for the 7th longest of his career, but Jason Kendall is also in a significant HBP slump. Kendall has gone 23 consecutive games without being hit, and that's tied for the 12th longest of his career. If he goes another week without being hit, he'll be in his 4th longest plunkless streak ever. Kendall has only gone 30 or more games without being hit by a pitch 3 times - a 31 game streak in 1999, a 34 game streak in 2000, and his career long 50 game plunkless streak in 2001.

With only 3 plunks this season, Kendall is well below his career average of 19 plunks per year. If he can get back on that pace, Kendall can contend for the all time HBP record in late 2010 or early 2011. While plunks are inherently unpredictable, and difficult to project, his current pace would give him 8 for this season. You can never tell with these things if that's just a one year dip or a declining trend, but to keep playing into 2011, he'll need to stay healthy, and probably pick up his hitting above his .210 average this season. He turns 33 years old in 12 days, and if 8 plunks a season a regular thing for him, he'll need to keep playing to age 42 to have a shot at the plunk title.


By playing for a team in each league, Jason Kendall has managed to be hit by 28 of the 30 major league franchises, missing (or missed by) only Toronto and Pittsburgh (he has never played his former team). Biggio, playing solely in the NL, has only been hit by 23 different teams. But, Kendall has only been hit 18 times at most by any one team (the Reds), but Biggio's been hit at least that many times by 7 teams, with a career high of 32 against the Rockies. Kendall, also due to playing for teams in both leagues, has gotten hit in 35 different ballparks, to Biggio's 30. And, while Biggio has been plunked most often by pitchers born under the zodiac sign Sagittarius, with 29, Kendall's plunks by Sagittarii are tied with those thrown by Pisces with 25 each. They've both been hit most often by pitchers born in the Chinese year of the Snake, with 38 for Biggio and 29 for Kendall.

Kendall has been plunked once on his own birthday, on June 26, 1998, and on September 15, 1998 he was hit in both games of a double header. Craig Biggio has never done either of those things, mostly because his birthday is in December, and the Astros play in a dome, causing a scarcity of double headers in Biggio's career.



Below is the complete list of pitchers that have plunked Jason Kendall. The number of times each has plunked Biggio is in parenthesis, and those plunks which resulted in Kendall scoring a run are marked with an "r".

Jamey Wright (4)	8/5/1998 at COL r 8/5/1998 at COL 6/28/2001 at MIL 9/5/2001 at MIL 7/13/2002 vs MIL r 8/14/2004 at COL
Ryan Dempster	5/22/1999 vs FLO 7/17/2002 at CIN 7/3/2003 at CIN 7/3/2003 at CIN
Chan Ho Park (3)	6/26/1998 vs LAN r 5/31/1999 at LAN 8/9/2001 at LAN r 4/18/2005 vs TEX
Kevin Brown (2)	6/21/1996 vs FLO 5/21/1998 at SDN 5/14/2005 at NYA r
Paul Byrd (2)	6/23/1999 vs PHI r 7/21/2000 at PHI r 8/11/2005 at ANA
Matt Clement (2)	5/27/2003 vs CHN r 5/28/2004 at CHN r 5/17/2005 at BOS
Wayne Franklin	7/7/2003 vs MIL 8/22/2003 vs MIL 8/22/2003 vs MIL
Shane Reynolds	8/19/1996 vs HOU 4/4/2000 at HOU 8/31/2003 at ATL
Dave Weathers	4/24/1996 at FLO 6/13/1996 at FLO r 4/16/2004 vs NYN r
Antonio Alfonseca	5/20/1999 vs FLO 6/7/2001 vs FLO
John Burkett	5/26/2001 vs ATL 6/5/2003 at BOS r
Danny Darwin (1)	9/1/1996 at HOU r 8/23/1997 at SFN
Adam Eaton	4/29/2003 vs SDN r 9/5/2006 at TEX r
Joe Fontenot	5/23/1998 vs FLO r 5/23/1998 vs FLO
Mark Hutton	8/9/1997 vs COL 5/9/1998 at CIN r
Mike Jackson (1)	9/3/1997 at CLE 4/6/2001 vs HOU
Cory Lidle (2)	6/22/1997 vs NYN 6/19/2002 at OAK
Mike Maddux	4/6/1999 at MON r 6/1/1999 at LAN
Wade Miller	7/7/2002 at HOU 5/14/2003 at HOU
Matt Morris (1)	7/5/1997 vs SLN r 8/16/1998 vs SLN
Robb Nen	4/28/1998 vs SFN r 8/11/2002 vs SFN
Mark Prior	5/22/2002 vs CHN 9/15/2004 vs CHN
John Riedling	4/9/2001 at CIN 9/18/2002 at CIN r
John Smiley (1)	4/30/1996 vs CIN r 7/17/1997 at CIN
Todd Stottlemyre	7/6/1997 vs SLN 5/6/1998 at SLN
Kevin Tapani	9/10/1998 vs CHN 5/5/2000 vs CHN r
Brett Tomko	6/11/1997 vs CIN 7/28/2003 vs SLN
Steve Trachsel	9/28/1996 vs CHN 4/24/1997 vs CHN
Javier Vazquez	5/16/1999 at MON r 5/23/2006 vs CHA
Chris Young	7/17/2005 at TEX 7/22/2005 vs TEX r
Juan Acevedo (1)	7/15/1997 at NYN r
Pedro Astacio (7)	9/8/1996 vs LAN
Manuel Aybar (1)	9/19/1997 at SLN
Brian Bannister	5/15/2007 at KCA
Miguel Batista (2)	5/11/2003 at ARI
Shayne Bennett	5/31/1998 at MON
Willie Blair (2)	6/6/2000 at DET
Brian Boehringer	4/25/1998 vs SDN
Boof Bonser	6/1/2006 at MIN r
Ricky Bottalico	4/28/1997 vs PHI
Travis Bowyer	9/19/2005 at MIN
Dave Burba	6/10/1997 vs CIN
Chris Capuano (1)	5/17/2003 vs ARI r
Hector Carrasco (1)	6/8/2005 vs WAS
Scott Cassidy	6/29/2006 vs SDN
Juan Cerros	9/8/2003 vs CIN r
Mark Clark (2)	9/4/1998 at CHN r
Brad Clontz	4/30/1998 at LAN r
Francisco Cordero	7/17/2005 at TEX
Jesse Crain	8/4/2005 vs MIN r
Juan Cruz (1)	9/28/2003 vs CHN
Jeff D'Amico (1)	9/23/2000 vs MIL r
Vic Darensbourg	6/5/2001 vs FLO
Elmer Dessens	4/30/2000 at CIN
R.A. Dickey	9/24/2005 at TEX
Octavio Dotel	9/16/2000 vs HOU
Scott Downs	7/5/2000 vs CHN r
Justin Duchscherer	6/12/2004 vs OAK r
Leo Estrella (1)	8/24/2003 vs MIL
Alex Fernandez	5/23/1999 vs FLO
Kevin Foster	9/20/1996 at CHN
Ryan Franklin	6/23/2005 vs SEA
Eric Gagne	4/25/2001 vs LAN
Mark Gardner (5)	8/13/1996 at SFN r
Jon Garland	7/2/2005 at CHA r
Gary Glover	9/6/2004 at MIL
Edgar Gonzalez	8/24/2004 at ARI
Dwight Gooden	6/9/1998 vs CLE r
Mike Grace	7/1/1999 at PHI r
Danny Graves (1)	4/4/2001 vs CIN r
Zack Greinke	8/5/2005 vs KCA
Mark Guthrie (1)	8/18/1998 at LAN r
Luther Hackman	4/30/2003 vs SDN
Mike Hampton	5/13/1998 vs HOU
Travis Harper	5/7/2006 at TBA
LaTroy Hawkins	6/17/1997 vs MIN
Jimmy Haynes (1)	4/11/2004 vs CIN
Dustin Hermanson (2)	4/2/1998 vs MON
Livan Hernandez (1)	5/22/1998 vs FLO
Craig House	8/8/2000 vs COL
J.P. Howell	9/9/2006 vs TBA
Luke Hudson	4/30/2006 vs KCA r
Tim Hudson	6/11/2004 vs OAK
Jason Isringhausen	8/27/2004 at SLN
Jose Jimenez (1)	8/8/2003 vs COL r
Bobby Jones	4/16/2000 at NYN r
Doug Jones	6/18/1998 vs MIL
Mike Judd	7/18/2000 vs LAN r
Jeff Juden (1)	6/21/1998 vs MIL r
Joe Kennedy (1)	8/15/2004 at COL
Darryl Kile (1)	6/25/1997 vs HOU
Sun-Woo Kim (1)	7/9/2004 vs MON
Danny Kolb	8/1/2004 vs MIL r
John Lackey	9/26/2005 at ANA
Al Leiter (3)	9/2/2005 at NYA r
Mark Leiter (3)	5/10/1996 at SFN
Curt Leskanic (1)	8/23/1996 vs COL
Allen Levrault (1)	9/4/2001 at MIL r
Jon Lieber (1)	7/3/2000 vs CHN
Jose Lima	9/16/2000 vs HOU
Albie Lopez	9/1/1997 at CLE
Mike MacDougal	8/21/2005 at KCA
Scott MacRae	9/7/2001 at CIN
John Maine	8/28/2005 vs BAL
Ramon Martinez	4/11/1997 at LAN
T.J. Mathews	5/21/1997 vs SLN
Troy Mattes	6/24/2001 at MON
Brandon McCarthy	4/20/2007 vs TEX r
Greg McMichael	9/23/1997 vs NYN
Kevin Millwood	4/14/1998 vs ATL
Dave Mlicki	4/4/1998 vs NYN r
Guillermo Mota	5/15/1999 at MON r
Terry Mulholland	6/2/1997 vs CHN
Bobby Munoz	8/2/1996 vs PHI
Heath Murray (1)	6/19/1999 vs SDN r
Mike Mussina	4/4/2006 at NYA
Denny Neagle	6/28/2003 at COL
Russ Ortiz (1)	8/3/2000 vs SFN
Donovan Osborne (1)	9/15/1998 vs SLN r
Roy Oswalt	8/24/2001 at HOU
Brad Penny	6/5/2001 vs FLO r
Mark Petkovsek (1)	9/15/1998 vs SLN
Mark Portugal (2)	7/11/1998 at PHI
Luke Prokopec	8/8/2001 at LAN
Brad Radke	4/11/2006 vs MIN
Erasmo Ramirez (1)	6/10/2004 vs TEX r
Horacio Ramirez	8/30/2003 at ATL r
Steve Reed (3)	8/9/2003 vs COL
Arthur Rhodes	9/12/2005 vs CLE
Mariano Rivera	5/6/2005 vs NYA r
Kirk Rueter (2)	9/22/1998 vs SFN
Glendon Rusch (1)	8/23/2002 vs MIL
Ken Ryan (1)	9/11/1998 vs PHI
Ervin Santana	9/24/2006 at ANA
Pete Schourek	4/19/1997 at CIN
Jae Weong Seo	4/17/2003 at NYN
Ben Sheets (2)	7/3/2002 at MIL
Bill Simas	6/30/1997 at CHA
Lee Smith	5/25/1997 vs MON r
John Smoltz (1)	4/16/1998 vs ATL
Rafael Soriano	4/8/2006 vs SEA
Jorge Sosa	6/14/2003 vs TBA r
Jerry Spradlin	4/28/1997 vs PHI
Rob Stanifer (1)	8/15/1997 vs FLO r
Brian Stokes	5/5/2007 vs TBA
Jeff Suppan (1)	8/27/2004 at SLN r
Mac Suzuki	6/10/2000 vs KCA
Julian Tavarez	9/24/2001 at CHN
Brian Tollberg	8/10/2001 at SDN r
Salomon Torres (2)	6/1/1997 at MON
Marc Valdes (1)	5/22/1997 vs MON
Ed Vosberg	8/16/1997 vs FLO
Terrell Wade	5/9/1997 at ATL
Billy Wagner	7/28/2001 at HOU r
Donne Wall	6/24/1997 vs HOU r
Jarrod Washburn	8/4/2006 vs SEA r
Jeff Weaver	6/7/1999 vs DET
Turk Wendell (1)	9/23/1996 at CHN
Mike Williams	6/14/1997 at KCA
Scott Williamson	4/3/2001 vs CIN
Woody Williams	6/3/2004 at SLN
Paul Wilson (1)	4/23/2004 at CIN
Randy Wolf (1)	4/7/2004 at PHI
Steve Woodard (2)	5/27/1998 vs MIL
Tim Worrell (1)	9/10/1996 vs SDN r
Esteban Yan	8/19/2003 vs SLN
Carlos Zambrano (2)	5/30/2004 at CHN
Victor Zambrano	6/13/2003 vs TBA

2,984, 656, but no 284

Craig Biggio notched his 2,984th career hit which was also his 656th career double last night, but he moved no closer to the all time hit-by-pitch record, and the Astros lost the game by a 7-3 score. 656 doubles leaves Biggio one double away from a tie for 6th place on the all-time list in that category with Nap Lajoie. That's a lot of doubles.

This afternoon, assuming Biggio and Kendall both play, could be the last time any of us see a game with a 200 plunk club member on both teams. Chad Gaudin will be throwing for the A's, but he has no past history of Biggio plunking. Gaudin has hit only 9 of the 1,052 batters he's faced in his career.

Jorge Julio holds the all time record for hitting Craig Biggio with pitches on Flag Day with one. He set that record on June 14, 2005 in Baltimore, but we could see that record shattered today if Chad Gaudin plunks Biggio twice.