Rockies out, Phillies in
The Astros beat up on the Rockies yesterday, winning 12-0, to take 3 of 4 in the series, but Craig Biggio didn't play, and didn't get hit by pitch in Saturday's game. Biggio did manage a .339 batting average for the 2nd half of June, which should help keep him in the lineup to chase those last 4 plunks he needs to break the all time record for being hit by pitches.
Tonight, the Philadelphia Phillies come to town, featuring this year's HBP leader, Chase Utley. Utley has already been hit 15 times this season, and was on a pace to potentially challenge the single season record, as of mid-May. But, he only got hit once in June, so he may have changed his mind about whether chasing that record is a good idea.
Jamie Moyer pitches for the visitors tonight, bringing his career total of 116 hit batters. He's 8th among active pitches in hitting batters, and he's hit 4 batters this year, but he's never plunked Craig Biggio. Moyer is one of only 5 active pitchers who hit a batter in the Major Leagues before Craig Biggio entered the league. (The others are Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and David Wells.)
Craig Biggio has only been hit by one pitch on July 2nd - last year, by Scott Feldman.
2 Comments:
There was a great article in the Washington Post yesterday about the propensity for pitchers from the south to hit batters. While overall they plunk at similar rates as folks from elsewhere, they're more likely to hit a batter after giving up a home run or after their teammate has been plunked.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/30/AR2007063000730.html
It's always nice to see the science of plunkology taking off. Click here for a more easily formatted link to the article.
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