the last choice for the last hope - the Braves

Craig Biggio only had one plate appearance last night, and he didn't get hit by any of the three pitches he saw from Bill Bray. That means that 2007 is the first year since 1991 in which Biggio was not hit by a pitch thrown by the Cincinnati Reds. There's only one player left in the league who played for the Reds in a prior season in which they didn't plunk Biggio - Reggie Sanders, and he only played 9 games for the '91 Reds. There are only 35 guys, including Biggio, playing this season who were in the Major Leagues the last time the Reds went a season without plunking Biggio.

All this means that the final hopes of those of us who want to see the record fall - and the unification of the all time record and the so-called "modern" record - rest on the arms of the Atlanta Braves. If you had to pick one team to plunk Biggio, the Braves would be the last team you'd pick, particularly if you were picking based on Biggio's plunks per plate appearance against each team. The Braves are dead last. Biggio has only been hit 8 times in 770 plate appearances against Atlanta. No National League team has plunked him less, and no team in either league has plunked him less per plate appearance. But that's all we have left, so we'll just have to watch and hope. Maybe Biggio's plan to return to his days as a catcher (tomorrow) will put him in the mood to return to the days when he got hit by as many as 4 pitches in two days.

Jo-Jo Reyes is the starter for Atlanta tonight. He's a rookie, and has only hit one batter ever - but it was Astro Ty Wigginton. Biggio has been hit by Carlos Reyes and Al Reyes, and has been plunked twice in 38 plate appearances against the four pitchers named Reyes he has faced, but he hasn't faced Jo-Jo Reyes yet. Jo-Jo Reyes has faced 202 batters (TBF), while Biggio has been hit by 213 pitchers.