musical plunks

The Astros have only 22 games left this season, which leaves very little time for Craig Biggio to get hit 3 more times and become the all time leader in getting hit by pitches, and very little time for this website to answer every question about the 285 times he's already been hit by pitches, and to fully analyze those 285 plunks from every possible perspective. With no time to waste, it's finally time to answer one of the most import questions on the subject - which songs have been number 1 on the UK pop charts the most times when Craig Biggio has been hit by a pitch?

Craig Biggio was hit by 12 pitches between August 16th and September 12th of 1997, all while "Men in Black" by Will Smith was the number 1 song in Britain. Oddly, Will Smith's movie of the same name spent 3 weeks at the top of the US box office charts that summer - in Biggio's most plunk productive season - but Biggio didn't get hit by any pitches while it was number 1.

No other artist has held the top spot for as many of Biggio's plunks as Will Smith did with that one song, although if you want to combine the efforts of the Spice Girls, and the solo projects of its members you get 12 plunks during their number 1 reigns as well. In 1996, "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls spent 7 weeks in the number 1 spot on the UK charts, but Biggio was only hit 8 times while that was number 1.

Biggio has been hit by pitches while 111 different artists had 131 different number 1 songs in the UK. Oasis holds the record for the most different number 1 singles on dates when Biggio got hit by pitches, with 5, followed by Take That with 4 different songs, and the Spice Girls, McFly and Elton John with 3 each. Oasis is also the only band or artist to have the number 1 song on the UK charts while Biggio was hit by a pitch in 4 different seasons.

Elton John scored number one singles in the UK on dates when Biggio was plunked 13 years apart, making him the record holder in that category, followed closely by Kylie Minogue, who had number 1 hits on Biggio plunk dates 12 years apart.



Here's the complete list of songs that were number 1 on the UK charts, with the number of times Biggio was plunked during their reign in parenthesis:

1989 - "Back To Life (How Ever Do You Want Me)" by Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler (2), "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles (1), "You'll Never Stop Me From Loving You" by Sonia (1), "Swing The Mood" by Jive Bunny (1), "Hand On Your Heart" by Kylie Minogue (1)

1990 - "Sacrifice / Healing Hands" by Elton John (1), "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by Bombalurina (1), "Turtle Power" by Partners In Kryme (1)

1991 - "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams (1), "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" by Cher (1)

1992 - "Rhythm Is A Dancer" by Snap (3), "Ain't No Doubt" by Jimmy Nail (3), "Please Don't Go/Game Boy" by K.W.S. (1)

1993 - "Pray" by Take That (4), "Five Live EP" by George Michael & Queen with Lisa Stansfield (2), "Mr Vain" by Culture Beat (2), "All That She Wants" by Ace Of Base (2)

1994 - "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet (5), "The Real Thing" by Tony Di Bart (1), "Everything Changes" by Take That (1), "Inside" by Stiltskin (1)

1995 - "Boom Boom Boom" by The Outhere Brothers (6), "Unchained Melody / The White Cliffs Of Dover" by Robson & Jerome (5), "Country House" by Blur (4), "Some Might Say" by Oasis (3), "Back For Good" by Take That (3), "Never Forget" by Take That (1)

1996 - "Wannabe" by Spice Girls (8), "Firestarter" by The Prodigy (4), "Killing Me Softly" by Fugees (4), "Fastlove" by George Michael (4), "Return Of The Mack" by Mark Morrison (2), "Flava" by Peter Andre (1), "Ready Or Not" by The Fugees (1), "Forever Love" by Gary Barlow (1), "Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit" by Gina G (1), "Three Lions" by Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds (1)

1997 - "Men In Black" by Will Smith (12), "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly (4), "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans (3), "Candle In The Wind '97 / Something About The Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John (3), "Love Won't Wait" by Gary Barlow (2), "Mmm Bop" by Hanson (2), "You're Not Alone" by Olive (2), "Blood On The Dance Floor" by Michael Jackson (2), "D'You Know What I Mean?" by Oasis (1), "The Drugs Don't Work" by The Verve (1), "Who Do You Think You Are / Mama" by Spice Girls (1), "I Wanna Be The Only One" by Eternal featuring Bebe Winans (1).

1998 - "Three Lions 98" by Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds (5), "Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade" by All Saints (5), "Because We Want To" by Billie (2), "No Matter What" by Boyzone (2), "Viva Forever" by Spice Girls (2), "It's Like That" by Run DMC vs Jason Nevins (2), "All I Need" by Boyzone (1), "C'Est La Vie" by B*witched (1), "Freak Me" by Another Level (1), "Turn Back Time" by Aqua (1), "Deeper Underground" by Jamiroquai (1)

1999 - "Mambo No5 (A Little Bit Of...)" by Lou Bega (2), "Swear It Again" by Westlife (2), "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by The Vengaboys (1), "I Want It That Way" by The Backstreet Boys (1), "Bring It All Back" by S Club 7 (1), "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin (1), "Perfect Moment" by Martine McCutcheon (1), "9pm (Till I Come)" by A.T.B. (1), "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" by Baz Luhrmann (1)

2000 - "It Feels So Good" by Sonique (5), "Bound 4 Da reload (Casualty)" by Oxide & Neutrino (4), "Toca's Miracle" by Fragma (3), "Don't Call Me Baby" by Madison Avenue (2), "You See The Trouble With Me" by Black Legend (1), "Oops!...I Did It Again" by Britney Spears (1)

2001 - "Angel" by Shaggy feat. Rayvon (4), "Another Chance" by Roger Sanchez (3), "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera / Lil' Kim / Mya / Pink (3), "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" by Kylie Minogue (3), "What Took You So Long" by Emma Bunton (3), "The Way To Your Love" by Hear'Say (2), "Survivor" by Destiny's Child (2), "Do You Really Like It" by DJ Pied Piper (2), "Let's Dance" by 5ive (1), "Pure And Simple" by Hear'Say (1), "It's Raining Men" by Geri Halliwell (1), "21 Seconds" by So Solid Crew (1), "Eternity/The Road To Mandalay" by Robbie Williams (1), "Don't Stop Movin'" by S Club 7 (1)

2002 - "Unchained Melody" by Gareth Gates (5), "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis vs JXL (2), "Kiss Kiss" by Holly Valance (2), "The Hindu Times" by Oasis (2), "Freak Like Me" by Sugababes (1), "Just A Little" by Liberty X (1), "Without Me" by Eminem (1), "Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake)" by Gareth Gates (1), "The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)" by Atomic Kitten (1), "Colourblind" by Darius (1)

2003 - "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence (5), "Breathe" by Blu Cantrell featuring Sean Paul (4), "Where Is The Love?" by Black Eyed Peas (4), "Ignition" by R Kelly (4), "Make Luv" by Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheatham (2), "Loneliness" by Tomcraft (2), "Never Gonna Leave Your Side" by Daniel Bedingfield (2), "Spirit In The Sky" by Gareth Gates featuring The Kumars (2), "Are You Ready For Love" by Elton John (1), "Crazy In Love" by Beyonce (1),

2004 - "F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)" by Eamon (6), "Thunderbirds / 3AM" by Busted (2), "F.U.R.B. (F U Right Back)" by Frankee (2), "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario Winans featuring Enya & P Diddy (1), "Lola's Theme" by Shapeshifters (1), "Dry Your Eyes" by Streets (1), "Five Colours In Her Hair" by McFly (1), "Obviously" by McFly (1)

2005 - "Axel F" by Crazy Frog (6), "(Is This The Way To) Amarillo" by Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay (4), "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt (3), "Dare" by Gorillaz (1), "Lonely" by Akon (1), "Lyla" by Oasis (1), "The Importance Of Being Idle" by Oasis (1)

2006 - "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley (4), "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean (2), "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado (1), "Don't Stop Me Now / Please Please" by McFly (1), "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" by Scissor Sisters (1)

2007 - "Umbrella" by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z (2), "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles" by The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter & Andy Pipkin (1)

Unfortunately, Biggio was never plunked by the same pitcher during the number 1 reigns of two different songs by the same artist. Jason Jennings hit Biggio 3 times while Crazy Frog had the number 1 song in the UK, but no one else has plunked Biggio 3 times while any 1 artist had the number 1 song.

Also of note, Biggio was plunked by Al Leiter and Rick Reed while Michael Jackson had the number 1 song on the UK Charts, but when Michael Jackson plunked Biggio, K.W.S. had held the number one spot.

And, because I know someone will ask this, Craig Biggio was never hit by a pitch while Britney Spear's "Hit me baby one more time" was number 1 in either the UK or the US. That song peaked in popularity in February of '99, before the season started but it's entirely possible that it was so annoying that it caused Biggio to only be hit 11 times that season, breaking his streak of 4 consecutive years with over 20 HBPs. (So if Biggio doesn't break the record, blame Britney). The only songs I spotted in the list that might have something to do with getting hit by pitches "mmm bop" by Hanson and "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by The Vengaboys but I'm denying ever having heard either one of them.


Data for this post came from http://www.everyhit.com - please direct any questions regarding "who are these people" and "I've never heard of that song" to that site or to wikipedia.