plunk primes

Ten years ago, Craig Biggio was 31 years old and setting his career high in getting hit by pitches with 34 (assuming he doesn't break that high mark by getting hit 32 times in the next 10 games - that would be several records). Biggio was the 2nd oldest player ever to reach 30 HBPs, behind only Don Baylor who reached his rather late career plunk-peak at age 37, when he got hit 35 times for the '86 Red Sox (the AL single season record).

Here's breakdown of everyone who ever had a career high of 10 plunks or more, by the age at which they reached their get-hitting peak:

Age	Players who set their career high in HBPs at that age
20	1
21	3
22	7
23	21
24	38
25	49
26	46
27	76
28	63
29	56
30	57
31	42
32	26
33	22
34	11
35	10
36	8
37	7
38	2
39	6
40	2
42	1
43	1

(players who tied their own career high in different seasons are counted multiple times, and ages are based on season - year of birth rather than the frequently used convention of age at july 1st of the season, just because my way is slightly easier)

Deacon White was 42 through the entire 1890 season, when he set his career high of 19, but is in the 43 bucket because he turned 43 in December of that year. He's still the player who was the oldest when he recorded his career high though (among players who don't have a lame career high under 10), because the next oldest was chemically enhanced active senior-citizen Barry Bonds. He turned 42 in the middle of 2006, and he only tied his career high with 10 that year.

For most players, their best getting-hit years will be between the ages of 27 and 30. The largest numbers of 15+ and 20+ plunk seasons can be found at those ages as well as shown below.

Numbers of 15+ and 20+ plunk seasons in years players turned each age:

Age	15+ HBP seasons	20+ HBP seasons
20	1	0
21	2	1
22	5	0
23	3	1
24	14	4
25	19	5
26	26	9
27	33	12
28	38	12
29	38	11
30	34	10
31	24	11
32	17	7
33	14	2
34	7	1
35	6	2
36	7	3
37	5	2
38	3	2
39	3	0
40	1	0
43	1	0

Don Baylor narrowly edged Biggio for the highest age during a season with over 20 plunks, because he turned 38 during his final season over 20 plunks, and Biggio turned 38 in the December following his last season with over 20. Frank Robinson was the youngest player ever to reach 20 plunks, in 1956, the year he turned 21.