Friday, July 18, 2008

new, from the makers of plunk biggio

If you've been noticing that your blog reader has been woefully lacking information about people getting hit by pitches this year, you might want to check out www.plunkeveryone.com. Apparently, to my amazement and in defiance of all the available statistical data last year, people are STILL being hit by pitches even though Craig Biggio retired and it's now been more than a year since his last HBP. Shocking, eh?

While the new site no longer focuses one one player's attempt to reach historic levels of getting hit by pitches, it does feature an all-new nearly-interactive bruise board which will keep track, as daily as I can manage, of a wide variety of HBP statistics, season leaders and records. (We even have radar gun readings for most 2008 plunks). As always though, we do not support or endorse intentionally plunking everyone.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

The Record Stands

Three year ago it seemed like a sure thing. Even in March of this year, it seemed like Craig Biggio couldn't possibly avoid getting hit by six pitches even if he took his elbow pad off and actually started getting out of the way of inside fastballs. Well, like the sportscasters like to say, that's why they play the games - to see who gets hit by pitches.

Hughie Jennings record of 287 plunks may have just withstood the best - or at least most excessively documented - assault it will ever face. It's entirely possible that his record will stand forever, with Craig Biggio's 285 just below it. Jennings got hit 287 times in an age before helmets, and with a pitchers mound closer than the current 60 feet 6 inches, but pitchers may not have thrown quite as hard then. And, while he played before modern painkillers, it was probably more socially acceptable make full use of the popular painkillers of the day (like whiskey). Only 18 players have made it even half way to 287 plunks. Only 7 have passed 200, only 4 have passed 250 and only 2 have reached 285.

So, while we might be disappointed that we didn't get to see someone break the 104 year old record for getting hit by pitches, it's tough to be disappointed by the career of Craig Biggio. 3,060 hits, 668 doubles, 1844 runs scored, 414 steals, 291 homers, 20 seasons for one team. The stats speak for themselves, but they don't exactly tell the story of what Biggio has meant to Houston's fans - for that you might have to look at the attendance line in the box score for those last three games at Minute Maid Park, or take a look at that banner that was hanging in left center field with several thousand notes from fans thanking Craig Biggio for his career. But hey, you probably know all this.

Sometimes, when we watch baseball, we get that feeling that we might see something particularly amazing. We turn on the game, because we think something special might happen that night - and it could, on any night, and we love to hope to see those things even though we know they hardly ever happen. But they do happen sometimes, and most of all we really don't want to miss seeing it. Most of the time we think of those special things as single game records - have you ever seen a pitcher strike out the side in the 2nd inning and started doing the math in your head, counting the number of outs that aren't strikeouts as the game went along until they reached 8 and you know that's not going to be another 20 strikeout game? Maybe that's just me. But you pay special attention when a pitcher gets through a few innings without giving up a hit, or you realize someone has hit a homer, triple and double in the game and is coming up again. We also love streaks, and runs toward single season records - if it's someone on your favorite team you don't want to miss a single game on the way to what you think might be one of those special moments. And sometimes you go into a season thinking this is the year for your team - and you don't want to miss the game that could be the key moment for the season when they finally win it all.

But it's a little harder to spot when the amazing thing is just one guy playing 20 years for the same team. You never feel like you're missing something when you know the guy was there playing yesterday and he'll be their playing again tomorrow if you turn on the game. Then suddenly he's running up on 3,000 hits and announcing his retirement, and there's some weirdo on the internet who's all excited about the prospect of him getting hit by a record number of pitches. And then you look at it that way, you realize you got to see Craig Biggio play - and even if you sat and watched him go 0-4, you saw something particularly amazing, even if you didn't know it at the time.

Thanks for the years of stats, Craig Biggio. Messing around with them the way I have for the past three years probably hasn't entertained me quite as much as you have entertained Houston fans for the past 20 years, but it's been fun. Hopefully I brought a little bit more entertainment to those who had already enjoyed your career, and maybe I helped wake up a few folks from the rest of the country who didn't know what they were missing. I will miss waiting and wondering when you'll next get hit by a pitch. And, while I've considered hanging around until I reach 1000 posts on this site, I'll leave it at this. I have no future plans for another website, but if I think of something, I doubt it will be quite as much fun as this, and I never would have been able to keep this site going this long if Biggio hadn't been the player and the person he is.

Oh, and don't worry about those folks in Chesterfield County... it may look bad, but Cletus will take care of it I'm sure. It's just there way:
(photo by Cletus J. "Bubba" Huckabee Jr.)
It seems the pressure of the plunk chase got the better of some, but hopefully everyone else has survived with their sanity intact.


Thanks again for reading, everybody.

Last Chance to See...

Craig Biggio became the first player with over 3000 career hits to play catcher since 1899 yesterday, and he got past the curse of 666 doubles, bringing his career total to 667, but he didn't get hit by a pitch. Maybe he's happy not to get struck by baseballs anymore. Maybe 285 is as many times as we can reasonably expect any man to get hit by flying baseballs to help his team. Or maybe he's trying to be dramatic, and he'll strap on the elbow-pad and get hit 3 times today.

Many players have been hit by three pitches in the same game, but Craig Biggio has never done it. If he really wanted to go all out, he could get hit 4 times, which would be the single game record. But lets face it, if he goes out and gets hit three times today it will look awfully suspicious.

Chuck James will be starting for the Braves for Biggio's final game, and he was the last pitcher to plunk Biggio in 2006. But, he's only hit one batter since then, and has a career total of just 7 plunks.

Craig Biggio has never before been plunked on September 30th.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Craig Biggio - major league catcher

As some of you might remember, Craig Biggio used to get hit by pitches a lot - a long time ago. Last night he didn't get hit by any pitches, and the Astros lost 7-2, but tonight he's going to do something he hasn't done in a long time. Play catcher. But, back when Biggio played catcher he didn't really get hit by very many pitches - just 11 in his first 4 seasons in the majors. It wasn't until after Biggio switched to second base that he really started getting hit by pitches, so hopefully his walk down memory lane tonight will be historically accurate enough to include moving back to second base, and then getting hit by a few pitches.

(By the way, Craig Biggio is the only player who was ever a full time catcher to reach 3000 hits, and todays game will be the first time some with over 3000 career hits has played catcher in the major leagues since 1897 when Cap Anson did it. Anson and Biggio are the only 3000 hit club members ever to catch at all, and Anson caught 105 games.)

While Biggio will be catching for Brandon Backe, the Braves will have Jeff Bennett starting for them. This is Bennett's 2nd start this season, after not being in the league since 2004 when he made 60 relief appearances for the Brewers. Bennett walked Biggio the only time the two faced each other, and Bennett has only hit 2 batters ever.

Kerry Wood plunked Biggio on September 29, 2001, and Chuck James threw plunk 282 on September 29th 2006 - the same Chuck James who is expected to start tomorrow - for Biggio 2,849th and final career game.

Friday, September 28, 2007

pointing fingers

There is still time for Craig Biggio to break the all-time HBP record - but not much of it. He needs 3 plunks in 3 games, and while he has been plunked that many times in a 3 game span 20 times before, he's never done it against the Braves. He's been plunked 3 times in 3 games by the same team 5 times, most recently in 2005 when the Rockies did it (though they only took 2 games to do it).

But, it looks very likely that Biggio will fall short of Hughie Jennings amazing total of 287 HBPs. This will undoubtedly be very disappointing to a large number of fans, and when baseball fans and people in general are disappointed, we like to blame people. Right or wrong, we always find someone to blame. So, lets start throwing the blame around now so that on Sunday, when Craig Biggio's career ends, we can celebrate, knowing we've already thrown all the blame around we wanted to.

Obviously at the top of the list, you can blame me. We've all seen the stories in the news about how the media pressure of the plunk chase has ground it to a halt, and the clear record-setter for most words written about Craig Biggio getting hit by pitches is held by this website. Maybe I cared too much. Maybe if this site had never existed, no one would have noticed how often Biggio was getting hit by pitches and he would have been able to cruise past the record sometime last season. Instead, I had to make a big deal out of it and get everyone thinking about whether or not they WANTED the record broken - particularly the pitchers and umpires who could most effect the record chase. Then people some people got upset about whether or not wearing elbow pads should be allowed - and other people started getting bent out of shape about how hard a batter should try to get out of the way of pitches. Controversy - our largest and most un-productive export.

Blame me if you must, but here are a few others who could have contributed more, or gotten in the way less:
  • John Burkett. Biggio had 77 plate appearances against John Burkett and Burkett didn't contribute a single plunk to Biggio's total. Sure, Tom Glavine and Curt Schilling may have faced Biggio more times and they never hit him either, but Glavine has only hit one out of ever 286 batters he's faced in his career, and Schilling only hits about one out every 255 batters. Burkett, on the other hand, hit one batter in 126, and since he faced Biggio 77 times, he should have plunked him 0.61 times. Okay, it's hard to throw 6 tenths of a plunk, but the point is that if Burkett had plunked Biggio at the same rate he plunked the rest of the league, he probably should have hit Biggio once. But, Biggio has historically been hit nearly three (2.96) times more frequently per plate appearance than the league, so if Burkett had plunked Biggio 2.96 times more often than he plunked the rest of the league, he really should have contributed 1.83 plunks. We can round that up and claim Burkett owes Biggio 2 plunks. Not that we're saying Burkett should have thrown at him twice - it's just that the stats may suggest that Burkett was pitching around Biggio for a net result of two less plunks than he should have had.
  • Ramon Martinez, Julian Tavarez, Mark Prior and Woody Williams - using the same logic and stats above, they all should have plunked Biggio at least once.
  • Matt Morris - he hit Biggio once, but based on the same logic above, he probably should have plunked Biggio once more.
  • Umpire Doug Eddings - He's an easy target. On August 28, 2005, Jeff Weaver hit Craig Biggio with a pitch, but Eddings didn't award Biggio first base, claiming Biggio didn't make enough effort to avoid being hit. He's the only umpire to make such a call against Biggio, and it's well within the rules for him to do so, even if it was not the right call in that particular circumstance. That only technically kept 1 plunk out of Biggio's total, but it may have demoralized him and made him less willing to take plunks, knowing the umpires may not react properly, and reward him for taking one for the team.
  • The 2006 Pirates - Biggio had 65 plate appearance against the 2006 Pirates, and they didn't plunk him once. The Pirates hit 70 batters last year, at a rate of one per 90.8 plate appearances, so they should have hit Biggio 0.72 times if they plunked him at the average rate they plunked the rest of the league. But even last year with his HBPs on the decline, Biggio got hit 50% more often then the league average - so they really should have hit him more than not at all last year. You can throw the '05 Pirates in here too, along with the '04-'06 Cubs, the '99 and '04 Cardinals and the '99 Brewers. All of them should have plunked Biggio more than they did (though a couple of them did contribute 1).
  • Dave Bush - he hit 18 batters last season, and faced the Astros 4 times, but didn't throw Biggio anything he could get hit by. The only pitcher to hit more batters in season, who face Biggio at least once and didn't hit him that season, was Victor Zambrano in 2003 - he hit 20 batters, but only faced Biggio 4 times. Dave Bush had plenty of opportunities, but probably didn't want to see his name on the list.
  • Jeff Bagwell's doctors -241 of Biggio's 285 plunks were recorded in games Biggio and Bagwell played together. The pair obviously inspired each other to be better players, and part of that had to be Biggio's desire to get on base in front of Bagwell. The HBP was a weapon for that purpose. The two seasons Biggio has played since Bagwell was forced into retirement but injuries have shown a dramatic decline in Biggio getting hit by pitches, and it can't be a coincidence.
  • Major League Baseball and the Media - No, not because of the pressure they've put on Biggio, and not because they're not doing enough to celebrate the plunk chase, and not because Bud Selig hasn't been attending Astros games so he can be there for the historic moment, though you can argue those points if you like. No, this is about the "Modern Record" or the "Major League Record" or any other record that isn't the 287 plunks recorded by Hughie Jennings. There is a large number of members of the media who figure Biggio already has the HBP record because MLB liked to call Baylor's 267 plunks the Major League record - meaning the record since 1900 - or since the American League showed up and the two leagues started to be called the Major Leagues. Or something. Anyway, because of this confusion many people don't seem to think there's a record to be broken here, or that it's important and over 100 years old. Is there another stat that you ever hear connected with the phrase "modern record"?
  • Barry Bonds - C'mon - you know you want to blame him. Just do it. Do we really need a reason?
  • Roger Clemens - Yeah, I just don't like him either. But if he'd gone away after 2005, maybe the Astros would have rebuilt a bit in 2006, and they would have been better in 2007. Maybe. And maybe Biggio would have felt getting hit this season would have meant more if they hadn't been out of contention all season.
  • Everyone who pitched to Biggio this season not named Josh Fogg, Joe Smith or Jorge Julio - Thanks for stepping up. Jerks.
  • The Braves - The Atlanta Braves are last in the NL in all-time plunking of Biggio, behind 4 teams that weren't even in the National League for Biggio's entire career. They're also dead last in Biggio's plunks per plate appearance (among teams that hit him at least once). In 1996, the Braves were the only team Biggio faced who he didn't get hit by - that's the closest he ever came to getting hit by every team he played against (he did get hit by every NL team in '97, but interleague play came in that year). The Braves have shown an uncommon reluctance to hit batters over the last 20 years, and finished dead last in the majors 7 times. From 1988 to 2006, the Braves average 8 fewer plunks per season than the next lowest team, and only the Diamondbacks have hit fewer batters in that span. Oh yeah, the Diamondbacks only hit 79 fewer batters than the Braves from 1988 to 2006, even thought Diamondbacks didn't exist for 10 of those seasons.
  • Whiners - They're all over the internet, but I'm pretty sure the sentiment exists in the clubhouses too. These are the people who are pretty sure wearing an elbow pad is a crime against humanity and not moving out of the way of a pitch is somehow "cheating". I'm sure this crowd really enjoyed the high-profile plunk related wrist injuries this season, like Chase Utley and Kevin Youkilis - Youk was even wearing an elbow pad when he got hit on the wrist and missed three weeks in September. That one was exactly the kind of pitch everyone gets upset about when Biggio used to take them in the elbow-pad instead of getting his wrist broken. Have we learned nothing from Stephen Colbert's Wrist Strong movement? It's about time baseball players understood this, and learned to wear regulation arm-guards and to use them to protect their wrists. Also, for some reason we have a league where throwing at a batter is acceptable behavior, and charging the mound is acceptable behavior, but standing still in the batters box and refusing to let the pitcher intimidate you is a capital offense. Makes sense to me - keep up that theory. John Lackey clearly stated this last season.
  • Astros management - They gave Biggio plenty of playing time to reach 3000 hits, but then they started limiting his starts, as though the HBP record wasn't important to anyone. I assume this was the main reason Phil Garner and Tim Purpura were fired, but someone should have done something before it was too late.
  • Republicans - Biggio got hit 232 times while the Republican Party controlled congress, but only 53 times when the Democrats held the majority. If the Republicans had held the majority in the 2006 elections, Biggio obviously would have been hit by more pitches this year.
  • Democrats - They obviously have some kind of anti-HBP policy that's kept Biggio from getting hit while they held the majority in Congress.
  • Voters - See above. All this information was available on the internet before the mid-term elections, but you didn't care. You had to selfishly vote based on how you wanted the country run or something. Didn't someone once say "Ask not what you're country can do for you, ask what you can do to help Craig Biggio break the all time record for getting hit by pitches".
  • The Red Sox, Blue Jays, Devil Rays, Mariners, Tigers, and Angels - you couldn't hit Biggio even once? Any of you? Not that you should have done it on purpose - but everyone else did it so you must have been trying not to. And that's just wrong.
  • Zeno of Elea - The Greek Mathematician who liked to annoy philosophy students by pointing out that to get from point A to point B you have to go to a point half way between them, but once you get to that half way point you must go to the half way point between there and B. And so you can never get to B because you keeping having to go to all these half way to B points, which are (according to Zeno) infinite or something. Well Craig Biggio is doing a great real life example of that wacky little theory - at the beginning of 2005 he needed 32 plunks to break the record and got 17 - one more than half way. At the beginning of 2006 he needed 15 plunks, and got 9 - one more than half way rounded up. This year he needed 6 and has 3 so far. It seems that Biggio can't reach the record because he keeps having to get half way their first.
  • The Yankees - Everything that's wrong with baseball that isn't Barry Bonds fault is the Yankees fault, and I'm willing to consider the idea that Barry Bonds is the Yankees fault.
Okay - I feel better now. Feel free to add anyone you think I may have missed, in the comments. Otherwise, on with the last three games of Biggio's career, come what may.

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.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Last of the Reds

The Astros beat the Reds by a 7-6 score last night, but Craig Biggio's only plate appearance resulted in a walk. The Reds last chance to plunk Biggio may be today, if it hasn't already passed, but after that they won't have Craig Biggio to plunk around any more. They've done it 21 times, and it looks like that number will stand.

Matt Belisle is pitching for the Reds today, but he's never hit Craig Biggio with a pitch. He's hit 17 other batters but none of them are likely to ever have a shot at the all-time HBP record.

Biggio has never been hit by a pitch on September 27th.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

no 16th?

Craig Biggio did not get hit by a pitch by the Reds last night, which means his 15 year streak of getting plunked by the Reds is likely over, since he's not expected to start either of the next two games, leading up to his return to the other side of the plate on Friday. It's still possible that he could have a pinch hit appearance, but they haven't been using him much in that role with such a deep September bench to choose from.

Tom Shearn pitches for the Reds today, but he's never hit a batter. He's only pitched 32 innings so far, so he'll probably get around to plunking a batter sometime soon.

Craig Biggio has never been plunked on September 26th.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

more crazy astrology junk

The big problem I've always had with horoscopes, whether they're in the newspaper or on a restaurant place mat, is that they never list who's been hit by the most pitches for each sign. Maybe it's just me. But if anyone else was bothered by this, here are the top 5 players in the HBP standings for each astrological sign.


HBP records by Chinese Zodiac sign:
Dog
Curt Welch - 173
Nap Lajoie - 134
Dummy Hoy - 134
Honus Wagner - 125
Frankie Crosetti - 114
Dragon
Brady Anderson - 154
Steve Brodie - 132
Jose Guillen - 114
Barry Bonds - 106
Mike Macfarlane - 97
Horse
Bill Dahlen - 140
Larry Walker - 138
Andre Dawson - 111
Dan Brouthers - 105
Dick Padden - 97
Monkey
Fred Clarke - 153
Chuck Knoblauch - 139
Willie Keeler - 129
Jeff Bagwell - 128
Gary Sheffield - 128
Ox
Don Baylor - 267
Minnie Minoso - 192
Andres Galarraga - 178
Bill Joyce - 108
Wally Schang - 107
Pig
Tommy Tucker - 272
Frank Robinson - 198
Kid Elberfeld - 165
Carlton Fisk - 143
Jason Giambi - 134
Rabbit
Nellie Fox - 142
Alex Rodriguez - 126
David Eckstein - 116
Scott Rolen - 95
Jake Stahl - 94
Ram
Dan McGann - 230
Chet Lemon - 151
Luis Gonzalez - 111
Mo Vaughn - 108
Dick Bartell - 97
Rat
Carlos Delgado - 157
Frank Chance - 137
Sherm Lollar - 115
Tris Speaker - 103
Elmer Flick - 99
Rooster
Fernando Vina - 157
Art Fletcher - 141
John McGraw - 134
Damion Easley - 125
Buck Herzog - 120
Snake
Hughie Jennings - 287
Craig Biggio - 285
Ron Hunt - 243
Bill Freehan - 114
George Burns - 110
Tiger
Jason Kendall - 218
Brian Downing - 129
Derek Jeter - 129
Eddie Yost - 99
Jason LaRue - 97




HBP records by astrological sign:
Aquarius
Curt Welch - 173
Chet Lemon - 151
David Eckstein - 116
Steve Evans - 111
George Burns - 110
Aries
Hughie Jennings - 287
Kid Elberfeld - 165
Fernando Vina - 157
John McGraw - 134
Pete Rose - 107
Cancer
Don Baylor - 267
Dan McGann - 230
Jason Kendall - 218
Carlos Delgado - 157
Chuck Knoblauch - 139
Capricorn
Brady Anderson - 154
Carlton Fisk - 143
Nellie Fox - 142
Art Fletcher - 141
Bill Dahlen - 140
Gemini
Andres Galarraga - 178
Dummy Hoy - 134
Jeff Bagwell - 128
Jim Delahanty - 92
Miguel Tejada - 89
Leo
Jake Beckley - 183
Alex Rodriguez - 126
Sherry Magee - 109
Wally Schang - 107
Barry Bonds - 106
Libra
Fred Clarke - 153
Brian Downing - 129
Frankie Crosetti - 114
Eddie Yost - 99
John Reilly - 94
Pisces
Ron Hunt - 243
Willie Keeler - 129
Honus Wagner - 125
Jeff Kent - 118
Jason LaRue - 97
Sagittarius
Craig Biggio - 285
Minnie Minoso - 192
Larry Walker - 138
Bill Freehan - 114
Mo Vaughn - 108
Scorpio
Tommy Tucker - 272
Gary Sheffield - 128
Damion Easley - 125
Jimmie Dykes - 115
Bucky Harris - 99
Taurus
Jose Guillen - 114
Dan Brouthers - 105
Reggie Jackson - 96
Eric Young - 89
Andruw Jones - 83
Virgo
Frank Robinson - 198
Frank Chance - 137
Nap Lajoie - 134
Steve Brodie - 132
Sherm Lollar - 115

D'oh!

The Astros are in Cincinnati tonight for the 6th to last game of Craig Biggio's career, and facing them will be Reds rookie Homer Bailey. Craig Biggio has never been plunked by Homer Bailey or any other Homer, nor has he been plunked by a Marge, Lisa, Bart, or Maggie. And he's never been hit by any Lenny, Karl, Moe or Barney, or anyone named Burns or Smithers. He has been plunked by Sideshows Bob Wickman, Walk, Ojeda and Tewksbury, Groundskeepers Willie Blair, Fraser, Banks, and Roberts and an assortment or Rods and Todds (Beck, Ritchee and Coffee). But no Homers. Homer Bailey has hit two batters so far in his career, but he's only thrown 151 pitches so far, and that's 132 short of the number of pitches Craig Biggio has been hit by.

If Biggio gets hit by a pitch sometime in the next three games, it will be the 16th consecutive season in which Biggio has been plunked at least once by the Reds. That may or may not be a record, but we can be sure no one has done it in at least 62 years.

Geremi Gonzalez plunked Biggio on September 25, 1997, but don't expect a historic re-enactment of that plunk in tonights game. Biggio got hit in the face by that one, but still stayed in the game.