Plunk Everyone

With Tim Lincecum's victory in the National League Cy Young award voting for 2008, we now have three straight years in which the NL Cy winner hit 6 batters that season. Jake Peavy plunked 6 in 2007, and Brandon Web struck 6 batters in 2006. Also, Roger Clemens won the award in 2004 - a season in which he hit 6 batters, so that makes 4 of the past 5 NL Cy Young winners with 6 plunks on the season.

On the other hand though, 13 other pitchers hit 6 batters in the National League in 2008, but did not win the Cy Young Award.

You're absolutely right. It is very strange that mlb.com has stats pages for the winter leagues, but doesn't include HBPs for batter or Hit Batters for pitchers, and it is completely unclear why they would leave out such an important stat. It's like they know I've got them covered or something.

Here are the Hit Batters leaders among pitchers in the various winter leagues:


Arizona Fall League

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Rowdy Hardy	Surprise Rafters	5	77	0.065
Gaby Hernandez	Peoria Javelins	4	79	0.051
Sergio Perez	Scottsdale Scorpions	4	81	0.049
Jeff Sues	Scottsdale Scorpions	3	52	0.058
Tommy Hanson	Mesa Solar Sox	3	68	0.044
Dan Cortes	Surprise Rafters	3	101	0.03
David Patton	Phoenix Desert Dogs	2	44	0.045
Joe Woerman	Peoria Javelins	2	50	0.04
Zechry Zinicola	Peoria Saguaros	2	52	0.038
Doug Fister	Peoria Javelins	2	53	0.038
Kelvin Pichardo	Scottsdale Scorpions	2	55	0.036
T.J. Large	Scottsdale Scorpions	2	57	0.035
Kris Medlen	Mesa Solar Sox	2	57	0.035
Andrew Laughter	Surprise Rafters	2	57	0.035
Eddie Kunz	Peoria Saguaros	2	62	0.032
Carlos Torres	Peoria Saguaros	2	62	0.032
Shane Lindsay	Phoenix Desert Dogs	2	63	0.032
Bud Norris	Scottsdale Scorpions	2	63	0.032
Jared Hughes	Scottsdale Scorpions	2	76	0.026
Cory VanAllen	Peoria Saguaros	2	78	0.026
Nick Green	Scottsdale Scorpions	2	81	0.025
Brooks Brown	Phoenix Desert Dogs	2	81	0.025
Phil Hughes	Peoria Javelins	2	89	0.022
Kevin Pucetas	Scottsdale Scorpions	2	94	0.021
Jeff Manship	Phoenix Desert Dogs	2	112	0.018

Dominican Winter League

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Jose Acevedo	Tigres del Licey	3	32	0.094
Anderson Garcia	Estrellas de Oriente	2	18	0.111
Juan Feliciano	Aguilas Cibaenas	2	24	0.083
Anastacio Martinez	Estrellas de Oriente	2	25	0.08
Randy Choate	Aguilas Cibaenas	2	34	0.059
Rafael Garcia	Azucareros del Este	2	48	0.042
Matt Wright	Tigres del Licey	2	65	0.031
Dustin Nippert	Tigres del Licey	2	85	0.024

Hawaii Winter League

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Steve Edlefsen	Waikiki Beach Boys	6	69	0.087
Chris Salberg	West Oahu CaneFires	5	114	0.044
Jason Godin	North Shore Honu	5	119	0.042
Rob Harmon	Waikiki Beach Boys	4	66	0.061
Scott Shaw	Honolulu Sharks	4	108	0.037
Austin Chambliss	Honolulu Sharks	3	40	0.075
Johnny Venters	Honolulu Sharks	3	114	0.026
Cody Scarpetta	West Oahu CaneFires	2	42	0.048
Daiki Kiyohara	West Oahu CaneFires	2	64	0.031
Matt Meyer	North Shore Honu	2	74	0.027
Moises Robles	West Oahu CaneFires	2	77	0.026
Roy Merritt	Honolulu Sharks	2	85	0.024
Christopher Kissock	Honolulu Sharks	2	85	0.024
Shawn Nottingham	North Shore Honu	2	89	0.022
Timothy Bascom	West Oahu CaneFires	2	91	0.022
Josh Stinson	Honolulu Sharks	2	93	0.022
Fumikazu Kimura	West Oahu CaneFires	2	103	0.019
Jose Capellan	North Shore Honu	2	109	0.018
Mitsuo Yoshikawa	Waikiki Beach Boys	2	120	0.017

Mexican Pacific League

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Allan Ramirez	Yaquis de Obregon	3	50	0.06
Hugo Castellanos	Yaquis de Obregon	3	51	0.059
Federico Castaneda	Tomateros de Culiacan	3	59	0.051
Scott Chiasson	Mayos de Navojoa	3	76	0.039
Ignacio Montano	Algodoneros de Guasave	3	94	0.032
Juan Acevedo	Aguilas de Mexicali	3	131	0.023
Pablo Ortega	Venados de Mazatlan	3	156	0.019
Miguel Duarte	Aguilas de Mexicali	2	24	0.083
Nelson Cruz	Tomateros de Culiacan	2	40	0.05
Isidro Marquez	Yaquis de Obregon	2	43	0.047
Alan Guerrero	Algodoneros de Guasave	2	47	0.043
Jorge Vasquez	Caneros de los Mochis	2	59	0.034
Adrian Ramirez	Yaquis de Obregon	2	60	0.033
Alejandro Rios	Tomateros de Culiacan	2	62	0.032
Sergio Valenzuela	Venados de Mazatlan	2	67	0.03
Miguel Ramirez	Naranjeros de Hermosillo	2	89	0.022
Hansel Izquierdo	Mayos de Navojoa	2	99	0.02
Leonardo Gonzalez	Mayos de Navojoa	2	111	0.018
Sergio Lizarraga	Tomateros de Culiacan	2	115	0.017
Humberto Montemayor	Aguilas de Mexicali	2	135	0.015
Ismael Castillo	Caneros de los Mochis	2	136	0.015
Brian Mazone	Yaquis de Obregon	2	145	0.014

Venezuelan Winter League

Name	Team	HB	Batters Faced	HB per BF
Harold Eckert	Tiburones de La Guaira	4	75	0.053
Kasey Olenberger	Bravos de Margarita	3	62	0.048
Felix Arellan	Leones del Caracas	2	13	0.154
Josmir Romero	Cardenales de Lara	2	18	0.111
Randy Newsom	Leones del Caracas	2	19	0.105
Edgar Gutierrez	Bravos de Margarita	2	26	0.077
Darwin Cubillan	Leones del Caracas	2	37	0.054
Elio Serrano	Navegantes del Magallanes	2	39	0.051
Yorman Bazardo	Tigres de Aragua	2	42	0.048
Rosman Garcia	Tigres de Aragua	2	50	0.04
Brian Gordon	Tiburones de La Guaira	2	56	0.036
Tracy Thorpe	Cardenales de Lara	2	80	0.025
Michael Tejera	Caribes de Anzoategui	2	85	0.024
J.R. Mathes	Leones del Caracas	2	86	0.023
Mike Romano	Cardenales de Lara	2	90	0.022

Much has been written about the historic nature of this years presidential election, because obviously we need to declare right away what's historic or not, rather than leave it for Trigonometry to decide. Or History, if it ever gets around to it. But there's one interesting trend that's being ignored by most of the media, and it actually did NOT hold true for this election.

Prior to this year, when the National League averaged more HBPs per game than the American League in an election year, the Democrats won the white house 71.4% of the time. When the American League got hit more, the Republicans won 63.2% of the time. But this year, the American League got hit by more pitches per game than the National League, 0.36 per game to 0.33 per game, but the Democratic Party's candidate still won the Presidential election.

But it just goes to show you, you can't always use HBP statistics to predict the future. With the American League getting hit by more HBPs per game in 2008, the numbers pointed to a Republican victory in the election, but that's why we vote instead of just picking our president based on plunk statistics (for now).

Just in case any of you thought writing a blog about Major Leaguers getting hit by pitches was too obscure, here's the leaders in the various Winter Leagues. If you're looking to travel to see some HBP action, it looks like the Dominican Winter League is the place to be - they're averaging 1.52 plunks per game. The Arizona Fall League is the next best choice, where they hit batters 1.2 times per game. Behind them are the Venezuelan and Hawaii Winter Leagues, averaging 1.02 and 1 plunk per game, and the Mexican Pacific League where batters have been plunked 0.93 times per game so far this year.

Anyway, here are the HBP leaders (batting) through 10/30/2008, by league:

Arizona Fall League

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances
Kevin Frandsen	Scottsdale Scorpions	7	66
Casper Wells	Mesa Solar Sox	7	55
Chris Pettit	Scottsdale Scorpions	3	83
Emmanuel Burriss	Scottsdale Scorpions	3	65
Eric Young	Phoenix Desert Dogs	3	76
Tyler Greene	Peoria Saguaros	3	52
Nolan Reimold	Surprise Rafters	2	55
Nate Spears	Mesa Solar Sox	2	54
Brian McFall	Surprise Rafters	2	39
Leonard Davis	Peoria Saguaros	2	47
Drew Stubbs	Peoria Javelins	2	53
Sean Kazmar	Peoria Saguaros	2	49
Shelby Ford	Scottsdale Scorpions	2	75
Mike Baxter	Peoria Saguaros	2	42
Brandon Snyder	Surprise Rafters	2	36
Michael McKenry	Phoenix Desert Dogs	2	35
Juan Miranda	Peoria Javelins	2	49

Dominican Winter League

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances
Amaury Cazana	Tigres del Licey	3	58
Timo Perez	Tigres del Licey	3	52
Luis Terrero	Aguilas Cibaenas	3	32
Juan Richardson	Leones del Escogido	2	17
Danilo Sanchez	Leones del Escogido	2	16
Adam Pavkovich	Tigres del Licey	2	24
Diory Hernandez	Leones del Escogido	2	27
Bradley Coon	Estrellas de Oriente	2	19

Hawaii Winter League

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances
Tommy Giles	Waikiki Beach Boys	4	66
Tony Thomas	Waikiki Beach Boys	3	83
Darin Holcomb	Honolulu Sharks	3	77
Todd Frazier	Waikiki Beach Boys	3	97
Cyle Hankerd	West Oahu CaneFires	3	74
Buster Posey	Waikiki Beach Boys	2	47
James Skelton	West Oahu CaneFires	2	56
Marquez Smith	Waikiki Beach Boys	2	90
Lars Davis	Honolulu Sharks	2	42
Gregory Burns	West Oahu CaneFires	2	85
Mark Hallberg	West Oahu CaneFires	2	83
Chris Carter	North Shore Honu	2	82
Bradley Emaus	Honolulu Sharks	2	63
Matt McBride	North Shore Honu	2	105

Mexican Pacific League

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances
Carlos Gastelum	Naranjeros de Hermosillo	4	66
Brian Myrow	Venados de Mazatlan	4	63
Luis Cruz	Yaquis de Obregon	3	40
Pedro Diaz	Caneros de los Mochis	3	45
Cristhian Presichi	Algodoneros de Guasave	3	73
Javier Robles	Mayos de Navojoa	2	66
Xavier Paul	Aguilas de Mexicali	2	63
Todd Jennings	Aguilas de Mexicali	2	66
Fernando Rios	Mayos de Navojoa	2	40
Jason Dubois	Aguilas de Mexicali	2	64
Kit Pellow	Algodoneros de Guasave	2	75
Erubiel Durazo	Naranjeros de Hermosillo	2	75
Tike Redman	Algodoneros de Guasave	2	65
Jason Phillips	Yaquis de Obregon	2	52

Venezuelan Winter League

Name	Team	HBP	Plate Appearances
Luis Gonzalez	Caribes de Anzoategui	5	55
Brendan Katin	Aguilas de Zulia	3	43
Luis Oliveros	Aguilas de Zulia	2	44
Rajai Davis	Caribes de Anzoategui	2	44
Jackson Melian	Leones del Caracas	2	45
Eliezer Alfonzo	Caribes de Anzoategui	2	53
Jesus Guzman	Leones del Caracas	2	62
Gorkys Hernandez	Caribes de Anzoategui	2	15

If Kevin Frandsen's name sounds familiar, he's the guy who got hit by a pitch in his first three major league games, back in 2006. He's still with the Giants organization. Casper Wells is a prospect for the Detroit Tigers, and looks like he might be ready to add some valuable HBPs to their offense.

The Phillies finished off the the Rays last night, to become World Series Champions, and more importantly, Chase Utley got hit by a pitch (though that was in Monday's part of the game). That means that the Phillies only tied for fewest HBPs in a victorious postseason campaign in the division era. Utley's plunk brought their total to 2, tied with the '99 Yankees for the fewest since the playoffs went to 3 rounds. The 1992 Blue Jays were the last team to get hit only once in the postseason, and win the World Series, and nobody has won a World Series without getting plunked at least once since the 1976 Reds.

While they only got hit by two pitches, the Phillies made the most of those plunked base runners, as Eric Bruntlett scored the winning run in game 3, and Utley scored the 2nd of 4 Phillies runs in their 4-3 victory in game 5. Utley became only the 2nd player ever to get hit over 25 times in the regular season and get plunked in the World Series, joining Don Baylor who did so in back to back years with the 1986 Red Sox and the 1987 Twins (though only 4 of his HBPs that season came after his trade to the Twins).

Carl Crawford got hit by a pitch in last night's World Series game 4, but it didn't help the Rays move any closer to a win - the lost 10-2. Crawford became the 3rd player named Carl to get hit by a pitch in the World Series, joining Carl Furillo (10/3/1955) and Carl Yastrzemski (10/7/1967). Carl Everett has been plunked in the division series in each league, but not the World Series.

Crawford got hit by Joe Blanton, who was the 6th Joe to hit a batter in the World Series, joining Joe Magrane, Joe Neikro, Joe Dobson, Joe Bush and Smokey Joe Wood.

The Phillies finally got their first HBP of the postseaon last night, when Eric Bruntlett got hit by a pitch to lead off the 9th inning. He came around to score the winning run, making that the first time in World Series history that the walk-off winning run was scored by someone who reached base on an HBP. It's very interesting that the Phillies first HBP of the 2008 postseason was recorded not by the guy who got hit 27 times in the regular season - but by the guy who used to be play for the Astros alongside the modern era HBP king, Craig Biggio.

The last time the go-ahead run was scored by a plunked batter in a World Series game was game 6 of the 1992 series, when Charlie Leibrant hit Devon White in the top of the 11th inning. He then gave up a Roberto Alomar single and a Dave Winfield double, which drove in White as the go ahead run, and Alomar for a needed insurance run. Atlanta got one back in the bottom of the inning, so White's run wasn't the ultimate difference maker, but it was a clutch HBP.

In game 2 of the 1974 World Series, Sal Bando got plunked by Don Sutton to lead off the bottom of the 9th for the A's, and scored on a Reggie Jackson double, but Bando's run left the A's still down 3-2, and the rest of the team could not continue the rally. That was the last time a batter got hit to lead of the 9th inning or later, and scored a run, before last night.

In game 4 of the 1957 World Series, the Milwaukee Braves entered the bottom of the 10th inning, trailing 5-4. Tommy Byrne hit lead-off pinch hitter Nippy Jones. Jones was replaced by pinch runnner Felix Mantilla who move to second base on a Red Schoendienst sacrifice bunt, and then scored on a Johnny Logan double to tie the game. Eddie Mathews then won the game with a two-run homer, but it was Nippy Jones' HBP that started the rally.

In game 1 of the 1907 World Series, Harry Steinfeldt got hit by a Bill Donovan pitch in the 9th inning, and came around to score the tying run. That game went another 3 innings but ended in a tie (back when that sort of thing was allowed).

4 other batters got hit by a pitch in the 9th inning or later, and scored a run, but none of those runs was integral to the outcome of the game. In 1979, Bill Robinson took a plunk with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th inning of World Series game 7, but that just extend the Pirates lead to 4-1 and sealed their victory.