Plunk Everyone

From 1986 through the 2008* season, there have been 22,397 runners on base when the batter got hit by a pitch. 167 of them were on base when Craig Biggio got hit by a pitch, but since Biggio got hit so many times as a leadoff batter, he is only 2nd in this time period (the Jamie Moyer era) in this category. Jason Kendall has had 186 runners on base when he's been hit by pitches.

But, when Craig Biggio has been on base, batters at the plate were hit 95 times, showing once again that Craig Biggio's mere presence causes batters to get hit by pitches. Here are the top 10 in the category of most batters plunked while on base:

Craig Biggio (1988-2007) - 95
Chipper Jones (1995-2008) - 86
Bobby Abreu (1997-2008) - 78
Brian Giles (1996-2008) - 76
Alex Rodriguez (1996-2008) - 75
John Olerud (1989-2004) - 74
Barry Bonds (1986-2007) - 74
Carlos Delgado (1996-2008) - 73
Omar Vizquel (1989-2007) - 72
Johnny Damon (1996-2008) - 71

And Biggio didn't even have the obvious advantage of being on base when Craig Biggio was batting.

Not surprisingly, batters were hit most often when Biggio was standing on 2nd base. Hitting 668 doubles and stealing 414 bases probably helped there, but batters were hit 41 times while Biggio was the runner on 2nd base, 35 times when he was on 1st and 19 when he was on third. Biggio leads the 2nd base category and is tied for most-batters plunked while standing on 3rd with Omar Vizquel and Bernie Williams (for the 1986-2008 time period), but John Olerud has been on first for the most HBPs, with 47.

Also not surprising, Craig Biggio leads this time frame in most times on base while a single batter got hit by pitches - Jeff Bagwell was plunked 33 times while Biggio was on base. The next closest pair of teammates are Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi - Giambi's been plunked 21 times with Jeter on base, and somewhat amazingingly, in just 1986 and 87, Don Baylor was hit 20 times with Jim Rice on base (it probably happened more in 1985, but those numbers aren't conveniently available at the moment). Jeter and Alex Rodrigue$ are the leaders among active pairs, with 18. Brad Ausmus holds the record for being on base while Biggio got plunked, with 16.

* - 1986 to 2008 is a convenient time period to work with because it's the one I've collected data for, and it covers the entire career of every active player, which is why I like to call it the Jamie Moyer era.