Plunk Everyone

HBPs of Note: July 1, 2009

There were only 6 HBPs in yesterday's baseball action, but there were a couple of relatively big numbers achieved. Derek Jeter got his 141st career HBP and David Eckstein got his 132nd. Jeter continues to be the Yankess all time leader in getting hit by pitches, as well as the most plunked player ever born in New Jersey - but still, he'll need to play another 15 seasons at his present rate to catch Craig Biggio or contend for the all time plunk record. I'm sure Yankees fans would be happy to have him playing shortstop until he's 50 though. David Eckstein got hit by a pitch for the 132nd time in his career, which leaves him 1 plunk behind Jason Kendall for the David Eckstein Era HBP lead. Kendall has been hit 133 times since Eckstein came into the league. Jeter has only been hit 92 times since Eckstein's rookie year, and more interestingly, Derek Jeter won 4 world series rings prior to Eckstein coming into the league in 2001, but since then he has won none, while Eckstein has won the World Series twice, and the World Series MVP trophy once. Eckstein also holds the post-season record for HBPs. This would be a much bigger deal (or at least vaguely relevant information) if the team that originally drafted Eckstein had not waived him before he reached the majors - that being the Red Sox. Eckstein is on pace to contend for the all time plunk record sometime around 2020 if he can continue his HBP pace and continue to find baseball teams willing to employ him for that long. Unfortunately, he'll be 45 years old by then.

Labels: HBPs of note