Plunk Everyone

HBPs of note: July 29, 2010

3,825 pitches were thrown in MLB action yesterday, but only 10 of them hit batters. One of them was a Derek Lowe pitch that hit Mike Morse, and that was Lowe’s 70th career plunk. Another was a Joe Martinez pitch for the Giants, which hit Marlins batter Hanley Ramirez, and that one was the 3900th known plunk in Giants franchise history (though there are probably a couple of hundred plunks the Giants threw prior to the year 1900 which didn’t get accurately recorded). Another pitcher who hit a batter yesterday was CJ Wilson. He hit Cliff Pennington with a pitch, making that 30 career plunks for Wilson. Wilson has hit 22 of those 30 batters at Rangers Ballpark at Arlington, which puts him in a tie with Vicente Padilla for 3rd place on the park’s all time HBP list.

Colin Curtis of the Yankees got his first major league HBP yesterday, making him the 541st Yankee batter ever hit by a pitch.

HBPs of note: July 28, 2010

Carlos Pena got hit by a 4th inning Brad Thomas pitch last night, and that was the 27th time in Rays history that they’d been plunked by a Tigers pitcher. More importantly than that, it was the 700th plunk in Rays franchise history. More importantly than that, it was the 36th plunk of Pena’s Tampa Bay career (52nd overall) which means that he is now the number 1 plunk target in Rays history! Pena’s 36th plunk bests the previous record of 35 by former Ray Johnny Gomes. Now that the Rays record is up to 36 plunks, they are now tied for the lowest career plunk record in the league with the Padres, where Kevin Kouzmanoff got hit by 36 pitches to lead that franchise. Since Pena still plays for the Rays, and Kouzmanoff is no longer a Padre, the Rays appear set to break out of the cellar in the hierarchy of franchise plunk records. If Pena can get hit 6 more times, the Rays will have a better franchise HBP record than the Mets. Also, now that the Rays have a batter with 36 career plunks, that means the Rays career HBP record is higher than the American League single season HBP (35 by Don Baylor in 1986). So that is a big moment for the Rays franchise.

Fausto Carmona hit a Yankee yesterday, giving him his 20th plunk at Progressive/Jacobs Field aka that place where the Indians play home games. That ties him for 2nd place on the park’s HBP records list with CC Sabathia. Charles Nagy holds the park record with 24 hit batters.

Skip Schumaker used a 13th inning HBP for the purpose of winning yesterday. Pedro Feliciano put him on base with a plunk in the top of the 13th, where he moved to 2nd on a walk, and then to third on a fielders choice, which allowed him to easily score the go-ahead run on an Albert Pujols single. That run held up in the bottom of the 13th, and Schumaker’s plunk led the Cardinals to victory.

Miguel Tejada got his 116th career plunk yesterday, moving him into 44th place on the all time list, tied with Aaron Rowand.

HBPs of note: July 27, 2010

Jason Hayward was supposed to face Stephen Strasburg last night, in a matchup of rookies that people are very excited about, but Strasburg was scratched, and Hayward was instead hit by a pitch by Miguel Batista in the first inning giving him 7 on the season, leading all rookies. Strasburg, on the other hand, still hasn’t hit anyone.

Casey McGahee got hit by a pitch for the Brewers, which brings the HBP total for Brewers not named Prince Fielder or Rickie Weeks to 17. So the Brewers 2010 HBP leaders are Rickie Weeks with 19, Prince Fielder with 17, and the rest of the team with 17 combined. That was Edinson Volquez’s 25th career plunk.

Like Volquez, Bruce Chen also threw his 25th career plunk, hitting Delmon Young.

HBPs of note: July 26, 2010

Adrian Beltre has only been hit by 3 pitches playing for the Red Sox, but last night he was at the plate to record the 4,000th plunk in Red Sox franchise history. Fernando Rodney contributed that one – the 148th thrown by Angels pitching against the Red Sox. The Red Sox are the 12th MLB franchise to reach 4000 plunks, and the 4th to do so in the American League. Beltre joins Alex Rodriguez (Yankees – 9/2/2007), Aramis Ramirez (Cubs – 7/26/2005), Carlos Lee (White Sox – 9/14/2004), Jayson Werth (Dodgers – 8/7/2004), Marcus Giles (Braves – 7/31/2004), Jacque Jones (Twins – 4/25/2004), Doug Glanville (Phillies – 9/23/2001), Sean Casey (Reds – 6/28/2000), Kevin Young (Pirates – 9/10/1999), Tom Lampkin (Cardinals – 6/25/1998), and Mike Benjamin (Giants – 9/24/1991) in the fraternity of players who have recorded the 4000th plunk for a team.

Prince Fielder got hit by another pitch last night, giving him 17 for the season. Bronson Arroyo delivered that one, making it the first time a pitcher named Bronson has ever plunked a batter named Prince. (Bronson Heflin never hit anyone, and Prince Oana never got hit). Fielder leads the league in plunks against starting pitchers with 12 this year. (Rickie Weeks’ 19 plunks include only 8 by starters, and 11 by relief pitchers). That was Arroyo’s 80th career plunking.

Also in that game, Indiana plunk record holder Scott Rolen improved that record to 118 career plunks on a delivery by Randy Wolf. He’s the 43rd most plunked batter ever.

HBPs of note: July 25, 2010

Starlin Castro was born on March 24, 1990, but he was hit by a pitch for the first time on July 25, 2010, in the 10th inning by Ryan Franklin. Castro gets the honor of being the first batter born in 1990 to get hit by a Major League pitch, and takes over the title of youngest player with an HBP right now.

Alex Rodriguez made the important decision that his 80th HBP as a Yankee was more important than his 600th career homer, because he got his 80th HBP as a Yankee, and then went home. Clearly an admission that his 152 career HBPs are his only un-tainted stat. Royals pitcher Blake Wood threw that one – his first in the majors. Rodriguez is now the sole owner of 19th place on the all time list, 1 plunk behind Fred Clarke. Rodriguez joined Derek Jeter, Chase Utley, and Rickie Weeks as the only active players who have taken 80 pitches for their current team.

Melvin Mora also got hit by a pitch yesterday, giving him 113 plunks. He’s the 51st player to reach that total.

HBPs of note: July 23, 2010

Jason Giambi took a plunking from JC Romero last night, moving him up to 169 career HBPs. He’s still 14th on the all time list, and 14 plunks behind Jake Beckley for the most career HBPs for a left-handed batter.

Mark Teixeira got his 73rd career HBP, but more importantly, that was the 100th HBP recorded at the new Yankee Stadium. Teixeira has taken 11 of those 100, and that’s more than any other batter. 12 of the Yankees 44 HBPs this year have occurred on Fridays.

Matt Diaz got his 32nd plunk yesterday, and it was well timed – in a tie game, with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th inning. He plunked in the go-ahead run for Atlanta, but Florida came back in the bottom of the inning to take back the win.