Josh Willingham‘s plunk in the 7th inning against Cleveland yesterday was the 1000th plunk of the 2012 season, and Willingham’s 12th. He leads the American League in getting hit by pitches, and he’s just 2 behind Carlos Ruiz for the overall lead. Willingham has now been hit 87 times in his career.
James Shields threw the 46th plunk of his career, extending his record for most plunks thrown by a Ray. That was also the 999th plunk ever recorded at Tropicana Field, and it landed on Yunel Escobar.
Yesterday was Marlins pitcher Wade LeBlanc‘s 28th birthday, and Mets pitcher Jonathan Niese helped him celebrate by hitting him with a pitch. From 1969 to 2011, no pitcher got hit by a pitch on his birthday, but now Wade LeBlanc has done so. Leblanc joins Ian Kinsler as the only players to get a birthday plunk this year.
Plunk Signal