Tom Brennan - RON HUNT'S POSSE

Tom Brennan - RON HUNT'S POSSE

In hot summer weather, some folks want to get dunked to cool off.

Ron Hunt wanted to get plunked to get on base.

243 times in his career, to be precise, and from 1968 to 1973, he got plunked between 24 times and 26 times every year - except in 1971, when he was plunked 50 times in 152 games for the Expos of Montreal.  It is a good thing it was 50 times, as it got his on base % barely over .400, at .402.

On average, he was HBP once every 25 plate appearances in his career.

Hunt was only hit 41 times with the Mets, with whom he started his career in 1963.

Hughie Jennings was hit 51 times in a single season, and an astonishing 143 times in a 3 year stretch from 1897-1899, but if it happened before 1900, who cares, right?

He was hit 287 times, edging out Craig Biggio, who got nailed 285 times.  But Biggio needed 12,500+ plate appearances, more than double the 6,158 # for Hunt, to get there.

Back to Metsville - who is a magnet for pitched baseballs this year?

Brandon Nimmo is on quite the pace, with 17 in 92 games - but one of those plunkings was to his hand and caused him to miss some games, the downside of baseball-meets-body. 

Next up on the Mets this year?  Conforto, with a mere 5.

Dangerous stuff - Tommie Agee was beaned by Bob Gibson in the first spring training inning of 1968 and it ruined his whole year.  Others have fared even worse.

But - who is a baseball magnet in the Mets minors?

In the minors, Columbia Fireflies Catcher Scott Manea has been hit 20 times in 78 games this season.    That surprisingly only has him at # 5 in the entire minors this season, with 4 guys having 23 to 26 HBPs, but those same dudes have played between 87 and 108 games, so only one of the 4 has been hit slightly more times per game (once every 15.8 times for Scotty, once every 15.4 times for the other guy).

But Manea is not the Met plunked most frequently, percentage-wise; Mets' DSL player Juan Loyo has been hit 13 times in 133 PA's, once every 10.2 times up!!  The ouches come quickly...Loyo's on base % just from HBP is .098!

In the "minor leaguers you've heard of" department, Levi Michael has been nailed 19 times as part of his very fine season; Andres Gimenez and Matt Winaker have had body meet baseball 14 times; Pete Alonso has been struck 13 times; and young DSL prospect Adrian Hernandez has been popped 12 times in 198 PA's (once every 16.5 times up).

Tough way to get on base - but doing it that way makes them part of RON HUNT'S POSSE.

Whatever you do, don't rub the boo boo, boys!