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8/11/22

Paul Articulates – A hymnbook full of chin music


The New York Mets lead Major League Baseball in being hit by pitches with 76 “plunks” so far this year.  That’s more than two for every three games.  It’s not a nightly occurrence, but it sure feels like it.  New York TV has made a habit of recording the number of times Buck Showalter grimaces, and SNY has shown that he seems to have a different face for every occurrence.  

Before all Mets fans start claiming to be the victim of a bruising conspiracy by some evil empire, let’s look at some facts for perspective.

  1. The 1898 Baltimore Orioles were hit 160 times in a 149 game season, led by shortstop Hughie Jennings who wore one for the team 46 times by himself.  That was not even his most black & blue summer – Hughie was hit 51 times in the 1896 season.  The 1898 Orioles were bruised in 2.67% of their plate appearances compared to this year’s Mets who have felt the sting in only 1.79% of their plate appearances.
  2. The American League record was set by the Cleveland Indians (can we still say that?) in 2008.  They failed to avoid the baseball 103 times in 6299 plate appearances (1.63%).
  3. Craig Biggio was hit in a “modern era” record 285 times.  Ouch!
  4. The 2022 Mets (76 HBP in 111 games) are only 8 plunks ahead of the Cincinnati Reds and 10 ahead of the Orioles & Giants.  So it is far from a run-away.
  5. The player most hit by pitches this year is Willson Contreras from the Cubs with 23.  The closest Met on the list is Mark Canha in fourth place with 14.  So there is no one on the team with a bulls-eye on their jersey.

They are not close to a record pace, but it seems like the Mets are being hit an inordinate amount of times.  Maybe it is the current state of pitching, where young arms are focused more on velocity than location.  Maybe it is the ban on “sticky substance” that has these guys struggling to “get a grip”.  Whatever the reason, it is always entertaining to watch the expressions on Buck Showalter’s face when another Met gets hit by pitch.

Several memorable instances of the hit by pitch come to mind, and I’m sure the readers have more.

  1. David Wright being struck in the helmet back in August 2009 by a 94mph fastball delivered by Matt Cain.  That affected his hitting for months after his return.
  2. Michael Conforto “leaning into one” that plated the game winning run with bases loaded against the Marlins in April, 2021. video
  3. Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitch during a 2001 spring training game video
  4. Tony Conigliaro of the Boston Red Sox had his jaw broken by a pitch in 1967 that some say affected the rest of his career.
  5. Asdrubal Cabrera feeling chin music from Phillies pitcher Edubray Ramos 200 days after his famous 11th inning bat-flipping walk-off homer in 2016 against the same pitcher.

There is some danger in being struck by a baseball thrown at today’s velocities.  Both Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor have been hit in the head in some very scary scenes.  The velocity of a fastball travelling up and in is very much different in today’s game than it was back in the 1890’s or even in the 1970’s when Ron Hunt was leaning into pitches pretty frequently.  I don’t think this is an issue that can be legislated by MLB.  

The cure is for hitting coaches throughout baseball’s development pipeline to focus more on control than velocity.  That certainly hasn’t been the priority over the last decade as the analytics wing of baseball has emphasized the power strike-out.  Batters of this era have adjusted in the best way they can – wearing an array of armor that has to be removed before running the bases.  

I think that baseball fans of the 60’s and 70’s would get a chuckle out of watching the modern baseball player get hit or walked and then dropping a pile of protective gear on the plate before proceeding to first.

I’ll conclude by saying that this year’s New York Mets are doing a good job getting on base with their .331 OBP (2nd in MLB) but it would feel a little safer if they could exchange some HBPs for some hits.


5 comments:

  1. HBPs constitute the biggest threat to the Mets wining the World Series. Bones can break, and alter teams' fortunes.

    Tommie Agee's beaning in the spring training opener by Bob Gibson ruined his entire 1968 season. The Mets won 73 in 1968, and would have won 81 if Agee was not rendered gun-shy for almost all of 1968. It was truly painful to watch him bailing on sliders.

    The real Agee showed up in 1969 and made the Miracle of 1969 possible.

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  2. Kevin Pillar's beaning last year is still fresh in the mind

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  3. and let us not forget the all-time leader for hit-by-pitch, Ron Hunt, with 50 in 1971. Ron was the Mets first voted in all-star, starting at 2nd base in 1964, over Pete Rose (he also came in second to Pete for Rookie of the Year in 1963), quite an achievement for a Met back then. Ron was with the Montreal Expos when he set the HBP record, but to me, he'll always be a Met.

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  4. Ron Hunt was fearless! He would lean into just about any pitch to get a base.
    I think Joey Votto's lean-in last night was a tribute to Hunt. :)

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  5. Hunt used HBP as a get on base tactic for sure.

    Poor Pillar - signed with Dodgers, went to AAA, 3 games with LAD in June, needed shoulder surgery, now trying to get back. I guess he gambled that he could be on a World Series team. But just 12 MLB at bats so far this year.

    Jnathan Villar having a bad (final?) year too - Mets were smart to move on from both.

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