Legends Of The Fall – Baseball's Greatest Myth
By Lisa Fabrizio (10/15/03)
And so here we are, in glorious autumn. The last bout of summer humidity is behind us, candidates are on the stump, the kiddies are back in school and the Fall Classic beckons. And with the coming of the World Series, many legends and not a few myths remind us why baseball is and hopefully always will be our national pastime. For every curse that dooms the fervent fans of entire cities as well as their progeny, there are also myths that were cooked up in some long-ago hot-stove league and served up with relish every October. Please allow your humble correspondent, at grave risk of offending loyal readers, to shine a light of truth on one of the tastiest.
That would be that American League pitchers headhunt because they don't bat. This is very topical in view of the recent unpleasantness on display in Fenway Park this past weekend. Two of the game's most noted brushback artists faced off on Yawkey Way. Regardless of your take on who was guilty of what, the prevailing opinion was that these types of shenanigans would not have occurred had the game been played according to Senior Circuit rules. "That gutless so-and-so (Clemens/Martinez) wouldn't pull this stuff if he had to get into the batter's box," was the cry heard across the land.
Alas, this canard has been with us since the American League instituted the Designated Hitter rule in 1973 and continues apace. And, my fellow sports fans, it is nonsense.
Pitchers, as a rule, do not hit pitchers. Pitchers like other pitchers; it is batters who are the common foe and receive the spheroid in uncomfortable places. In today's baseball especially, hurlers have almost nothing to fear from their counterparts on the mound. It is their hate for hitters that binds them. There is no better illustration of this than the Mike Piazza, Roger Clemens confrontation of a few years back.
When Clemens hit Piazza in July of 2000, the howls were never louder that Clemens was a 'coward' since he did not pitch in Shea Stadium that season or the next. For two years, Mets' fans whetted their appetite for the retribution that would surely occur the next time the Rocket dared come to Flushing. When that day finally came, the results, as they say were highly unsatisfying. Shawn Estes tried to hit Clemens with a slow fastball to the butt, but missed. Later, Estes, who had a career-high 11 strikeouts, playfully mused that "I missed my spot." Roger returned the favor two innings later when he served up a fat pitch which Estes hit out of the park. Again, pitchers like and therefore almost never hit other pitchers.
This has always seemed the case to me but I decided to do a little (a lot actually) research on the subject, the data for most of which can be found at The Baseball Almanac and at Baseball1.com which supplies stats for MLB and offers a free downloadable database. I studied all 20th Century pitchers and most specifically, those NLers who pitched during and after the year 1975, often used as a benchmark for 'modern' baseball as it is both post DH and free agency and discovered the following:
There are 1,479 NL pitchers who were in the league during and since 1975. The fact is, 1,236 have never been hit by a pitch. Only 242 have been, which translates into only one out of six modern-day NL pitchers who have bit the dust at the hand of their fellow hurlers! Of those never hit, an incredible 78 pitched 10 years or more in the league. By contrast, in that same span, only one non-pitcher, Mark Lemke has played 10 years without getting hit.
Of those 242 who have been hit, only 13 have been hit five or more times in their career. And of those 13, only two have pitched less than 10 years. In other words, it just doesn't happen as often as one is lead to believe.
And let me throw some names at you. Although some of the pitchers are relievers and less likely to get flipped, consider; Al Downing pitched 17 years and never once felt the sting! And through all of wacky Joaquin Andujar's 51 plunkings in 12 years, he too never needed his batting helmet. Others include: Rick Rhoden (15 yrs.), Fernando Valenzuela (15 yrs.), Fred Norman (14 yrs.), Ed Whitson (14 yrs.) who were never beaned.
Pre-1975 stats include these; Don Drysdale, 5 HBP in 14 yrs., Bob Gibson, 8 HBP in 17 yrs., and Sal "The Barber" Maglie, only 3 HBP in 17 yrs. Even in the 'old days' when there were no warnings and beanings were more common, the same held true. Feared hurler Juan Marichal, who was involved in a famous case of reverse-beaning, hit 40 men in his 15-year career and was himself only hit by two pitchers and one catcher if you believe his story.
The only player noted for being on both sides of the mound, Babe Ruth was never hit in four years as a good-hitting pitcher. As soon as he traded the resin bag for the pine tar, he was plunked 43 times in the next 18 years.
Oh, and the great Nolan Ryan, he of the flaming fastball and known for his early lack of control? In 18 years of batting in the NL, he hit 101 batters, and his fellow pitchers retaliated exactly ZERO times. Enjoy the Fall Classic.
(Printer friendly version) Email: Lisa Fabrizio
