The problem pitch for Craig Biggio as a hitter in Major League Baseball was the slider thrown low and away, so he moved closer to the plate to better reach the ball in that area and, more importantly, define the strike zone for himself. The flaw in that logic -- maybe cost is a more appropriate word than "flaw" -- was that Biggio put himself at greater risk.
Because the closer he was to the plate, the more that he'd be hit, and Biggio was hit often. Twenty-two HBPs in the strike-shortened 1995 season, 27 in 1996 and 34 in 1997, each a league-leading total. As Biggio explained recently on the Baseball Tonight podcast, he also recognized how his shift in the batter's box spiked his on-base percentage, a welcome byproduct; in eight of the 10 seasons beginning in 1995, he scored 100 or more runs, twice leading the league.
As those numbers stacked up, Biggio moved among the career leaders. He passed Frank Robinson, regarded as one of the toughest players in his generation. He passed Ron Hunt, who set the single-season record for HBPs with 50 in 1971. When Biggio set the modern career record with No. 268 (he'd finish his career with 285) in June 2005, it was appropriate that he did so against the Colorado Rockies, a franchise whose first manager was Don Baylor, the holder of the mark Biggio surpassed.
Baylor had been a feared power hitter who showed no fear himself. He made it a point to never step back from an inside pitch, and beyond that, to never betray any sign of pain and give the pitcher any satisfaction:
Biggio asked for the record-setting ball, and why not -- the best of the hit by pitch moments are hard-earned, and this is the first entry in our top 5.
(We have set aside those HBPs that were catastrophic -- the death of Ray Chapman, and life- and career-altering injuries, such as that suffered by Tony Conigliaro -- or sparked brawls, like Hunter Strickland drilling Bryce Harper.)
2. The Brandon Inge HBP that helped to fuel change
After 162 games, the Tigers and Twins were tied atop the American League Central, necessitating a 163rd game, and in the top of the 12th inning, Inge's loose-fitting jersey was nicked by a pitch with the bases loaded -- a perception supported by replays. But the umpires did not see it that way and did not call it that way.
Weeks after the Tigers lost that game, the respected Randy Marsh reached out to Detroit manager Jim Leyland and apologized for the missed call.
That non-call added more weight to the demands for instant replay, as more and more folks in the game asked: If someone sitting at home can know within seconds what the correct call was, why can't umpires?
3. Nippy Jones, and Cleon Jones
With all due respect to spitballer Burleigh Grimes and the recent generation of pine tar users, shoe polish might be the substance with the greatest impact on World Series history. In Game 4 of the 1957 Fall Classic, the Yankees were three outs from taking a 3-1 series lead when Nippy Jones batted for Warren Spahn to lead off the bottom of the 10th. Jones was 32 years old and a bench player, having reached the big leagues with the Braves that season after four straight years buried in the minors.
After a pitch was thrown near his feet, Jones began moving toward first base -- and plate umpire Augie Donatelli summoned him back, ruling that the pitch hadn't hit him. But the Braves used an apparent splotch of shoe polish as evidence in arguing that Jones had been hit, and Donatelli reversed his own decision and sent Jones to first.
The rally continued, Eddie Mathews hit a walk-off home run and the Braves would go on to win the World Series in seven games. That would be the last plate appearance in Nippy Jones' big-league career.
Twelve years later, in the 1969 World Series, the Mets' Cleon Jones faced the Orioles' Dave McNally, and after a ball bounced near Jones' feet, he stood and began walking toward first base. Yogi Berra, who had been the catcher in the Nippy Jones play, was first-base coach for the Mets and argued the call, and New York manager Gil Hodges showed the plate umpire the ball. It was the shoe polish argument, again. Jones was waved to first base. Donn Clendenon, the hitter who followed, blasted a two-run homer, cutting a 3-0 Baltimore lead to a run, and the Mets went on to win that game and close out the Series.
4. Ron Hunt obliterates the single-season mark for HBPs
The Expos' second baseman was to the HBP what Babe Ruth was to homers. Hunt had a lifetime slugging percentage of .347 and never hit more than 10 home runs in any season, so what he did, better than anyone, was work to get hit by pitches. He led the National League in that category for seven straight seasons, posting 25, 25 and 26 in the 1968 to 1970 seasons before he was hit 50 times in 1971. To put that number into perspective, the most that anybody was hit from 1912 to the years when Hunt owned the statistic was 23, by Minnie Minoso in 1956. Hunt broke his own National League record with his 27th HBP on July 18, 1971, and on Sept. 29, Milt Pappas hit him for No. 50.
The totals for Hunt's 12-year career: 555 walks, 285 extra-base hits and 243 HBPs.
5. Brian Downing, 1986 playoffs
The beginning of the end of Calvin Schiraldi's time as a big league closer occurred in the AL Championship Series -- and more specifically, in Game 4. Roger Clemens shut out the Angels for eight innings, and going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Red Sox had a 3-0 lead, with a chance to even the best-of-seven series at 2-all. Clemens allowed a leadoff homer to Doug DeCinces, and then, after back-to-back singles with one out, Red Sox manager John McNamara summoned Schiraldi.
After a double, an intentional walk and a strikeout, Schiraldi reached a 1-2 count on Downing. Like Baylor, Downing had taken to holding his place in the batter's box later in his career and was hit 61 times from 1985 to 1988. Schiraldi spun a curveball, hit Downing and forced in the tying run. The Angels would win the game in extra innings, but Boston won dramatically in Game 5, before winning Games 6 and 7 and advancing to play the Mets in the World Series.
Through the '86 season, Schiraldi was viewed as a possible long-term closer for the Red Sox. But after his troubles against the Angels and Mets in that postseason, he logged just 12 saves over the rest of his career.