HBP Myths

In baseball the Hit By Pitch (HBP) is a play where the pitcher hits the batter with the ball. The batter gets to take first base. Most times this happens by accident, but it is sometimes an intentional tactic. Either from frustration, retaliation for a play by the other team (like a HBP), or poor sportsmanship (hitting a player for being too good), sometimes pitchers hit batters with pitches on purpose. In a game I was pitching in a batter squared around for a bunt with a runner on third base preparing to run home and score. I threw at the batter. It missed, but prevented him from completing the play and ultimately the run did not score. I felt that was OK, but the most popular HBP plays in MLB arise from situations where it is not OK to throw at the batter.

Myth #1: AL batters get hit by more pitchers than NL batters
When MLB stats for 2008 are ranked by HBP there is not a cluster one league over the other, the teams are randomly listed from both leagues. One league averaged 0.039 HBP per inning, the other 0.038 - is that really a difference? MLB teams averaged 1445 innings pitched so the difference is 2 more HBP over 162 games played. If I said something is more likely to happen in one league once more every 40+ games I doubt anyone would claim that as a distinction of one league over the other.

Myth #2: a pitcher who intentionally throws inside risks reciprocation from the opposing pitcher
It would make sense that if a team perceives a pitcher as aggressive with malice, it would retaliate in some fashion. However, the HBP does not target the pitchers at bat. Instead of giving a free base to a pitcher, who poses little to no threat as a batter, the pitchers target batters than possess the ability to hit home runs. Not only does this remove the threatening batter from his chance to hit, if he decided to charge mound and fight it would probably remove him from the game entirely. In 2008 out of 879 batters hit by a pitch by NL only were 6 pitchers. Pitchers are far less likely to be HBP.

Myth #3: due to the DH in the AL, pitchers have less fear and are more free to toss HBP
This popular myth builds on Myth #2 and extracts out the intuition that AL pitchers have impunity without fear of taking turns at bat. The implied myth is that NL pitchers face retaliation for HBP when they bat. In 2008 there were 3 pitchers to hit 14 batters over the course of the season. Two of them were on the same team. So 2 players on the same team tied for the NL lead in HBP. Those 2 pitchers combined for 106 AB but only a single HBP. So if the league leaders were not retaliated against in 2008, chances are no one else was either.

Myth #4 HBP are not dangerous
The average MLB fastball is around 90 MPH. That hurts and can be dangerous. In 1920 Ben Chapman died 12 hours after a HBP. In 2007 minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh died an hour after he was hit with a ball in the first base coach's box. When I was in little league a boy was hit in the head with a ball and died that day. Others injuries range from broken bones to painful bone bruises and concussions. In 1967 Tony Conigliaro received a broken cheekbone, damaged retina, and lost vision in his left eye. In 1984 Dickie Thon received a broken orbital bone and long term problems with depth perception. In 1995 Kirby Puckett received a broken cheekbone and irreparable damage in his right eye. Conigliaro, Thon, & Puckett not only had their seasons end, each player had the remainder of their careers altered by long-term health issues originally caused by HBPs.