Quiz on HOF control pitchers
 

Browsing through stats, I spotted some patterns i find interesting:

There are only three hof starting pitchers who hit fewer than twenty batters in their whole careers (18, 19 and 19). Yet collectively they pitched over 7800 innings, faced over 33000 batters, and walked over 3000. All were strikeout artists relative to their era leading their league nine times among them. They struck out over 5600 batters in their careers.


Can you name them without reference Help? (I wouldn't have been able to. )

Walter was famous for not wanting to hit (and probably kill) batters. I'll guess him.

Good guess but no
 

I'd have thought about Walter too, but guess what? He hit the most batters of any HOF pitcher, despite his reputation - 205. That's not a super high number given he pitched 5900 innings, but still it's surprising to learn.

Gotta figure Grove as one of them.

I always loved that Gibson had the reputation for throwing at guys more than anyone, but Drysdale was a demonstrably better control pitcher who threw less innings and hit a LOT more batters than Gibson.

I'd like to guess Jim Palmer and Whitey Ford but neither was particularly a strikeout guy.

So my shot-in-the-dark guess is that Sandy Koufax is among the three.

Yes, and it surprised me, too! He usually had great control, but that's a lot of hit batters. He hit four in one inning! He could be wild, maybe throwing as hard as he did with the doctored balls of the time, or batters desperate to get on against him any way they could, who knows? Curiously, of the pitchers named so far, I think it's fair to say that Grove, Drysdale, and Gibson all had reputations as "head hunters," or at least back hunters. And despite the numbers, the anecdotal evidence for Walter is clear. As Grove told Larry Ritter: "There were only two pitchers in my time who didn't throw at hitters; one was Herb Pennock and the other was Walter Johnson."

Grove only hit 42, so not a correct answer but nowhere near headhunter status, Eddie Plank should've been nicknamed Eddie Plunk.

Got one
 

You are correct about Koufax! Apparently his teammates knew not to expect or ask him to hit batters for any reason, because he just couldn't bear to do it.

It's said that's why Roseboro buzzed Marichal with the return throw instead, leading to the bat-clocking incident

The other two guys are from different eras, but they share a very specific attribute with Koufax if that helps.

IIRC, one of Koufax's HBP was a deliberate one of Lou Brock, he was so frazzled at Brock tormenting him. He drilled him hard, Brock barely picked himself up and made it to first. He stayed in the game, promptly stole second, stole third, and then came out of the game and did not return for a week.

Wild hit by pitch guesses...Bob Feller and Dazzy Vance.

Brian

good guesses but STEE-RIKE two
 

As I mentioned these guys were strikeout artists relative to their era - as in multiple times leading the league - but not all-time K artists. In fact you might be surprised they did lead their leagues -

Their careers overlapped by a few years, but one is strongly associated with the 1930s and one with the 1940s. Also, as I said, they share something VERY significant with Koufax.

Would the inference be a pair of Jewish pitchers?

Not QUITE that specific :)
 

What other attribute of birth is Koufax known for?

Well, he was born young...but that might apply to way too many pitchers. :D

lefty

newhouser? gomez?

nailed it
 

Gomez led the league in Ks three times, Newhouser twice.

Although he walked a fair number of batters, Gomez also had zero balks in his career, and only 39 wild pitches in 2500 innings. Very smart and fundamentally solid player.