Quote:
Originally Posted by timn1
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.
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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."