In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is a situation in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided that (in the plate umpire's judgment) he made an honest effort to avoid the pitch, although failure to do so is rarely called by an umpire. Being hit by a pitch is often caused by a batter standing too close to, or "crowding", home plate.
This is a list of the top 100 Major League Baseball pitchers who have the most hit batsmen of all time.
Gus Weyhing (277) [1] [2] holds the dubious record for most hit batsmen in a career. Chick Fraser (219), [3] Pink Hawley (210), [4] and Walter Johnson (205) [5] are the only other pitchers to hit 200 or more batters in their careers.
Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career hit batsmen. A blank field indicates a tie. |
Player (2025 HB) | Number of batters hit during the 2025 Major League Baseball season. |
HB | Total career batters hit |
* | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. |
---|---|
Bold | Denotes active player. (HB in previous season) [note 1] |
Rank | Player (2025 HB) | HB |
---|---|---|
1 | Gus Weyhing | 277 |
2 | Chick Fraser | 219 |
3 | Pink Hawley | 210 |
4 | Walter Johnson* | 205 |
5 | Randy Johnson* | 190 |
Eddie Plank* | 190 | |
7 | Charlie Morton (0) | 186 |
Tim Wakefield | 186 | |
9 | Tony Mullane | 185 |
10 | Joe McGinnity* | 179 |
11 | Charlie Hough | 174 |
12 | Clark Griffith* | 171 |
13 | Cy Young* | 161 |
14 | Jim Bunning* | 160 |
15 | Roger Clemens | 159 |
16 | Nolan Ryan* | 158 |
17 | Vic Willis* | 156 |
18 | Bert Blyleven* | 155 |
Jamey Wright | 155 | |
20 | Don Drysdale* | 154 |
21 | Bert Cunningham | 148 |
Adonis Terry | 148 | |
23 | Silver King | 146 |
Jamie Moyer | 146 | |
25 | Win Mercer | 144 |
26 | A. J. Burnett | 143 |
27 | Frank Foreman | 142 |
28 | Ed Doheny | 141 |
Pedro Martínez* | 141 | |
30 | Kevin Brown | 139 |
Red Ehret | 139 | |
32 | Chan Ho Park | 138 |
33 | Howard Ehmke | 137 |
Greg Maddux* | 137 | |
35 | Phil Knell | 136 |
36 | John Lackey | 133 |
37 | Matt Kilroy | 131 |
George Mullin | 130 | |
Jesse Tannehill | 130 | |
40 | Kid Nichols* | 129 |
Dave Stieb | 129 | |
Frank Tanana | 129 | |
43 | Kenny Rogers | 127 |
44 | Jack Taylor | 126 |
45 | Kid Carsey | 125 |
Willie Sudhoff | 125 | |
47 | Tim Hudson | 124 |
Jeff Weaver | 124 | |
49 | Mark Baldwin | 123 |
Phil Niekro* | 123 |
Rank | Player (2025 HB) | HB |
---|---|---|
CC Sabathia | 123 | |
52 | Jim Kaat* | 122 |
Dennis Martínez | 122 | |
54 | Hooks Dauss | 121 |
55 | Johnny Cueto (0) | 120 |
Jack Powell | 120 | |
Doc White | 120 | |
58 | Chris Sale (0) | 119 |
59 | Orel Hershiser | 117 |
Darryl Kile | 117 | |
Al Leiter | 117 | |
62 | Justin Verlander (0) | 115 |
Rube Waddell* | 115 | |
64 | Jack Warhop | 114 |
65 | Ice Box Chamberlain | 113 |
Jack Chesbro* | 113 | |
Red Donahue | 113 | |
George Uhle | 113 | |
69 | Amos Rusie* | 112 |
Aaron Sele | 112 | |
Max Scherzer (0) | 112 | |
72 | Pedro Astacio | 111 |
73 | Vicente Padilla | 109 |
74 | Gaylord Perry* | 108 |
Billy Rhines | 108 | |
76 | Ed Reulbach | 107 |
77 | David Cone | 106 |
Earl Moore | 106 | |
79 | Bronson Arroyo | 105 |
Félix Hernández | 105 | |
Jim Lonborg | 105 | |
Jeff Pfeffer | 105 | |
Ed Willett | 105 | |
84 | Barney Pelty | 104 |
Ervin Santana | 104 | |
86 | Scott Erickson | 103 |
Red Faber* | 103 | |
Randy Wolf | 103 | |
89 | Chief Bender* | 102 |
Bob Gibson* | 102 | |
Tom Hughes | 102 | |
Carlos Zambrano | 102 | |
93 | Frank Dwyer | 101 |
Burleigh Grimes* | 101 | |
Earl Whitehill | 101 | |
96 | Wilbur Cooper | 100 |
Cole Hamels | 100 | |
98 | Bob Caruthers | 99 |
Jack Stivetts | 99 | |
Kerry Wood | 99 |
A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls balls, and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08(a). Despite being known as a "walk", it is considered a faux pas for a professional player to actually walk to first base; the batter-runner and any advancing runners normally jog on such a play.
In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided that he made an honest effort to avoid the pitch, although failure to do so is rarely called by an umpire. Being hit by a pitch is often caused by a batter standing too close to, or "crowding", home plate.
Walter Perry Johnson, nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927. He later served as manager of the Senators from 1929 through 1932 and of the Cleveland Indians from 1933 through 1935.
In baseball or softball, a strikeout occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safely as a result. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is usually denoted by the letter K, or sometimes by the initialism SO. A "strikeout looking"—in which the batter does not swing and the third strike is called by the umpire—may be denoted by an inverted K.
In baseball statistics, walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. WHIP is calculated by adding the number of walks and hits allowed and dividing this sum by the number of innings pitched.
Donald Scott Drysdale, nicknamed "Big D", was an American professional baseball pitcher and broadcaster who played in Major League Baseball. He spent his entire 14-year career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. Known for being a fierce competitor, Drysdale won the Cy Young Award in 1962 and was a three-time World Series champion during his playing career.
Randall David Johnson, nicknamed "the Big Unit", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks.
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The following are the baseball events of the year 1895 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1896 throughout the world.
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August Weyhing was an American pitcher in professional baseball. Nicknamed "Cannonball", "Rubber Arm Gun", and "Rubber-Winged Gus", he played for nine different Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from 1887 to 1901. Weyhing had a career win–loss record of 264–232. He holds the record for most batters hit in a career, with 277, and was the last major league pitcher to play without a baseball glove.
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Emerson Pink Hawley was an American professional baseball pitcher. From 1892 to 1901, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Browns, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants, and Milwaukee Brewers. Hawley had a win–loss record of 167–179 and holds the National League (NL) career record for hit batsmen.
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