Is this a bug?

[Dolphinfan]

In my current league I just had 4 hit batters in a row. Just wondering if this alarming to anyone else. Never seen this before.

[endgame]

Certainly an odd occurence. If it happens again, it might be worth looking at some settings for the pitcher or the league totals. It would be alarming though; more so, if the pitcher were allowed to stay in after the second one.

[Another Mike D]

Hmmmm....

Perhaps Ellis’ most startling act occurred on May 1, 1974, when he tied a major league record by hitting three batters in a row. In spring training that year, Ellis sensed the Pirates had lost the aggressiveness that drove them to three straight division titles from 1970 to 1972. Furthermore, the team now seemed intimidated by Cincinnati’s "Big Red Machine." "Cincinnati will bull**** with us and kick our ass and laugh at us," Ellis said. "They’re the only team that talk about us like a dog." Ellis single-handedly decided to break the Pirates out of their emotional slump, announcing that "We gonna get down. We gonna do the do. I’m going to hit these mother****ers." True to his word, in the first inning of the first regular-season game he pitched against the Reds, Ellis hit leadoff batter Pete Rose in the ribs, then plunked Joe Morgan in the kidney, and loaded the bases by hitting Dan Driessen in the back. Tony Perez, batting cleanup, dodged a succession of Ellis’ pitches to walk and force in a run. The next hitter was Johnny Bench. "I tried to deck him twice," Ellis recalled. "I threw at his jaw, and he moved. I threw at the back of his head, and he moved." At this point, Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh removed Ellis from the game. But his strategy worked: the Pirates snapped out of their lethargy to win a division title in 1974, while the Reds failed to win their division for the first time in three years.

[Dave Hansen]

FWIW...I've only played 5 games into my first season...in those games 10 players have been hit by pitches...5 each by my team and opponents. Playing with default league settings in all cases.

Obviously a small sample size...

[Curtis]

Mike D, thanks for finding/posting that. I love little bits like that.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by Curtis

Mike D, thanks for finding/posting that. I love little bits like that.

Yes, that was a great find. Excellent story.

[Another Mike D]

Dock Ellis is certainly a curious case. Not sure if there was ever a way to confirm his LSD-induced no-hitter, but I guess his control that day was a hint.

[satchel]

Originally Posted by Another Mike D

Dock Ellis is certainly a curious case. Not sure if there was ever a way to confirm his LSD-induced no-hitter, but I guess his control that day was a hint.

I agree. There's no way to tell for certain, but this is a clue.

Ellis's carrer BB/IP was 0.32, and for his no-hitter it was 0.89, which is quite different. I don't know what his career high in walks was, for an nine-inning game, but if this was his highest total, that would lend veracity to his story.

[satchel]

Here's the Snopes.com article on the topic. Eight walks is a lot for a no-hitter; the record seems to be ten. Ellis says that he took the acid at noon, and the game started at about 6pm, so the effects would have been waning.

[MizzouRah]

Did you convert Ankiel back to a SP?

[Déjà Bru]

From our very own hints.txt file:

On May 30, 1904, Frank Chance became the only player to ever get hit by a pitch five times during a double header.

Not as bad as OP, of course. Yet, four HBP in a row would be alarming to me only if I saw it again in the same season or so.

[happyharrell]

Rick Vaughn?

[Dolphinfan]

Ok, I just played two more games and had at least one hit batter in each game. Two in one. Just too many hit batters. Seems off. Plus the umpires are not warning or ejecting anyone.