Question what is the longest at bat ( number of pitches) in major league baseball history?
Answer Howdy- as you know, no official statistics are kept on this rather esoteric subject. I had thought that the "record" was held by Luke Appling, but Bill James apparently uncovered an At-Bat by Roy Thomas in which he fouled off 22 pitches, so his total pitches for that AB is 26. (Thomas led the NL in walks six times and finished in the top three nine consecutive years). Appling once fouled off 17 pitches, including 14 in a row, giving him a 20-pitch AB.
