Expert: Tom Schott - 6/28/2007

Question
What's the career record for most consecutive at bats without getting hit by a pitch

Answer
Hi,

Great question. I will be as precise as I can; to be completely precise would take more time than I have to give. The record holder is Garret Anderson of the LA Angels; from 1999 to the present, he has not been hit by a pitch. That is 4,904 ABs. The last time he was hit by a pitch was in 1998 when he had 622 ABs. So let's say, for the sake of being reasonably close to the answer, he got hit at the mid-point of his season. That would add another 311 ABs which would give him a total of 5,216 ABs without being hit by a pitch. So you would be reasonably safe in saying he has "over 5,000 ABs w/o a HBP and counting."

To get the exact answer, I would have to comb the box scores from the beginning of the year, totaling ABs as I go. I don't know of any other way to do it. I've tried various searches and come up empty. I hope this approximation will meet your needs.