Hit by Pitch Single Season Leaders

Every so often it happens. One just slips away and the batter gets the worst of it. Every so often the manager calls for it as well. Or maybe the batter is dug in just a bit too deep over the plate. What ever the circumstance, batters get hit and the pitchers below hit the most during a single season in Major League history.

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the top one-hundred all-time single season leaders in Major League hit by pitch. Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.
"(Joe) McGinnity was a magician in the box. It was difficult for a batter to get his measure. Sometimes his fingers would almost scrape the ground as he hurled the ball. He knew all the tricks for putting a batter on the spot." - Hall of Fame Manager Connie Mack in My 66 Years in the Big Leagues
Hit by Pitch (Pitcher)
Single Season Leaders

'Top 100'
Phil Knell 54 1891 Columbus Colts AA 1
Joe McGinnity 41 1900 Brooklyn Superbas NL 2
Ed Doheny 37 1899 New York Giants NL 3
Gus Weyhing 37 1887 Philadelphia Athletics AA  
Will White 35 1884 Cincinnati Red Stockings AA 5
Pink Hawley 33 1895 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 6
Chick Fraser 32 1901 Philadelphia Athletics AL 7
Tony Mullane 32 1887 Cincinnati Red Stockings AA  
Tony Mullane 32 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings AA  
Cy Seymour 32 1898 New York Giants NL  
Vic Willis 30 1899 Boston Beaneaters NL 11
Vic Willis 30 1898 Boston Beaneaters NL  
Chick Fraser 29 1896 Louisville Colonels NL 13
Chick Fraser 29 1898 Cleveland Spiders NL  
Louisville Colonels NL
Pink Hawley 28 1896 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 15
Phil Knell 28 1890 Philadelphia Quakers PL  
Joe McGinnity 28 1899 Baltimore Orioles NL  
Win Mercer 28 1897 Washington Senators NL  
Jack Taylor 28 1897 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Gus Weyhing 28 1899 Washington Senators NL  
Jack Easton 27 1890 Columbus Colts AA 21
Will White 27 1885 Cincinnati Red Stockings AA  
Pink Hawley 26 1897 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 23
John Healy 26 1890 Toledo Maumees AA  
Gus Shallix 26 1884 Cincinnati Red Stockings AA  
Jack Warhop 26 1909 New York Highlanders AL  
Chief Bender 25 1903 Philadelphia Athletics AL 27
Nixey Callahan 24 1899 Chicago Orphans NL 28
Otto Hess 24 1906 Cleveland Naps AL  
Frank Knauss 24 1890 Columbus Colts AA  
Darby O'Brien 24 1889 Cleveland Spiders NL  
Wiley Piatt 24 1899 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Eddie Plank 24 1905 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Ed Seward 24 1887 Philadelphia Athletics AA  
Tom Sullivan 24 1888 Kansas City Blues AA  
Frank Bates 23 1899 Cleveland Spiders NL 36
St. Louis Perfectos NL
Bill Carrick 23 1899 New York Giants NL  
Howard Ehmke 23 1922 Detroit Tigers AL  
Fred Klobedanz 23 1897 Boston Beaneaters NL  
Bill Magee 23 1899 Louisville Colonels NL  
Philadelphia Phillies NL
Washington Senators NL
Eddie Plank 23 1903 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Jake Weimer 23 1907 Cincinnati Reds NL  
Al Atkinson 22 1886 Philadelphia Athletics AA 43
Nixey Callahan 22 1900 Chicago Orphans NL  
Joe Corbett 22 1897 Baltimore Orioles NL  
Ed Doheny 22 1900 New York Giants NL  
Pete Dowling 22 1898 Louisville Colonels NL  
Chick Fraser 22 1897 Louisville Colonels NL  
Chick Fraser 22 1899 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Pink Hawley 22 1898 Cincinnati Reds NL  
Jim Hughey 22 1899 Cleveland Spiders NL  
Phil Knell 22 1892 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Washington Senators NL
Doc McJames 22 1897 Washington Senators NL  
Cy Morgan 22 1909 Boston Red Sox AL  
Philadelphia Athletics AL
Mike Morrison 22 1887 Cleveland Blues AA  
Jack Taylor 22 1899 Chicago Orphans NL  
Jack Chesbro 21 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 57
Pete Dowling 21 1901 Cleveland Blues AL  
Milwaukee Brewers AL
Pink Hawley 21 1894 St. Louis Browns NL  
Jumbo McGinnis 21 1886 Baltimore Orioles AA  
St. Louis Browns AA
Joe McGinnity 21 1901 Baltimore Orioles AL  
Harry McIntire 21 1909 Brooklyn Superbas NL  
Cy Morgan 21 1911 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Tom Murphy 21 1969 California Angels AL  
Doc Newton 21 1901 Brooklyn Superbas NL  
Cincinnati Reds NL
Henry Schmidt 21 1903 Brooklyn Superbas NL  
Cy Seymour 21 1899 New York Giants NL  
Cy Seymour 21 1897 New York Giants NL  
Kerry Wood 21 2003 Chicago Cubs NL  
Bronson Arroyo 20 2004 Boston Red Sox AL 70
Bill Carrick 20 1901 Washington Senators AL  
Harry Coveleski 20 1915 Detroit Tigers AL  
Billy Crowell 20 1887 Cleveland Blues AA  
Bert Cunningham 20 1898 Louisville Colonels NL  
Ed Doheny 20 1898 New York Giants NL  
Don Drysdale 20 1961 Los Angeles Dodgers NL  
Howard Ehmke 20 1923 Boston Red Sox AL  
Hank Gastright 20 1890 Columbus Colts AA  
Clark Griffith 20 1898 Chicago Orphans NL  
Pink Hawley 20 1900 New York Giants NL  
Pink Hawley 20 1893 St. Louis Browns NL  
Pink Hawley 20 1899 Cincinnati Reds NL  
Bill Hill 20 1897 Louisville Colonels NL  
Walter Johnson 20 1923 Washington Senators AL  
Matt Kilroy 20 1887 Baltimore Orioles AA  
Kid Madden 20 1887 Boston Beaneaters NL  
Bobby Mathews 20 1885 Philadelphia Athletics AA  
Al Mays 20 1887 New York Metropolitans AA  
Harry McIntire 20 1905 Brooklyn Superbas NL  
Harry McIntire 20 1908 Brooklyn Superbas NL  
Win Mercer 20 1900 New York Giants NL  
Chan Ho Park 20 2001 Los Angeles Dodgers NL  
Case Patten 20 1904 Washington Senators AL  
Barney Pelty 20 1904 St. Louis Browns AL  
Charlie Sprague 20 1890 Toledo Maumees AA  
Fleury Sullivan 20 1884 Pittsburgh Alleghenys AA  
Ed Summers 20 1908 Detroit Tigers AL  
Jamey Wright 20 2001 Milwaukee Brewers NL  
Carlos Zambrano 20 2004 Chicago Cubs NL  
Victor Zambrano 20 2003 Tampa Bay Devil Rays AL 100
Current Through 2006 Season


The all-time single season leader, Phil Knell, is not the Major League leader for career hit by pitch, but he does appear in the top twenty.

When Kerry Wood drilled twenty-one batters in 2003 he became the first pitch in thirty plus years to hit more than twenty batters in the same season!

How do you feel about pitchers hitting batters? Should Major League Baseball remove the warning system and allow pitchers to pitch inside again? Tell us what you think on Baseball Fever.
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