Good morning!
What a fun team this 2026 Chicago White Sox team is to watch. For the first time in several years, I find myself struggling to decide which particular batting or pitching event or statistic I'd like to highlight for the weekly Sporcle. Indeed, looking at the spreadsheet I keep for ideas, there are several on there that have yet to see the light of day because something new arises, seemingly each day.
This week, one statistic in particular jumped out to me, courtesy of the one and only Sam Antonacci. That statistic, as noted in this week's title, is HBPs. Entering Friday evening's tilt against the Cubs, Antonacci already has 8 on the season which ranks second-most in MLB, tied with Willson Contreras and only two behind the leader, JJ Wetherholt, who has 10. The difference among those top three, though, are games played: Wetherholt and Contreras have played in 43 and 41 games, respectively, while Antonacci has appeared in just 26! If he can stay healthy and on the field, my guess is he's MLB's leader in that particular category by year's end, and likely challenges the White Sox single-season record.
That record, as you'll see, is 23, set in 1956 and tied in 2011. Today's quiz will ask you to identify other players with at least 10 HBPs in a single season. That's 74 player-seasons: how many can you name? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I've allotted 15 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I've provided the year, the number of HBPs, and the position of the player in question.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- The average triple-slash of the players on this list (note the OBP): .279/.360/.438.
- The highest OPS+ of the players on this list is 173 (2014), while the lowest is 70 (2011, 2B).
- The single-season record in MLB for HBPs in the modern era (1901-present) is 50, by Ron Hunt of the Expos in 1971.
All data from stathead.com
