Many baseball fans criticize pitchers for not pitching inside and protecting the inside part of the plate.

One way to judge whether or not pitchers are trying to reclaim this part of their sacred territory is to look at the number of batters hit by a pitched ball.

The theory being, if you hit a batter you must be throwing your pitches directly at the inside area in an attempt to move the hitter off the plate.

Are more batters being hit than last year or in years past?Hall of Fame baseball writer, Leonard Koppett has been studying this very question.

He has shared his research with me.

Koppett looks at the number of batters hit in relationship to the amount of games played.

For example, if three batters are hit in six games played, the percentage is 50%.

From 1933-49, the figure was below 35%.

As more home runs were hit from 1951-61, the figure jumped to 36-40% of batters hit per games played.

With a record number of homers being struck in 1961, the following ten years saw the percentage jump to 42-48%.

You see the point. As more scoring takes place, specifically through home runs, the pitchers hit more batters, thereby trying to reclaim their part of the plate and discourage free swingers.

Now, the numbers become interesting.

With the offensive revival in 1993, the number of hit batters jumps significantly. Whether the added offense came from a juiced baseball, smaller parks, or weakened pitching because of expansion, the pitchers definitely started taking more shots at the hitters.

1993-94 54%

1995-96 60%

1997-2000 65%

2001 78%

During this season, as of May 8th, 359 batters have been plunked in 492 games, a mark close to last year’s full season 78%. We will have to wait for the full season numbers to see if the trend increases as it has in the past, but it certainly hasn’t fallen off.

The pitchers are well aware of what the hitters are doing. The pitchers are brushing the hitters back.

It is wrong to think that pitchers are not trying to throw inside.

The problem for the pitcher is, he gives up the long ball when he misses with an inside pitch because a miss generally puts the ball over the plate. So, when the pitcher goes inside, he tends to go too far, thus hitting more batters in his attempt to back the hitter off the plate.

Interesting.

I’ll revisit this later in the year.

David Wells pitches against Eric Milton in Minnesota. Minnesota is 16-3 at home plus 7-3 versus lefthanded starters. Milton is a former Yankee who has pitched well against New York. Good opening game of the weekend series.

Frank Castillo opens for the Red Sox in Safeco. Castillo has never beaten Seattle. The Mariners never cease to amaze me with their late inning heroics. Last night, rallying from three down in the ninth to tie the score, then winning it in the 11th.

Toronto reliever, Corey Thurman, last night’s loser, walked six in 1.6 innings. Nice relief.

Seattle is without Jeff Nelson, elbow surgery, Kaz Sasaki, back in Japan for family business, Arthur Rhodes is over worked already, and Edgar Martinez may have had another setback in his recovery from his ruptured hamstring.

This means, now is the time for Oakland, Anaheim, and Texas to pick up ground on the Mariners.

Joel Piniero opens for Seattle. Boston is 19-7 versus righties, 16-2 on the road overall with a nine game winning streak.

They are understandably very confident right now.

The White Sox face lefty Scott Schoenweiss tonight. He is only the sixth lefthanded starter the Sox have faced this season. Only top of the rotation lefties shut down this bunch, and Schoenweiss, a new father, may not be there yet.

The Phillies keep rolling along as they extended their winning streak to 6 straight. Former Diamondback Vincente Padilla goes for Philly against Rick Helling for Arizona.

Helling doesn’t have much on the ball, the Phils are hot, I see number 7 tonight.

Hot pitchers tonight: Ishii for LA, Livan Hernandez and Javier Vasquez in Montreal, Carlos Hernadez for Houston, Matt Clement for the Cubs, and Greg Maddux in Atlanta.

Hot shot Dennis Tankersley makes his debut for San Diego against Maddux. San Diego has ripped Maddux in the past, let’s see if the kid can keep the Padres in the game.

Mark Mulder comes back tonight. He will be limited to 90 pitches, but the thing to watch is whether his velocity gets over 90 on the gun.

The A’s need a reliable number three hitter, and very soon, becuse they have to make up some ground against Toronto, Boston, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay before the West comes back into the schedule in June.

So, will Sammy Sosa or Barry Bonds be hit by a pitch tonight?

The odds say yes.