Major League Baseball (MLB) has become popular as the highest form of professional baseball league in the United States and Canada. This league was formed in 2000 to bring the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) under one roof. Previously, the two leagues functioned independently. MLB consists of 30 teams across the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) and its different divisions.
The Major League Baseball season usually starts with Opening Day every year, with the teams fighting it out through the regular season to become their Division champions to advance to the postseason. Once the regular season ends, the postseason starts with the Wild Card games. Teams that win the Wild Card games advance into the Division Series games of their league. From there, the winning team goes to the League Championship series games. Finally, the last two teams face off in the last stage, the MLB World Series Game, and one become the MLB World Series Champion for the season.
Meaning of HBP in baseball
HBP stands for hit-by-pitch in Major League Baseball (MLB) as per the MLB official site. In a baseball game, a hit-by-pitch takes place when a ball strikes a batter without him swinging at it. Such cases result in the batter getting a first base. A better is granted a hit-by-pitch even if the ball touches helmet, shin guard, or a part of his jersey. However, strikes can replace a hit-by-pitch. This means that if an umpire decides that the pitch was in the strike zone or the batter had swung at the ball, the hit-by-pitch is canceled.
A hit-by-pitch is notably unintentional on the part of a pitcher as it can result from pitchers trying to throw the balls outside but missing by a few inches. For a batter, a hit-by-pitch is not considered a hit but time on base for his on-base percentage purposes.
MLB Players with the most HBP in their career
Several players in the MLB have achieved large numbers of HBP's throughout their careers. The table below shows all the players with the HBPs in their careers as per the MLB official site-
| Names | Hit-By-Pitch (HBP) Number |
| Hughie Jennings | 287 |
| Craig Biggio | 285 |
| Don Baylor | 267 |
| Jason Kendall | 254 |
| Ron Hunt | 243 |
| Anthony Rizzo | 219 |
| Walter Johnson | 205 |
| Chase Utley | 204 |
| Frank Robinson | 198 |
| Minnie Minoso | 197 |
| Randy Johnson | 190 |
| Eddie Plank | 190 |
| Tim Wakefield | 186 |
| Jason Giambi | 180 |
| Andres Galarraga | 178 |
| Charlie Morton | 175 |
| Charlie Hough | 174 |
HBP in Baseball FAQs
A. Hughie Jennings has been hit by pitch 287 times, which is the most.
A. A hit-by-pitch is not considered to be a walk.
A. Anthony Rizzo is the active leader in hit-by-pitches as of 2024.
A. The New York Mets were hit by pitches the most, which was 112 times in the 2022 MLB season.
A. Randy Arozarena leads the MLB in hit-by-pitch in the 2024 MLB season.
