Bryce Harper has all season to move up on this list:
Most Career Regular Season Home Runs Before 21st Birthday
1. Mel Ott 61
2. Tony Conigliaro 56
3. Ken Griffey 38
4. Mickey Mantle 36
5. Frank Robinson 34
6. Al Kaline 32
T7. Bryce Harper, Alex Rodriguez and Andruw Jones 26
T10. Orlando Cepeda and Eddie Mathews 25
If anyone else was curious about the HR by Age race, here’s how it turns out, using seasonal data with age as of June 30th. Age â–´ Career HR Leaders 19 1. Conigliaro 24, 2. Harper 22, 3. Ott 19, 4. Cavarretta 18, 5. Griffey 16 20 1. Ott 61, 2. Conigliaro 56, 3. Rodriguez 41, 4. Griffey/Robinson 38 21 1. Ott 86, 2. Conigliaro 84, 3. Mathews 72, 4. Robinson 67, 5. Rodriguez 64 22 1. Ott 115, 2. Mathews 112, 3. Rodriguez 106, 4. Conigliaro 104, 5. Robinson 98 23 1. Ott/Mathews 153,  3. Rodriguez 148, 4. Robinson 134, 5. Griffey 132 24 1. Mathews 190,  2. Rodriguez 189, 3. Ott 176, 4. Foxx 174, 5. Mantle 173 25 1. Rodriguez 241, 2. Mathews/Foxx… Read more »
Sorry for the tangent … Does anyone disagree that Carlos Quentin was way out of line and deserves both suspension and contempt? I’ve watched the pitch that hit Quentin. He takes his stance with his front elbow over the line of the batter’s box, which is why he has the highest HBP rate in modern history. That’s his choice, and he has to take what comes with that. There was nothing wrong with the pitch from Greinke — a fastball not too far inside, and not at his head. I watched a bit of the postgame interview with Quentin, stopping… Read more »
In the me generation, it’s all about having your cake and eating it too. The idea that there might be undesirable consequences to doing something, just because you want to do it, is unthinkable. If those consequences happen, someone has to pay the price for such “disrespect”.
I cringe as I write that, but I fear that that is the mindset of far too many young people today.
I agree with John, Quentin was way out of line. The game situation makes throwing at someone highly unlikely. Grienke was a little high, but it was not at his head. At first glance Quentin’s stance does not look like it would invite being hit, but as he swings his shoulders look very close to the strike zone.
Quentin claims that Greinke said something to him. I find it hard to assess the situation without knowing what Greinke might have said. I do tend to believe that Greinke did say something. Quentin didn’t charge the mound immediately after being hit, he took a couple of steps, then charged.
Also Quentin had missed the game the day before after being hit on the wrist by a different Dodger pitcher. So that may have factored in as well.
If you look at the film, it appears that Quentin starts to march out at Greinke, who then says something to him. If this were really a purpose pitch, Greike wouldn’t have thrown it in that game situation and on that count. Quentin crowds and dives; 17 hits in 86 games last year, 1 HBP per 22.5 PA’s over the last three years. Not everyone is headhunting. If you want to play that type of game, you need to keep your macho strutting and chest-pounding to a minimum.
Ed, when an enraged 240 beast-man initiates a charge at you from about 50 feet away, you’ve got about a nothing of a second to somehow de-activate your survival instinct to defend yourself, and instead “stand your ground”, like what they told you to do in 10th grade science class for in case you’re ever charged by a gorilla.
Two points Voomo:
1) Greinke could have moved away, waiting for his teammamtes to come to his rescue. He choose not to.
2) He could have chosen to “stand his ground”. He certainly has a right to defend himself. But that’s not what he did. He charged AT Quentin and the collision between the two of them took place fairly far from the mound. Once Greinke did that, in my opinion, he lost his right to complain about what happened to him.
I agree with Ed, I think he could have stepped to the side and avoided it. That he didn’t do it, I’m fine with, but pitchers are particularly vulnerable in brawls. If you want to throw a punch, you have to use your hand, if you want to shoulder check your opponent, you have to use your shoulder. Neither is preferable, especially 2 games into a 147 mil contract.
Yeah… Quentin absolutely deserves a suspension of minimum 10 games for being an idiot.
Greinke shouldn’t have tried to shoulder-tackle him but you can’t blame a guy for defending himself/reacting on adrenaline when being charged by a very large, angry man.
Though I’m not sure how you can be angry when you lean into a pitch…
“Greinke shouldn’t have tried to shoulder-tackle him but you can’t blame a guy for defending himself/reacting on adrenaline when being charged by a very large, angry man.”
Doesn’t this logic apply to Quentin as well? Here’s a guy who’s had injuries quite often in his career, who just got hit and missed the prior game, getting hit by a guy who he thinks has it out for him?
I’m not taking Quentin’s side, but if that logic is correct “you can’t blame a guy for defending himself” it has to work both ways.
Well Greinke did try to grab Quentin’s balls:
To me, as long as Quentin stays within the bounds of the batter’s box, he’s entitled to put his elbow over the plate, “dive” at the outside pitch, etc. Now, the pitcher can of course hit him to try to gain back the advantage. That’s the battle that goes on, and sometimes it has consequences. Batters are injured far more by pitchers than vice versa. If the scales get reversed once in a while, I can’t get too exercised about it. Greinke certainly said something to Quentin, a pretty big guy, an ex-high school linebacker. In the NFL or the… Read more »
re comments 29 and 31: Rule 6.08 (b) provides that the batter is entitled to first base if “He is touched by a pitched ball which he is not attempting to hit unless (1) The ball is in the strike zone when it touches the batter, or (2) The batter makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball; If the ball is in the strike zone when it touches the batter, it shall be called a strike, whether or not the batter tries to avoid the ball. If the ball is outside the strike zone when it touches… Read more »
Mosc @29 – You are correct. Here are the official rules regarding HBP though I have a feeling they’re not well enforced. And in this particular instance, the pitch was clearly outside of the strike zone and Quentin did not move into the pitch (unlike what some have tried to claim on here…he barely moved before being hit). 6.08 The batter becomes a runner and is entitled to first base without liability to be put out (provided he advances to and touches first base) when – […] (b) He is touched by a pitched ball which he is not attempting… Read more »
Unfortunately, rule 6.08 is rarely, rarely enforced. Someone referenced Chase Utley not being allowed first base once, but that was one single time. How many other times did he get hit simply because he refused to get out of the way? A ton. I think guys that make no attempt to get out of the way are bending the rules of the game, and the umps let them get away with it. If the umps start applying the letter of the law here, this behavior will disappear from the game. If Quentin is so tired of getting hit, he needs… Read more »
also, rule 6.03 simply says that “the batter’s legal position shall be with both feet within the batter’s box.” Nothing about where the rest of the body needs to be. But clearly the implication of 6.08(b) is that if you hang your arms or upper body out into the strike zone you do so at your own risk because the rules offer you no protection there. According to Dave Cameron at fangraphs, and pitch f/x, Quentin has almost never been hit by a pitch actually in the strike zone, but he he is very frequently hit by pitches close to… Read more »
Warm up pitches? Much was made after the brawl as to if the Dodger’s relief pitcher would be allowed unlimited warm up pitches. He was, which is kind of mystery to me. I haven’t seen a situation where a pitcher was only given 8 pitches in a long time. But in this case if the new pitcher was only given 8 and he didn’t feel ready, why not just throw pick-off throws to first base until you feel ready? Seems like it would be perfectly legal to throw 15 straight pick-off throws until you felt warmed up.
There’s a rule an umpire can use to say you’re delaying the game and basically tell you to throw home quicker. Which I’ve never seen called and I would think as a pitcher you’re going to have to IMMEDIATELY throw to first to hold the runner once the ump does it or else the lead off first would be game breaking.
I also wanted to point out everyone on this list could have ordered a scotch with maybe the exception of Andruw Jones and obviously Harper. The universal age 21 requirement is relatively new. Many Latin players could order drinks before they started minor league careers at age 16, in their respective countries. This is one of the rare topics that falls into my line of expertise.
I am going way, way, off subject but I especially like baseball rules discussions so I thought I’d throw this out there. The young man from China that was penalized a stroke yesterday has me fascinated. I’m sure everybody is aware of what happened so I won’t go into the details. It was reported on ESPN that tournament officials approached the young man’s father about his slow play and asked him to talk to his son about it. It is my understanding that besides the caddie, no one is allowed to discuss strategy with a golfer while on the course.… Read more »
