HBPs were a part of CQ's rap even before he came to the Sox. I remember hearing about this from a D'Backs fan a few years back. Check it out.
http://umpbump.com/press/2008/04/30/car ... p-records/Quote:
In 2004, Quentin set the all-time minor league record for getting hit by the pitch by getting plunked 43 times across 2 levels, and in 2005, he set the all-time Pacific Coast League record for HBP by getting hit 29 times.
And Quentin’s propensity for getting hit by the pitch didn’t just start in the pros either. When I was at Stanford, he set the NCAA Division I record by getting hit by 5 pitches in a single game against Florida State. 5 plate appearances, 5 HBP! That was insane.
The thing about it is that he's changed his stance in the box ever since coming to the Sox. He used to have a relatively straight-up, standing stance rather than the crouch he goes into now. I imagine it has less to do with his hanging over the plate (or, really, being any marginally "close" distance to it, we're not talking about Jason Kendall here) and more to do with the fact that great hitters of his size tend to get "locked in" and have a hard time breaking their stance - the crouch makes it even more difficult. Like any other stat, I think that if you look up HBP's through the years you're going to find a few anomalies (again, Kendall) and more than a few great hitters who both require brushing back and also can't readily break out of their batting stance, because that's simply not what you're supposed to do.
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Douchebag wrote:
This thread is probably going to make Tim Raines want to do cocaine again.