It's fitting that Justin Verlander has never gotten a hit - never even reached base - in an MLB game. Asking Verlander to hit is kind of like asking a dog to meow. For JV, grabbing a bat and digging in must feel like he's playing for the enemy. He has nothing but disdain for batters, gets a actual physical reaction when he sees them on base.
Verlander made eight trips to the plate in interleague play this year. In half of them, he laid down a successful sacrifice bunt. He was 0-for-4 in the others, and in doing so, he set himself at the top of an ignominious list in baseball history.
Verlander now holds the all-time MLB record for most career plate appearances without ever getting on base. In 33 trips to the plate in his big leagues career, Verlander is 0-for-24 with nine sacrifice bunts. Three more unsuccessful plate appearances and Justin Verlander the hitter is a perfect game unto himself.
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The man Verlander surpassed is former Pirates pitcher and broadcaster Nellie King, who never reached base in 29 plate appearances. Verlander's nine sac bunts is actually a respectable number - King had just five sacrifices and the fella in third place, Tony Pierce, had only two (see the full list here). And even though Verlander is now classified as the worst hitter in MLB history, it's (probably) only a matter of time until he gets his first base knock. He's a great athlete, a scratch golfer and in spring training he's gone 2-for-7 over the years.
I witnessed one of Verlander's two hits actually, his first one, in 2008. I had helped myself to prime seats behind home plate while the Detroit Tigers were visiting the Braves at the Braves spring complex as Disney's Wide World of Sports. Verlander was opposed that day by Derek Lowe, and I found out after the game that Verlander and Lowe had made a deal with one another that they would throw one another nothing but fastballs.
Verlander came to the bat first, struck out on a feeble-looking swing and walked back to the dugout laughing. In the next half inning Lowe came to the plate and eeked out a seeing-eye single. I didn't know at that point about the agreement to throw only fastballs, but still I knew that Verlander wasn't going to take kindly to Derek Lowe getting a hit off him. The next time Verlander came to bat, I perked up and watched closely.
And sure enough, the son of a bitch smacked a sharp ground ball back up the box past Lowe and into centerfield for his first MLB hit, Grapefruit League or otherwise.
When Justin Verlander hits during interleague play, you can tell he doesn't want to be there. But the dude is so damn competitive, at some point you have to figure he's going to get serious enough to get that first hit - at which point he'll probably step a few feet off first base, offer himself up to the pitcher and get picked off on purpose. Because if he ever got into scoring position he'd probably break out in a rash.
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