On Sunday, San Francisco’s Brandon Belt had an at-bat for the ages against Los Angeles’ Jaime Barria. First inning, Belt was the second batter of the game. He fouled off 16 pitches. Yes, Belt fouled off 16 pitches, including 11 in a row. He eventually flew out, but that 21 pitch at-bat is the longest at-bat since we started recording such things.
Naturally, instead of qualifying it like that — longest since we started recording such things — people started calling it the longest at-bat EVER, which brought out the history folks, including Keith Olbermann.
No it isn’t. Only since they started tracking pitch by pitch in the ‘90s. His teammates insist Luke Appling fouled off 24 in one at bat in 1940. https://t.co/cYFSxMfHO8
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) April 23, 2018
Sure, you may have heard this one before — Hall of Famer Luke Appling supposedly fouled off 24 pitches in a single at-bat. Is that real? Did it happen?
Sounds like a rabbit hole to me.