Batters have a reason to be on their toes when Doug Fister is on the mound.
Batters have a reason to be on their toes when Doug Fister is on the mound. (USATSI)

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In the third inning of Sunday afternoon's game against the Royals, Tigers right-hander Doug Fister hit Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez with an up-and-in pitch. Perez took first base and was fine, but it was Fister's league-leading 14th hit batsman of the season. Ian Kennedy and Justin Masterson are tied for second with 10 each.

At the moment, Fister is on pace to hit 23 batters this season. That could go up if he plunks someone else Sunday afternoon, obviously. If 23 sounds like a lot, it sure is. It would be the single-season record during the integration era (1947-present). With some help from Baseball-Reference, here are the largest hit batsmen totals since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier:

RkPlayerHBPYearAgeTmGWLIPHRERBBSOERAERA+HR
1 Kerry Wood 21 2003 26 CHC 32 14 11 211.0 152 77 75 100 266 3.20 136 24
2 Tom Murphy 21 1969 23 CAL 36 10 16 215.2 213 110 101 69 100 4.21 82 12
3 Bronson Arroyo 20 2004 27 BOS 32 10 9 178.2 171 99 80 47 142 4.03 120 17
4 Carlos Zambrano 20 2004 23 CHC 31 16 8 209.2 174 73 64 81 188 2.75 160 14
5 Victor Zambrano 20 2003 27 TBD 34 12 10 188.1 165 97 88 106 132 4.21 105 21
6 Chan Ho Park 20 2001 28 LAD 36 15 11 234.0 183 98 91 91 218 3.50 114 23
7 Jamey Wright 20 2001 26 MIL 33 11 12 194.2 201 115 106 98 129 4.90 87 26
8 Don Drysdale 20 1961 24 LAD 40 13 10 244.0 236 111 100 83 182 3.69 116 29
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Nine different pitchers have hit 19 batters in a season, including active pitchers John Lackey (2011), A.J. Burnett (2010) and Justin Verlander (2007).

Fister won't come close to the all-time hit-batsmen record -- Phil Knell hit 54 (!) batters with the Columbus Solons in 1891. Baseball was a much, much different game back then. In fact, 63 of the 64 highest single-season hit batsmen totals came before 1910. Howard Ehmke hit 23 batters with the 1922 Detroit Tigers, the last time a pitcher hit as many as 23 batters in a season.

Oddly enough, Fister was never someone who hit a ton of batters prior to this season. He hit 12 batters in 216 1/3 innings in 2011, which is a little high but not outrageous. Fister once hit 11 batters in 134 1/3 innings in the minors, but that (and 2013) is an outlier compared to the rest of his career.

Based on his walk rate (1.6 BB/9 coming into Sunday), Fister's control has been fine this summer. Perhaps he's just coming inside more often than usual. Either way, he's on pace to do something that hasn't happened in a very long time.