The Adventures of Li'lbitch

[Internet Apex]

Correction:

Left Field (No Chuck)



And Hundley was more than 10 years ago but the stink remains so I'm going to allow it.

[Chuck to Chuck]

If you are gonna include me, do it this way:

Center Field

[CBStew]

I see that our new favorite player is starting at 3rd base tonight.  That means that our other new favorite won't be in the lineup.  Have the Cubs gotten any hits so far in this young season out of the 6, 7 and 8 spots?

[PenFoe]

I see that our new favorite player is starting at 3rd base tonight.  That means that our other new favorite won't be in the lineup.  Have the Cubs gotten any hits so far in this young season out of the 6, 7 and 8 spots?

Wellington Castillo, on Opening Day, went 2-4 out of the 6 hole.

Those are the only hits.

Through 3 games, they're 2-30.

[Tonker]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

[Yeti]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

Right that wrong, Epstink

[Tonker]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

Right that wrong, Epstink

I'd forgotten that Flaherty was a Cub.  But now you mention it, it makes sense.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

Yes.

[Internet Apex]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

Yes.

Affirmative.

[Quality Start Machine]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

Crikey, that's brilliant.

[Bort]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

Yes.

Affirmative.

Present.

[Saul Goodman]

He is ... the least interesting man in the world.  (I don't know what a Joey Nowak is, but my instinct says he's a hack.)

[Tonker]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

Season line now: 17 AB, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 7K, .000/.000/.000 for an OPS of .000.

Tracy Jones of the Giants went 21 PAs without getting on base to start the '89 season, and that's the highest I can find.  Two more days of Futillibridge's antics and he could be the biggest failure ever!  I'm actively rooting for this, now - I so want him to be historic.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Li'lbitch is now tied with Ryan Flaherty of the Orioles for the most ABs in the majors without getting on base at all: 14.  Flaherty has struck out 6 times to Nillibridge's 5, but with these two I'm not necessarily sure that more Ks = worse.

Season line now: 17 AB, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 7K, .000/.000/.000 for an OPS of .000.

Tracy Jones of the Giants went 21 PAs without getting on base to start the '89 season, and that's the highest I can find.  Two more days of Futillibridge's antics and he could be the biggest failure ever!  I'm actively rooting for this, now - I so want him to be historic.

Astoundingly, Jones was intentionally walked to load the bases in the bottom of the 8th in his 10th plate appearance that season, so his slash line through his first 22 PA was .000/.045/.000/.045.

Other contenders via the Baseball Reference Play Index:

Wil Nieves, NYY 2007: 23 PA, 22 AB, 1 R, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 IBB, 2 K, 0 HBP, 1 SH, 0 SF, 0 ROE, 1 GDP, .000/.000/.000/.000

Mike Hubbard, CHC 1996: 23 PA, 22 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 IBB, 10 K, 0 HBP, 0 SH, 1 SF, 0 ROE, 0 GDP, .000/.000/.000/.000

Scott Leius, CLE 1996: 19 PA, 19 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 IBB, 4 K, 0 HBP, 0 SH, 0 SF, 0 ROE, 1 GDP, .000/.000/.000/.000

Lynn Jones, KCR 1985: 22 PA, 21 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 IBB, 2 K, 0 HBP, 0 SH, 1 SF, 0 ROE, 2 GDP, .000/.000/.000/.000

Rob Picciolo, OAK 1979: 24 PA, 22 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 IBB, 5 K, 0 HBP, 2 SH, 0 SF, 0 ROE, 1 GDP, .000/.000/.000/.000

Bobby Wine, PHI 1967: 20 PA, 20 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 IBB, 7 K, 0 HBP, 0 SH, 0 SF, 0 ROE, 0 GDP, .000/.000/.000/.000

Of special note is:

Nelson Liriano, COL 1998: 17 PA, 17 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 IBB, 7 K, 0 HBP, 0 SH, 0 SF, 0 ROE, 1 GDP, .000/.000/.000/.000

That represents the entirety of Nelson's '98 season, his MLB swan song. Who knows what he could have accomplished if he'd been able to soldier on?

He apparently went on to play a single game in Japan the following season.

Caveats...

I've searched non-pitchers as far back as 1960. The results are sorted by games rather than PA or AB, however, so they don't discriminate between starters and pinch hitters. Additionally, non-subscribers can only see full information on results 10-20 on any given search, so I'm surely missing some gems. (For example: some mystery batsman apparently kicked off his 1991 campaign with an 18-game streak of futility, but I can't tell how many PAs he had through that stretch.)

[Internet Apex]

You really gotta tip your cap to Wandy Rodriguez though.