Warren Spahn

[kairos12]

He pitched a total of 5,243 innings and hit a total of 42 batters.

Gary Maddux pitched 5,003 innings and hit 137 batters.

Spahn's command remains unmatched.

[dem4decades]

1. Pedro hit a ton of batters, and he had perfect control. Just sayin.

[RockRaven]

2. Maybe Spahn's batters were less likely to stand in there and get hit given the helmet issue.

The basic batting helmet style we now recognize wasn't around during most of his career. There were different designs knocking around, and increasing interest, but they weren't required nor was there a uniform standard.

In American football the adoption of the plastic/foam helmet and metal facemask changed how players hit/tackled each other over generations. It stands to reason that batting helmets change the risk/reward decisions for batters in baseball.

[kairos12]

3. Probably not.

Walter Johnson hit 205 batters.