Mets’ Luis Guillorme Works 22-Pitch Walk, Longest in Recorded History

In Monday’s Hot Clicks: a rude welcome for Jordan Hicks, a pair of nasty dunks and more.

The announcer also set a record for most times saying “stays alive”

Before Sunday, Jordan Hicks hadn’t faced a major league hitter in a game since June 22, 2019. He had Tommy John surgery a few days after that and then opted out of the 2020 season. So the Cardinals planned to ease him back into action with one inning of work in Sunday’s game against the Mets. He came on in relief in the fifth inning and got one inning’s worth of work against a single batter.

Hicks got ahead of Luis Guillorme 0–2 and then the Mets utilityman refused to be put away. He ended up working a walk after facing 22 pitches, a display that had the Mets' bench cheering like it was a playoff game.

All told, Guillorme fouled off 16 pitches, including nine in a row after working the count full. Six of the pitches Hicks threw were over 100 mph.

Guillorme’s epic battle is the longest recorded plate appearance in MLB history. Pitch-by-pitch data only goes back to 1988 and spring training is obviously meaningless, but still, there isn’t a plate appearance on the books as long as Guillorme’s. The previous record was held by Giants first baseman Brandon Belt, whose 21-pitch at-bat in 2018 against the Angels’ Jaime Barria ended in a fly-out.

The whole thing took 12 minutes, long enough for some Mets players to lose track of the count. Manager Luis Rojas said after the game that some guys thought the count was full when it was actually 2–2, so they thought it was over when Hicks threw what was actually the third ball. The plate appearance mercifully ended when Hicks missed low with a slider for ball four.

Luis Rojas talks about Luis Guillorme's 22-pitch walk:

"Never seen anything like it. It was impressive for sure" pic.twitter.com/mAnmxAGtHE

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 14, 2021

Guillorme has only played 109 games over three seasons as a light-hitting utility infielder, but this isn’t the first time he’s had a viral spring training moment. Back in 2017, he made headlines when he snagged a bat that came flying into the dugout.

The best of SI

Sign up to play SI’s Bracket Challenge. ... Breaking down the 2021 men’s tournament bracket. ... Drew Brees had a great career that will only look better with time. ... Remembering Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who died Saturday at age 66. ... Half the states in the nation have proposed laws discriminating against trans athletes. 

Around the sports world

The Oklahoma high school basketball team that made headlines over the weekend after an announcer directed racial slurs at its players won the state championship. ... Loyola Chicago team chaplain Sister Jean is hoping to get clearance to go to the Ramblers’ NCAA tournament game in Indianapolis. ... Russian soccer team Zenit St. Petersburg is offering to vaccinate fans at upcoming home games. ... Jordan Spieth and his caddie had a fun exchange after a shot in the final round of the Players. 

Jaxson Hayes had a vicious dunk

Anthony Edwards had another poster slam (and a career-high 34 points)

Erik Lamela scored a real all-timer

Bubble team Wichita State had a great reaction to getting into the field of 68

You love to see it.#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/jeyex7ASff

— Wichita State Men's Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) March 14, 2021

Dick Vitale thought this airball was a game-tying basket

Do you let 'em shoot the 3, Dickie V? pic.twitter.com/NZiSAs5ynj

— Nathan Ford (@NathanTFord) March 13, 2021

Well that’s just embarrassing

A referee peed his pants in the middle of the field right before a game in Brazil

o que rolou????
pic.twitter.com/liSt9PtA2I

— Buteco das torcedoras (Conta reserva) (@bdtorcedoras) March 12, 2021

Meanwhile, in Arizona

Unfortunately, it's a walk-off injury in the Rangers-Brewers game. Texas pitcher Brett de Geus was pitching with a run already in and the winning run at first when he was visited by the athletic trainer. With no more pitchers available, game over.

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) March 13, 2021

So, word is that Texas reliever Brett de Geus was having intestinal distress. We will leave it at that but probably best to stop the game in that event.

— Tom (@Haudricourt) March 13, 2021

22 pitches!

Luis Guillorme drew a 22-pitch walk in the 5th inning. Relive the entire at-bat right here 😤 😤 😤 pic.twitter.com/cS57po7ulf

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 14, 2021

You hate to see it

🚨Bryson DeChambeau with the top off the 4th tee. It went 96 yards into the water. https://t.co/KiXX7MRgk7

— By The Flagstick (@ByTheFlagstick) March 14, 2021

One reason to pull for the Aggies

Utah State’s Marco Anthony says he chose the No. 44 jersey because of Wendy’s “4 for $4” deal 😭 @brhoops⁰⁰(via @CBSSports) pic.twitter.com/4uCGrqzGJ4

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 13, 2021

Flawless execution

He hit it on the wrong island

YOU HATE TO SEE IT pic.twitter.com/PHITudrigm

— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) March 14, 2021

Rovell is a strange guy

Random Guy: My dad died...

Darren Rovell: His baseball cards were all crap. pic.twitter.com/7d8RKykhtP

— Adam Weinrib (@AdamWeinrib) March 14, 2021

Nothing better than getting revenge on a crappy boss

Morecambe manager Derek Adams froze out Kevin Ellison and made him train on his own after nine years at the club...

Today, Ellison scored for Newport County against his former side and celebrated in front of Adams! 😯 pic.twitter.com/scd3OMdxWM

— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) March 13, 2021

Not sports

A Texas man is accused of taking a dealership loaner car to rob a bank, then attempting to use the money to buy a BMW. ... Netflix is cracking down on password-sharing. ... A bug caused Twitter to start banning people for tweets with the word “Memphis.” ... A walrus was spotted in Ireland for the first time ever.

This guy is supposedly the “world champion” of shooting anvils into the air with black powder

A good song

Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.