"Take one for the Team!"

Over the years, the Chicago Rangers have had some of the toughest players in the CMBA. What defines how toughness? How many times you get hit by the ball of course. There are stories of Rangers players crying, yelling, and even falling to ground as soon as they are hit. Yet, the two toughest Rangers are Lucas Luecke and Jody Joseph.

Both Luecke and Joseph are not scared of the ball. In fact, there have been times where Luecke has thrown his entire body across the plate to get on base. It has been rumored that both Luecke and Joseph have trained for such hit by pitches channeling their inner Happy Gilmore (See batting cage seen).

Just a look at both player's stats and the rate at which they risk their lives is incredible.

Player	Year	Total Hit-By-Pitch
Jody Joseph	2007	11
	2008	5
	2009	6
	2010	12
Total		34
Lucas Luecke	2002	8
	2003	14
	2004	3
	2005	5
	2006	1
	2007	5
	2008	1
	2009	3
	2010	2
Total		42

In 4 years, Joseph has amassed 34 bruises. Luecke's 2003 season will go down as one of the most painful. He was hit 14 times in 73 plate appearances. Luecke was hit by a pitch in 1 out of every 5 at-bats (or about 20% of the time). It's amazing that he still is talking coherently.

A look at who may hate these two the most reveals that the Browns, Joseph's former team, dislikes both of the players equally over the years. In fact, Luecke has been hit more by the Red Sox than by any other team in the league.

Player	Opponent	Total Hit-By-Pitch
Jody Joseph	Vikings	4
	Mets	4
	Yankees	4
	Browns	4

Lucas Luecke	Red Sox	5
	Vikings	4
	Browns	4
	Cubs	4

As a team, the Rangers have been hit 249 times in 270 games played (through 2010). Based on these numbers, the Rangers have a 92% chance to get hit by a pitch in any single game.

Year	Total Hit-By-Pitch
2002	20
2003	22
2004	26
2005	32
2006	22
2007	42
2008	20
2009	31
2010	34
Grand Total	249

Thank goodness for the Rangers off season training regime. Without it, the 42 times the Rangers were hit in 2007 would have taken its toll on its run to the CMBA Championship Series.