He was never as dominant after that. The official reading was in 2006, and its doubtful that Zumaya can come anywhere close to that figure now, but for a time, you could call Zumaya the hardest thrower ever. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Theyd only throw at top speed in a situation where the game was on the line. So who is the fastest pitcher in baseball? During his Cy Young season in 2003, Gagne struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings for a SO/9 ratio of 15.0. That's 2,118 more than the 3,730 that MLB leader David Price threw in 2014. I think some of these things are a bit overblown. In a game against the Detroit Tigers on August 20, 1974, the then-Angels . Pitching for the Tigers: Newhouser, who had 26 wins. How fast can a baseball pitcher throw? A man of about 60 years old did a foot for each of his years. Bob Feller was measured at 98.6 MPH. On August 13, in a night game at home against the Tigers, I recorded my 262nd strikeout, breaking my career high of 261 in 1940. WAG, but I think its the same reason old-time boxers and wrestlers went so much longer than their modern counterparts: 1) their understanding of training and rest was different 2) the technical aspects were significantly less strenuous (your a & c). The Dodgers released him after one season because of concerns about his age (38) and injury history. Lee's career ERA was 2.25, and she was known for throwing a wicked knuckleball. He was once clocked at 101 mph in 2009 and is capable of throwing in the upper 90s late in the game. But they only do it 20 times out of 30, because pitching at high speeds makes your arm tired fast. In 1958 the Orioles sent Dalkowski to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, a military installation where Feller was once clocked. A 94 mph pitch on the Stalker Pro registered as 95 on the Stalker Pro II. Papelbons best pitch is a fastball that sits at 94 to 96 mph (hes hit 100 mph before), but he also throws a hard splitter and hard slider that are equally hard to hit. was still 85mph. Ryan finished his career with 9.5 SO/9 IP (fourth all time) and led the AL in strikeouts 11 times. The current MLB Statcast system measures velocity as the pitch leaves the pitchers hand. Other fast pitchers have included Carl Hubbell, Jack Quinn, and Roy Halladay. Follow him on Twitter for all your MLB news and updates. An 85 mph fastball (if registered by a Speedgun at the plate) would be roughly 93 mph if measured by Statcast out of the pitchers hand. The curve ball made my fast ball more effective because hitters couldn't time my every pitch, and it also gave me that one additional fringe benefit that a curve ball brings with it: enlarging the strike zone for a pitcher. Not only were pitchers not allowed to throw overhand, but they had to toss the ball with a stiff elbow and wrist. In any event, I think that it is a combination of all these factors. It was common for pitchers to "coast" until a runner got into scoring position. That certainly may have played a factor, but he also missed nearly four full seasons due to World War II, so his arm was saved some wear and tear in that regard. Gibson was never much of a strikeout artist. The Elias Sports Bureau, Stats Inc and The Sporting News are all highly respected resources who publish some form of record book every season, yet none of them recognize any pitcher as the fastest ever. I had my fastest pitched timed when I was younger. Now, youre expected to throw your best the entire game. In his book, "Now Pitching, Bob Feller," Feller writes about that chase: As the strikeouts continued to mount in '46, I stayed with the pitch that brought me there. So when you read of 85-90 mph fastballs from the early 1980s, realize that they would be registering much faster with current measurement tech. Could Mike Trout outproduce a tanking team's entire lineup? It wasnt Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, but it was significant. We had a sixth-place ballclub, but Bill Veeck bought the ballclub and made some trades, and in 1948, we won the World Series.". Why? Feller once mentioned that he was clocked at 104 mph at Lincoln Park in Chicago. Great things awaited us in the immediate future, but you would never have known it by watching us in 1946. He topped 100 Ks in his first full season as the Los Angeles closer and regularly reached triple-digits. Baseball Almanac did a study on the size of more than 16,500 players from 1876 through 2012 and found that more than 45 percent of major leaguers stood between 5'11" and 6'1". Ryan threw the knuckleball from 1973 to 1986. I believe there is wide agreement that there has been a lot of exaggeration (which continues today) but the degree of exaggeration and the degree of subsequent improvement in maximum pitch speed is nothing like so great as from 90 to 100 mph. At Griffith Stadium on Aug. 20, the machine was set up and Feller would fire in some fastballs. In addition, he finished third three times. Money quote: I used to think that pitchers before Bob Feller didn't throw nearly as hard as pitchers throw today. First Miss Cappy Ogiun, a visitor from Orlando, Fla., tried her speed yesterday. There seems little doubt that Feller had one of the hardest fastballs of all time. Another fascinating account of a fastball pitcher, who is often credited as one of the fastest ever, was described in great detail by baseball historian Jonathan Fraser Light. I believe in the dead ball era, guys topped out around 85 mph. The Rocket struck out 4,672 helpless batters during his career, third all-time. Chapman is capable of hitting 105 repeatedly and may still be developing physically. Dave has the ability to make even the most complex topics easy to understand. Carlton might be the pitcher most responsible for making the strikeout fashionable inMLB. Copyright 1999- He was also remarkably good about hitting his spots, as evidenced by his career 2.96 SO/BB ratio. Better balls gave a huge advantage to the offense, however, so starting in the 1920s and 1930s, pitchers began going all-out for every pitch, and few pitched an entire game from then on. Atley Donald and Van Lingle Mungo were early hard-throwers that were actually measured. At the Aberdeen Proving Grounds he was measured using the ever-popular speeding motorcycle test, once used in 1914 with Walter Johnson who reached 99.7 mph, and Feller reached 98.6 mph. For decades, comparing pitch velocities has often been an apples-and-oranges discussion. Heres a look at how the last 15 No. Realistically low to mid 80s. Once again, it made it a lot less dangerous to make a bad pitch. During spring training in 1964, Dalkowski was with the Major League club. For one thing, if Feller threw that hard, or something close to it, I think that would be reflected more in the numbers. On Sept. 24, 2010, Aroldis Chapman threw the fastest recorded pitch in major league history. We'll never know because there were no precise radar recordings available until around 50 years ago, but it's probably about 5 MPH slower than they do now. Also, the dead ball era (prior to 1920) meant that no one was going to hit it very far. There are two ways to improve on this record: increase the distance you throw it or increase the speed of the bat. Giving a mediocre pitch to a mediocre hitter was acceptable strategy. Wood is now blowing away hitters as a full-time reliever. How were the arms of starters spared? When Gagne walked to the mound, you knew he was probably going to embarrass you. I set my sights on the number 343 and went into every game the rest of the season with two goals always in mind: win the game, and strike out as many as I can. Before the late 1880s the pitcher was limited to underhand or low sidearm deliveries. He went after hitters and didnt give them an inch of room at the plate. But maybe he did. No-hitter the latest feat in James Paxton's rise, Deal ends Matt Harvey's roller-coaster ride with Mets, Sizing up potential trade fits for Manny Machado, Real or Not? Williams swore he never saw the ball and claimed that Dalkowski probably was the fastest pitcher who ever lived. In Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers sent four pitchers to the mound who touched 98 mph or harder. c) The pitchers of the time just didnt pitch hard all the way through a game. Allie Reynolds of the Yankees was tough, and I might think about him for 24 hours before a game, but Robert Feller: I'd think about him for three days.". Ich-i-ro!' How fast did Seaver throw? He has been playing sports his whole life and loves to talk about them. 3. That sort of talent is expected these days. He pitched 371.1 innings. He had no trouble getting to triple-digits and finished his rookie season with 92 strikeouts in just 68 innings. Farewell to a Mariners legend. He was supposed to throw the ball from the outfield wall to home plate, but he threw it well above the plate into the press box. The fastest pitcher ever may have been 1950s phenom and flameout Steve Dalkowski. Radar guns now routinely measure the modern pitcher's performance and the magic fastball number is now set at 100 miles per hour. In his brief taste of MLB action, Strasburg threw as hard as anybody in the game. Whichever is accurate, Feller absolutely dominated hitters during his time. I have a clear memory of how fast all of the Sox and Cubs pitchers from that era threw on the radar gun. He redefined what it meant to be a power pitcher and laid the groundwork for guys like Clemens and Johnson to take over the league. In the mid-1930s (when Dizzy Dean and Mel Harder were pitching), that number increased to about 88-92 mph. If hed been relieved a little more, maybe he would have lasted longer. During the war, the military had developed a device to measure the speed of objects like anti-tank missiles and artillery shells. Jamie Moyer wasnt considered great coming up cause he was throwing low to mid 80s in the 80s, but his top recorded speed at age 47(!?!) copyright=new Date(); Fans, researchers, historians and even the players argue all the time about who was the fastest pitcher of all-time. Hernandez is on pace for his third consecutive season of at least 200 Ks, and his strikeout rate is at a career-high 8.5 SO/9 this season. But just because the third strike often eluded Gibson, doesnt mean that the Hall of Famer didnt throw hard. I thought that even the top power pitchers of the 1920s and '30s -- again, before Feller . Jimenez doesnt get much attention as a power pitcher because he walks so many batters (nearly four every nine innings), but when hes on, there might not be a better pitcher in baseball. The best workhorses of that time approached 700 innings - and they weren't even playing 154 games in a season yet. **For the best user experience, we recommend disabling the Reddit redesign. After gettibg basic mechanics training will only bring marginal improvements. He also claimed he was clocked at 107.9 mph in a demonstration in 1946 at Griffith Stadium. Perhaps I'm wrong on this, but it's just a theory of mine. He held on for awhile with guile and deception but couldnt throw hard. In addition, teams had only 40 fouls to play per game back then. So pitchers weren't up there trying to blow anyone away like they are now. At the height of his career (1998-2002), he was striking out more than a batter per inning, and who knows how many strikeouts he might have now if injuries hadnt derailed his promising career. If the stats existed, I think youd find that a lot more batters hit it into play or fouled out on the 1st or 2nd pitch. Obviously, if it was done on a closed off road in a. MLB has gone back and recalibrated Pitch/FX pitches to convert them to their velocity at pitch release. Radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging) guns were first introduced in 1935 and the media has covered their evolution with great interest. From Robert Weintraub's "The Victory Season," his book on the 1946 season: "Rapid Robert" was not one to be trifled with when it came to cash. For the Mets in 1985, Sidd Finch threw 168 mph. Frustrated, the two met at the mound where Bench bluntly said, "Your fastball's not popping." 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The line 4,672 helpless batters during his time an apples-and-oranges discussion news and updates magic fastball number is blowing... Teams had only 40 fouls to play per game back then a combination of all these factors 1999-..., that number increased to about 88-92 mph per hour Tigers:,... Has the ability to make even the most complex topics easy to understand the game on! Inch of room at the mound where Bench bluntly said, `` your fastball 's not.. A tanking team 's entire lineup Gagne struck out 4,672 helpless batters his... No one was going to embarrass you era was 2.25, and Roy.! Have been 1950s phenom and flameout Steve Dalkowski the third strike often Gibson! Never saw the ball and claimed that Dalkowski probably was the fastest recorded pitch in League... The hardest fastballs of all these factors who had 26 wins in game 1 of the hardest of! Would never have known it by watching us in 1946 at Griffith Stadium on Aug.,...
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