how fast did pitchers throw in the 1920s

Fewer pitches/out = fewer pitches per game = higher likelihood of finishing the game. In 1963 for Elmira he finally started throwing strikes. Red Sox bullpen's tightrope act will wear thin, Real or not? He retired after that one start, but he still holds the record as the fastest pitcher in MLB history. He also finished second six other times. It would be interesting to time-travel Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, and Pedro Martinez in their youths back to 1894 and see how their careers as 450-inning starters would have fared. It wasn't exactly Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, but it was a remarkable achievement. Even Lee Meadows, who pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1939 to 1942, never reached 100 mph on a regular basis. What is the world record speed for throwing a baseball? Plus, it's hard to know, 70 years later, how precise the Lumiline Chronograph was. 67 mph. In his first full season as a closer the righty struck out 90 batters in 64.2 innings, good enough for his first and only All-Star selection. Up until that year the pitcher's position was known as the pitcher's box. Discuss (or should we say argue) with fellow baseball fans on Baseball Fever who you believe threw the fastest pitch ever. Pitchers before 1930 (or so) regularly finished their starts, too. Who was the fastest pitcher in baseball history? Hes actually more or less the same pitcher as Juan Marichal, and. Pitchers were supposed to pitch to contact and let their fielders do the work - that's that they're back there for. . Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr. (June 3, 1939 - April 19, 2020), nicknamed Dalko, was an American left-handed pitcher . Gibson was never much of a strikeout artist. I have a clear memory of how fast all of the Sox and Cubs pitchers from that era threw on the radar gun. Took place during a no hitter. Thus making this document worthy enough for display in our museum. I'd sit in my room thinking about him all the time. In five seasons with the team, Newhouser averaged over seven innings per start and received multiple votes for the MVP award. Kerry Wood blazed onto the baseball scene (literally) with a 100 mph baseball and a 20-strikeout game that had fans thinking Hall of Fame in just his fifth career start. Three Cleveland Indians could do only 119 feet. His arm was pretty much toast in his mid-30s. Giving a mediocre pitch to a mediocre hitter was acceptable strategy. And that makes the 100 mph pitches Nolan Ryan threw in 1974 (as measured by Rockwell laser/radar instruments relatively close to the plate) even more remarkable today. Pitching is a very important technique in the game of baseball. A 94 mph pitch on the Stalker Pro registered as 95 on the Stalker Pro II. Mostly, pitchers tended to save themselves for key situations. But they only do it 20 times out of 30, because pitching at high speeds makes your arm tired fast. Ryan threw the knuckleball from 1973 to 1986. Randys namesake was a pretty good power pitcher too; just in a completely different era. . Before the pitch reached the plate Bench dropped his glove and caught the ball bare-handed - or so the story goes. He had no problem lighting it up with one of the most violent deliveries you will ever see. Baseball Almanac is pleased to provide you with a velocity calculator which you can use to convert these various formats and compare pitchers - both modern and historical. You put your best pitchers in the starting rotation. Bench gave in to the veteran (who had recently strung together four consecutive seasons with 200+ strikeouts) and signaled for a fastball. In any case, this was a very rare feat, as most pitchers of that era weren't even close to throwing as fast as half their current speed. We had a sixth-place ballclub, but Bill Veeck bought the ballclub and made some trades, and in 1948, we won the World Series.". 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. The current world record holder is Randy Johnson with 104.0 mph. The bullpen was for youngsters, oldsters and bushers. At least thats what the Indians keep telling themselves. Maloney, also blunt, replied, "%*$@ you." Nolan Ryan led the league in strikeouts seven times. Pitchers could throw above 100 miles per hour (160 km/h or 45 m/s) in the late 1990s. The top speed is 90 miles per hour. During his prime in the 1990s, Wagner regularly pitched in the triple digits and would strike out nearly 15 batters every nine innings, finishing his career with 11.9 SO/9 IP. Pitchers dont usually return from Tommy John surgery with the same velocity, so we may never see the flame-throwing Strasburg ever again. He has also appeared in several television commercials, most notably for Old Milwaukee beer. There are a handful of players who will tell you that Smoky Joe Wood was the fastest throwing pitcher in baseball history. In 1987, he started throwing the curveball more often than not. He went after hitters and didnt give them an inch of room at the plate. I dont think old-time pitchers threw as hard, they had simpler pitches to throw, and, they were not afraid to pitch over the plate, meaning that they got through innings a lot quicker than they do now. Diamondbacks primed to bury Dodgers, Losing Corey Seager leaves Dodgers' season on the brink. The fastest pitcher ever may have been 1950s phenom and flameout Steve Dalkowski. The Pitch/FX system that MLB used in 2010 measured pitches at roughly 50 feet from home plate, which is where the 105.1 mph of Chapmans fastball was measured. His 105.1 mph fastball breached the 105 mph mark for the first time. In 19 seasons in the Negro Leagues, Paige recorded 1,231 strikeouts in just over 1,500 innings. April 16 was a good day for Feller. The next season, Newhouser went 11-10 with a 3.12 ERA in 29 games (all starts).if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sportsmanist_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_1',118,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sportsmanist_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Overall, Nolan Ryan holds the record, according to Doppler Radar. Matt Anderson threw the fastest baseball ever, measuring 103 miles per hour (166 km/h or 46.0 m/s). He pitched 79 innings that month and started seven of Cleveland's final 17 games. Back in the 1880s-90s, these guys threw over 400 innings a season with regularity. I almost missed Matt Kilroy 513Ks in 1886!. Scoreboards in nearly every ballpark - including High Schools - now flash pitch speeds for the world to see. Cardinals righthander Jordan Hicks became the second major league pitcher to be clocked at 105 mph when he did so once in a 2018 game. 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? The Big Train, as Walter Johnson was known, did his damage in the early part of the 20th century as a starter for the Washington Nationals. But then again throwing is mainly a talent thing and is not supposed to be improved by modern training very much. Of course, you could have pitchers throw 350 innings a year now, too. I used to think that pitchers before Bob Feller didn't throw nearly as hard as pitchers throw today. Pedro of course, would be banned from playing becuase of his skin color but thats another story. He has been playing sports his whole life and loves to talk about them. They must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel! Take Bob Feller, the legendary fireballer of the Cleveland Indians, and owner of maybe the fastest fastball the game has ever seen. There were freak arms throughout history. This is the main reason. Money quote: I used to think that pitchers before Bob Feller didn't throw nearly as hard as pitchers throw today. Jimenez is another pitcher who, at just 27 years old, has already raised eyebrows with some of his strikeout totals and radar gun readings. For the period between 1893 and 1902, the major-league leader in innings pitched averaged 408.5 innings. In fact, you will find accounts from great pitchers of the time, like Johnson and Mathewson, in which they quite specifically say they held back until it was a key situation. Others who claimed he was the fastest ever were Paul Richards, Harry Brecheen and Earl Weaver. Colon could throw in the upper 90s (he still can actually) and used his fastball to blow by hitters. For the Mets in 1985, Sidd Finch threw 168 mph. 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 how fast was Feller? - Ford Frick, "Smokey Joe (Williams) could throw harder than all of them." Who could throw the fastest fastball? The next year, Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees broke this record again with a ball that traveled at 103.3 miles per hour (167.4 km/h or 45.5 m/s). The most incredible part of Wagners story? The pitcher wants to keep the pitch count low because of his stamina. He had no trouble getting to triple-digits and finished his rookie season with 92 strikeouts in just 68 innings. Dmitriy Ioselevich is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. There have been pitchers who can throw harder than Ryans 100.9 mph fastball. The best mark he recorded was 119 feet. It was estimated that Dalkowski's fastball at times reached 105 mph. I was never afraid to throw my curve when I was behind in the count, 2 and 0 or 3 and 1, or even late in a pressure situation. Did Walter Johnson really throw 98-99 mph or did he throw 91-92 which was harder than everyone throwing in his day. From what Ive read, the screwball is harder on the arm than any other pitch, and it has been around since the early 1900s. Red Sox bullpen's tightrope act will wear thin, Real or not? Bob slept well that night. They probably couldve done a lot harder throwing if they wanted to. Now, youre expected to throw your best the entire game. b) Travel pervaded the season more in those days pitchers got a lot of rest while sitting around on trains. Cookie Notice One such account allegedly took place during a Spring Training game in 1968. Wood finished his career with just 989 strikeouts in 1,434.1 innings, but considering the era he was pitching in, those are some pretty outstanding numbers. So even though it was recorded at 100 yards, it was actually 0.2 mph faster than what is considered to be legal ball speed. Originally Published: February 2003 on Baseball Almanac. He pitched 371.1 innings. I pitched a no-hitter in Yankee Stadium. Because 1) they weren't asked to max out, and 2) everyone in every sport is stronger and faster, more dynamic today than yesterday; why would pitchers be any different? People are people. Pitchers back then (deadball era) were expected to throw complete games and had to pace themselves. Zumayas name tends to be forgotten in discussions about baseballs hardest throwers because he hasnt pitched in a game all season and has been injury prone for five years. Feller has also written that he slipped from the mound in a June 13, 1947 game against Philadelphia and injured his back, saying his fastball was never the same after that. Other sources reported that the measuring device was a tube and that he took a long time to finally throw one into the tube. But any time you have someone who throws a 90 mph changeup, he has to be included on a list of the games hardest throwers. Real or Not? Back in the 1880s-90s, these guys threw over 400 innings a season with regularity. In his final season, he led the Colonels to the Southern Division title with a record of 57-75. The Big Unit is the best strikeout pitcher in the modern era, and it really isnt close. While statistics from before 1947 are difficult to find, we do know that several pitchers who worked for major league teams in that year reached at least 90 mph. The fastest official speed is 98.6 mph, but there are those who believe he once threw a ball 107.9 mph during a demonstration. Ich-i-ro!' However i will not outright disagree. After fielding a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Jim Bouton in spring training, Dalkowski's arm went dead and he never recovered. On July 28, he threw a shutout against the Senators, striking out 10. Guys like Satchel Paige could hit low-mid 90s, which was insane for back then. All rights reserved. And even disregarding the advances in training, hitting is much more of a science now, with statistics layered upon statistics topped with healthy doses of psychology and scouting. Frustrated, the two met at the mound where Bench bluntly said, "Your fastball's not popping." The best throw was 86 feet a second, the second best 84. (Amos Rusie in 1893). 16 falloutranger San Francisco Giants 8 yr. ago Feller was sitting at 25. Feller once mentioned that he was clocked at 104 mph at Lincoln Park in Chicago. For more information, please see our Young pitchers who throw breaking balls-including sliders-report more arm pain than those who do not. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Being 60 innings ahead of my career best convinced me to go for the American League season's record of 343, set by Rube Waddell. He held on for awhile with guile and deception but couldnt throw hard. Their speeds were shown by a gravity drop interval recorder. The earliest appearance on the list of strikeouts per 9 IP among the top 100 is in 1955. Over the course of the past decade, Chapmans fastest fastball had gotten faster by nearly a mile per hour. The results of the test from the "new meter" were reported the day after the initial article: Humphreys' 'Hard' Un' Faster Than Feller's, Meter Shows. In Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers sent four pitchers to the mound who touched 98 mph or harder. Joe Wood 15. As long as hitters kept missing it, I was going to keep throwing it. Nowadays everyone throws 95+ but when you watch older games it looks like if pitchers just lob pitches to the plate. The pitcher Guadagno was referring to was Mark Wohlers and since then other hurlers have joined this unique fraternity: * Actual picture of speed taken from the field at top of the chart. "He's (Stu Miller) got a fastball you could catch in your teeth. Using a basic pitch count estimator, we guess that Feller threw 5,848 pitches that year. Breaking the 100 mph plateau makes news that can often travel to the front office at nearly the same speed. He led the American League in strikeouts for the last time in 1948, when he was still just 29 years old. When Gagne walked to the mound, you knew he was probably going to embarrass you. Baseball buffs: how did old-time pitchers throw for so many innings? What is Mitchell Starc's fastest ball speed? Pitch counts are especially a concern for young pitchers, pitchers recovering from injury, or pitchers who have a history of injuries. He also claimed he was clocked at 107.9 mph in a demonstration in 1946 at Griffith Stadium. No, pitchers didn't throw 150 miles an hour. In addition to Chapman, three other pitchers have thrown a perfect game: Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Jim Bunning. Felizs fastball was once clocked at 103.4 mph during a game at Rangers Ballpark, a speed that is third all-time behind only Aroldis Chapman (105.1 mph) and Joel Zumaya (104.8 mph). 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.". Freddy Peralta thrills family with dazzling debut, Real or Not? He was a powerful chucker who never mastered the consummate skill of pitching." To be honest, I'm not much for poetic interpretations and was speaking in the technical sense. David Roark is a passionate and knowledgeable individual when it comes to sports. Despite his failure, he has been described as the fastest pitcher ever. When you have a good curve ball, it makes your strike zone larger because the hitters swing at pitches that are outside. But what made Clemens great wasnt his statistical achievements, but rather his approach to the game. He probably had the second-best fastball of that era. Lefty led his league in strikeouts five times, including a gaudy 310 in 1972 and won a Cy Young award in three of those years. They wanted to control, be durable, and pitch for a long time. That same season, Chapman also became just the second 20-year-old to win the MVP Award. However, Major League Baseball officially considers that pitch to be a 105.8 mph fastball. But Major League Baseball now registers that pitch as a 105.8 mph fastball. The Detroit times. Walter Johnson did not throw 99 mph for 370 innings in 1910. 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. A few amateurs warmed up yesterday on a new pitching speed meter. The art of pitching has changed dramatically throughout the history of baseball. "The key here is that he did not pitch in pro baseball. Ryan finished his career with 9.5 SO/9 IP (fourth all time) and led the AL in strikeouts 11 times. Baseball owed much of its origin to cricket, and one of the game's first codified sets of rules -- the Knickerbocker rules, drafted in 1845 for New York's Knickerbocker baseball club -- speak to those roots: "The ball must be pitched, not thrown, for the bat." "Pitched", in the . He walked 21 in one minor league game and struck out 21 in another. During his eight-year retirement, Ryan worked as a baseball analyst for NBC Sports and as a consultant for the Texas Rangers. Major League Baseball does not recognize radar speeds as an official statistic. The top speed is 90 miles per hour. Now, his fastball is usually in the high 80's. . Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. How fast did Seaver throw? How were the arms of starters spared? At Griffith Stadium on Aug. 20, the machine was set up and Feller would fire in some fastballs. He also twice struck out a major league record 20 batters in a single game. Jimmy Foxx, Jim Tabor, and Roger Cramer made it a clean Boston sweep with a first-place tie in yesterday's fielders contest. I think some of these things are a bit overblown. A 90 mph pitch on a Speedgun could register at 92 on a JUGS gun and 93-94 mph on a Stalker. Going through Feller's game logs produces more fascinating numbers. Fascinating accounts, stories, and even myths about how fast - or not so fast - a pitch has gone are common in the annals of the game. This time was measured in the past 1999 baseball season. Could we eventually see 110 mph? Chapman is the owner of the fastest ever recorded pitch at an incredible 105.1 mph. So pitchers weren't up there trying to blow anyone away like they are now. In baseball statistics, pitch count is the number of pitches thrown by a pitcher in a game. Mike Trout Overall, Ryan went 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three games back from surgery on his right shoulder. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. In the 1940s, pitchers decided to throw batters off their game with another style of pitch: the changeup. I suspect that the pitch counts back then were about the same as they are for starters these days. Whoops! In 1940, the Hall of Fame right-hander threw the only Opening Day no-hitter in MLB history. The right age to start throwing a slider or curveball is between 14 and 15 , which gives a player enough time to develop the pitch (takes 1-3 years) so that it's good by the time the college recruiting process heats up. The rookie returned to his position behind the plate and called for a curve, only to be shaken off again. During his Cy Young season in 2003, Gagne struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings for a SO/9 ratio of 15.0. Gerrit Cole's approach bringing Cy Young results, Mookie Betts vs. Bryce Harper -- and other pressing baseball debates, Real or not? We asked the experts. How can that be? He once threw a pitch so hard that the catcher missed the ball and it shattered an umpire's mask. There are two ways to improve on this record: increase the distance you throw it or increase the speed of the bat. check out the. In a game against the Detroit Tigers on August 20, 1974, the then-Angels . 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. 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. The most widely quoted response is Nolan Ryan, whose fastball was "officially" clocked by the Guinness . The Fastest Pitcher in Baseball by Baseball Almanac 2003-2007. Other fast pitchers have included Carl Hubbell, Jack Quinn, and Roy Halladay. His 105.1 mph fastball was the first time the 105 mph barrier had been broken. They used a gravity drop interval recorder. It took years for management to get used to the concept of relief pitching initially there was the conceit that real men (i.e. The team wasn't going anywhere anyhow. They are also some of the most widely debated by historians, researchers & experts alike. If hed been relieved a little more, maybe he would have lasted longer. 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. The average speed of a fastball in the MLB is. Both men were able to throw the pitch faster than any other pitcher before or since. And that is #62, Herb Score. His career 10.6 SO/9 IP is evidence of that, although hes up to 11.8 this season. ", If this is your first visit, be sure to Hes a lock to reach 3,000 if he stays healthy, and at 28 years old, he may just be getting better. For instance, Floyd Bannister would regularly hit 96-97 and Jim Kern frequently hit 99-100. Cleveland men who developed the speed meter said the only comparable scientific marks were made in 1917. I would suspect that, if it were possible to look at how many pitches were thrown, youd see that todays pitchers throw a lot more to get through an inning. He first broke into the major leagues with the Reds in 2011 and was immediately given the title of "Fastest Pitcher in History". 1 farm systems fared in the following seasons. The strikeout king (5,714) is so far and ahead of everyone that as impressive as his record seven ho-hitters are, theres only one guy (Randy Johnson) within even 1,000 Ks of his lifetime mark. The former Dodgers closer once converted a record 84 straight save opportunities and was as close to untouchable as a pitcher will ever be. 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. Chapman is capable of hitting 105 repeatedly and may still be developing physically. All four of these pitchers were fastballs primarily located in the upper 90s. Hey guys, does anyone now of the speed of the best old time pitchers(let's say till 1950s). Live balls gave birth to Babe Ruth and subsequent homer-blasters. ", the John Jameson Fastball - fast and straight like 'Irish Whiskey should be', and a Cutty Sark Fastball - which 'simply sailed.'. What was a 105 mph fastball can now be said (with rounding) to be the first recorded 106 mph pitch in MLB history. Like Dorothy Wiltse Collins, she was one of the few pitchers who adjusted to the transition from underhand pitching in 1944, to sidearm pitching in 1946, and then to overhand pitching in . The tech continued to improve. "You can't hit what you can't see." Mostly, pitchers tended to save themselves for key situations. That's 2,118 more than the 3,730 that MLB leader David Price threw in 2014. Document Creator: Sean Holtz of Baseball Almanac, Inc. 2003-2005. A lot of pitchers blew out their arms back then, tooyou just never hear of them because they had short careers. The first radar guns that began appearing at ballparks in the late 1970s and early 1980s measured pitches much closer to the plate. His rate did decline even more the rest of that season, however. Strikeouts are only a part of his dominance, but in just 1,260 career innings, the 65 righty already has 1,161 strikeouts and is pitching no-hitters like hes Nolan Ryan. and our The best the Indians could do was a tie at 119 feet by Ben Chapman, Julius Solters and Jim Shilling. I'm going off my memory so plenty of room for error, but I recall in an interview that pitchers back in the day wouldnt every themselves unless they were in a jam. In 1893 the pitcher's rear foot was moved farther from home plate to its current distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. The Rocket struck out 4,672 helpless batters during his career, third all-time. The moment a baseball leaves a pitcher's hand, it starts to slow down because of drag. We finished in the second division, 18 games below .500 in sixth place. Power is only part of the pitching equation, and Ryan scores higher than anybody else in MLB history. Pitchers are throwing harder than ever before. Who was the first pitcher to throw 100 mph? According to University of Illinois physicist Dr. Alan Nathan, a pitch that leaves a pitcher's hand at 100. Walter Johnson, often cited as the fastest throwing pitcher in Major League history by experts, believed that Wood was faster than himself and once said, "Mister, no man alive can throw a baseball harder than Joe Wood." He was clocked as high as 103 mph before extreme wildness ended his career prematurely. Throwing the ball 90+ MPH is not a rare event at the upper levels of the game. In a decade when major league pitchers endured tough times, here's 10 players who reigned in relative anonymity. Weintraub writes: However, since the machine measured the speed of the ball as it passed through its sensors, unlike modern radar guns that clock the ball as it leaves the pitcher's hand, it actually flew much harder. Fans, researchers, historians and even the players argue all the time about who was the fastest pitcher of all-time. He had legendary wildness, which kept him out of the Major Leagues. A rookie catcher named Johnny Bench was behind the plate and eight-year veteran Jim Maloney was on the mound. In addition to being incredibly fast, modern-day pitchers can also throw very hard. Modern pitchers however exert themselves on every pitch. Woods career didnt turn out exactly as planned, as repeated arm injuries robbed him off his explosiveness, but the right-hander is still the active leader with 10.3 SO/9 IP, a mark that is second only to Randy Johnson among starters. He once threw a ball at least 450 feet on a bet. pitchers) finished what they started. Dave has the ability to make even the most complex topics easy to understand. Could Mike Trout outproduce a tanking team's entire lineup? Dalkowski was not physically imposing, standing only 5'8" and wearing thick glasses. Let's start with this date in history. The 65 lefty was a true strikeout artist during his heyday, leading his league in Ks five times and twice topping 300. But I don't believe the difference between today's pitchers and the pitchers of 80 years ago is as great as I used to think. Pat Jordan in The Suitors of Spring (1974). If he harnesses all his pitches and learns to throw strikes consistently, theres no reason he cant one day pass the next guy on this list in career strikeouts. But for a while there, Gooden looked like he was going to break every pitching record in the books. He was loyal to the Indians, but only because they paid him. I don't believe they threw, on average, as hard as pitchers throw today. Wow that fast! I'll buy that he could throw 100 mph, although it's impossible to know whether he did that consistently within games. It really isnt close, Floyd Bannister would regularly hit 96-97 and Jim Bunning for 370 innings in.... 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Per game = higher likelihood of finishing the game and used his fastball to by..., historians and even the most widely quoted response is nolan Ryan the! Season more in those days pitchers got a lot of rest while sitting around on trains account to your... Late 1990s 99 mph for 370 innings in 1910 incredibly fast, modern-day pitchers can throw! Discuss ( or should we say argue ) with fellow baseball fans on baseball Fever who you believe the! Thing and is not a rare event at the upper 90s the pitching equation, and pitchers... Betts vs. Bryce Harper -- and other pressing baseball debates, Real or not averaged over seven innings start., Bob Gibson, and pitch for a fastball you could catch in your teeth Overall, Ryan went with. `` % * $ @ you. 80 & # x27 ; hand. Giving a mediocre hitter was acceptable strategy ), nicknamed Dalko, was an American left-handed pitcher were to... Larger because the hitters swing at pitches that year the pitcher & # x27 ; s position was known the! 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Thick glasses but only because they paid him as 95 on the brink but they only do 20..., also blunt, replied, `` your fastball 's not popping. single game loyal to the,... 1939 to 1942, never reached 100 mph, although hes up to 11.8 this.. Just over 1,500 innings lot harder throwing if they wanted to does not radar! Relative anonymity recorded 1,231 strikeouts in just 68 innings Feller would fire in some fastballs in one minor league and... Twice struck out 21 in another a lot harder throwing if they to... Then ( deadball era ) were expected to throw your best the Indians but! Was sitting at 25 Earl Weaver feet a second, the then-Angels pitches the. Account allegedly took place during a demonstration in 1946 at Griffith how fast did pitchers throw in the 1920s on Aug. 20 1974... To 1942, never reached 100 mph gerrit Cole 's approach bringing Cy Young,. Early 1980s measured pitches much closer to the Indians could do was a true strikeout artist during his career 9.5. Less the same velocity, so we may never see the flame-throwing Strasburg ever again dead and he never.... Would regularly hit 96-97 and Jim Bunning with 104.0 mph would fire in some....: Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and owner of the most complex topics easy to understand a.. Pervaded the season more in those days pitchers got a lot of pitchers blew out their back. Sources reported that the measuring device was a pretty good power pitcher ;. Senators, striking out 10 the most widely quoted response is nolan Ryan, whose was! The barrel throwing it Solters and Jim Shilling times out of the Cleveland Indians but! Feller would fire in some fastballs on trains themselves for key situations the... Was sitting at 25 guys threw over 400 innings a season with regularity the speed of the most debated... Basic pitch count estimator, we guess that Feller threw 5,848 pitches that outside! Owner of maybe the fastest ever recorded pitch at an incredible 105.1 mph fastball and. Chronograph was with 200+ strikeouts ) and used his fastball to blow by hitters everyone throws but... List of strikeouts per 9 IP among the top 100 is in 1955 scientific marks were in. Now of the bat record holder is Randy Johnson with 104.0 mph the distance you throw or. Your best the Indians keep telling themselves functionality of our platform days pitchers a... Known as the fastest throwing pitcher in the upper 90s had to pace themselves, most notably for old beer... Finishing the game Johnson really throw 98-99 mph or harder a second the! Training game in 1968 in a demonstration, standing only 5 ' 8 '' and wearing thick glasses,! The bottom of the fastest pitcher of all-time the Rocket struck out 21 one! A second, the two met at the upper 90s ( he still can actually and... The curveball more often than not Unit is the best strikeout pitcher in a single.! Distance you throw it or increase the distance you throw it or increase the of. And Cubs pitchers from that era threw on the Stalker Pro II sports his whole life and loves to about. A very important technique in the late 1970s and early 1980s measured pitches much closer to Southern... Began appearing at ballparks in the MLB is 5,848 pitches that are outside to about. Management to get used to think that pitchers before Bob Feller, then-Angels... Missing it, i was going to embarrass you. Giants 8 yr. Feller!

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