His story is not particularly well known outside of Houston, but Richards promising career as a starter came to an end at the age of 30 because of a life-threatening stroke. This list honors the latter group, the pitchers who lit up the radar guns with blazing fastballs that were tough to see and even tougher to hit. You throw into a hole two feet square. The moment a baseball leaves a pitchers hand, it starts to slow down because of drag. In addition, he finished third three times. Chapman is capable of hitting 105 repeatedly and may still be developing physically. The former Dodgers closer once converted a record 84 straight save opportunities and was as close to untouchable as a pitcher will ever be. The Meter to Record Feller's Speed article mentioned it was specifically going to examine his pitching speed. The art of pitching has changed dramatically throughout the history of baseball. President Alvin Bradley of the Cleveland Indians agreed and Rex D. McDill, Cleveland electronics engineer, built the machine. Chapmans major league career hasnt gotten off to the thrilling start everyone expected, but the potential is through the roof. (Yes, nitpickers, Im aware that John Wheeler ghosted Mattys book.). Whichever is accurate, Feller absolutely dominated hitters during his time. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. Discuss (or should we say argue) with fellow baseball fans on Baseball Fever who you believe threw the fastest pitch ever. d) *(corollary to above) * Pitchers at the time could more or less legally occlude the ball with tobacco, mud, etc. Before the late 1880s the pitcher was limited to underhand or low sidearm deliveries. 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. 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. This page was generated at 04:50 PM. MLB has gone back and recalibrated Pitch/FX pitches to convert them to their velocity at pitch release. He never finished outside of the top nine in strikeouts every year between 1969 and 1984. Just imagine where Dr. K would rank if it wasnt for injuries. For instance, Floyd Bannister would regularly hit 96-97 and Jim Kern frequently hit 99-100. Not to mention national TV, millions of dollars at stake, etcetera etcetera. 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. Dalkowski was clocked at only 93.5, but a few mitigating factors existed: 1) Dalkowski had pitched in a game the day before, so he could be expected to throw 5-10 mph slower than usual; 2) there was no mound to pitch from, which Feller had enjoyed, and this would drop his velocity by 5-8 mph; 3) he had to pitch for 40 minutes before the machine could measure his speed, and he was exhausted by the time there was a reading. 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. So much, in fact, that his left palm eventually faced outward as his arm became so twisted. Ive heard a few things about it, and I thought Id add in some thoughts of my own: a) Ive heard that newer pitches (sliders, forkballs, etc.) On July 28, he threw a shutout against the Senators, striking out 10. During his eight-year retirement, Ryan worked as a baseball analyst for NBC Sports and as a consultant for the Texas Rangers. That right there is the difference between pitching and throwing. 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. 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. In Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers sent four pitchers to the mound who touched 98 mph or harder. Copyright 2023 Baseball America Enterprises. 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? Baseball buffs: how did old-time pitchers throw for so many innings? Scoreboards in nearly every ballpark - including High Schools - now flash pitch speeds for the world to see. I had my fastest pitched timed when I was younger. All rights reserved. Still this is a surprise for me. Here's a photo of Feller throwing into the machine. In 1987, he started throwing the curveball more often than not. He didnt and ended up winning 254 games. Wezen-Ball, enterprising as ever, reviews a 1917 effort to measure the speed of a pitched ball. This is a cool article. Since machine testing was rare and uncommon we are left with a scientific void about historical flamethrowers. I dont imagine it was easy pitching back then, but its got to be more grueling today. In addition to these two pitchers, there have been others who have thrown fastballs over 100 miles per hour. In addition, teams had only 40 fouls to play per game back then. But maybe he did. He once threw a ball at least 450 feet on a bet. 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. #TBT: How fast was Bob Feller's fastball? We verified that the letter and ball were indeed from Johnson and that he did in fact set the world record in 2000. One such pitcher was Hal Newhouser of the Louisville Colonels. Chapman's speed came in only one game during his career. I would assume Ford threw in the mid-high 80s, topping out around 90. When you have a good curve ball, it makes your strike zone larger because the hitters swing at pitches that are outside. Mookie Betts is playing like an MVP again, Real or Not? According to University of Illinois physicist Dr. Alan Nathan, a pitch that leaves a pitcher's hand at 100. Ich-i-ro!' Randys namesake was a pretty good power pitcher too; just in a completely different era. His rate did decline even more the rest of that season, however. Ted Williams once took a spring training pitch from the 58 Dalkowski and reportedly never saw it. b) Travel pervaded the season more in those days pitchers got a lot of rest while sitting around on trains. Goodens 2,293 career strikeouts are just 46thall-time, but 1,875 of them came in his 11 seasons as a New York Met. The average speed of a fastball in the MLB is. Lee's career ERA was 2.25, and she was known for throwing a wicked knuckleball. That's interesting. He retired after that one start, but he still holds the record as the fastest pitcher in MLB history. Real or Not? Baseball Almanac honestly does not know. He wasn't always the most efficient of pitchers, even for 1946, when walks were plentiful. Breaking the 100 mph plateau makes news that can often travel to the front office at nearly the same speed. From May 8 through August 8, he pitched 204 innings, or as many in three months as a "workhorse" starter does today over an entire season. 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. According to University of Illinois physicist Dr. Alan Nathan, a pitch that leaves a pitchers hand at 100 mph will (at sea level) slow down by 9 to 10% by the time it crosses the plate some 55-58 feet later. Sponsors recalled that back in 1917, in Bridgeport (Conn.) arms laboratory, Walter Johnson recorded 134 feet per second, Christy Mathewson 127 and "Smoky Joe" Wood 124. He walked 21 in one minor league game and struck out 21 in another. Also, the dead ball era (prior to 1920) meant that no one was going to hit it very far. These questions, and others like it, are some of the most commonly asked items here on Baseball Almanac. Pre-WW2, there were probably only a handful of guys who could crack 90. The new meter, which gives an immediate reading which engineers said compared with standard laboratory meter accuracy, is built in a trailer. Carlton might be the pitcher most responsible for making the strikeout fashionable inMLB. Both were mentioned in the Meter to Record Feller's Speed article above and the unit of measure was feet per second. Source: Richmond (VA) Times Dispatch, June 6, 1939. Using yesterday's equipment, Ryan would have been tied for first with Bob Feller (107.4 mph). I think that one of the reasons why the 20's was such an offensive era was that with the newer, more durable baseballs, and the outlawing of trick pitches. In February 1920, the rules were changed to officially ban all "doctored" pitches, including spit balls, scuffed balls, sanded balls and any other . And that is #62, Herb Score. He was never as dominant after that. There have been three periods in baseball history when workloads for starting pitchers declined noticeably: 1) In the 1890s when the pitchers were pushed back to 60 feet, 6 inches; 2) In the early 1920s when the lively ball came out; and 3) In the 1990s when pitch counts became all the rage. There have been pitchers who can throw harder than Ryans 100.9 mph fastball. He was also remarkably good about hitting his spots, as evidenced by his career 2.96 SO/BB ratio. Walter Johnson was reportedly measured at 99.7 MPH at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they could measure the speed of bullets. Dalkowski never actually made it to the majors because of serious control issues (1,354 walks in 995 minor league innings, plus 1,396 strikeouts), but those who actually faced him say hes the fastest pitcher ever. Theyd only throw at top speed in a situation where the game was on the line. 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. He made pitching appearances in 1920, 1921, 1930 and 1933, making a total of four starts in those years with two complete games. 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. Joel Zumaya and Justin Verlander are the only pitchers to throw 100+ in the 2006 World Series. How fast did they throw in the 1930s? Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr. (June 3, 1939 - April 19, 2020), nicknamed Dalko, was an American left-handed pitcher . Thats why many pre-1893 pitching records are not recognized as official records. If a pitcher attempted to throw too fast, he'd be booed off the village green. He pitched 371.1 innings. King Felix is different from most guys on this list in that his off-speed stuff is just as good as his power stuff, if not better. Nobody else in the league can do that." Bench continuously called for breaking balls and Maloney continuously shook him off. That should explain a lot of the differences between pitching 110 years ago and today. He held on for awhile with guile and deception but couldnt throw hard. All times are GMT-8. Going through Feller's game logs produces more fascinating numbers. The most widely quoted response is Nolan Ryan, whose fastball was "officially" clocked by the Guinness Book of World Records at 100.9 miles per hour in a game played on August 20, 1974, versus the Detroit Tigers. 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. It was estimated that Dalkowski's fastball at times reached 105 mph. Most of them would quickly burn out, but most of them burned out a hundred years ago, too. Greg madux would only pump 90+ in later innings to throw hitters off. Mostly, pitchers tended to save themselves for key situations. He made two starts that season and one start in 1990 before finishing his comeback attempt with the Houston Astros. . Feliz is only in his second full season of pro ball, but already hes earned a reputation as a phenomenal power pitcher. Most guys just used a lot more off-speed stuff as their bread-and-butter pitches than youd see in a modern game. Sign me up! In 1998, Mike Morgan of the San Diego Padres broke the record by throwing a ball 102.1 miles per hour (164.7 km/h or 44.6 m/s). Where what happened yesterday is being preserved today. He struck out 276 batters in 218 innings as arookiein 1984 and then came back the next season to win the Cy Young award by striking out 268 batters in 276.2 innings. He played in nine leagues in nine years. 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. In 1893 the pitcher's rear foot was moved farther from home plate to its current distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. Walter Johnson was reportedly measured at 99.7 MPH at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they could measure the speed of bullets. Pitchers before 1930 (or so) regularly finished their starts, too. Ted Williams once stood in a spring training batting cage and took one pitch from Dalkowski. Papelbon wouldve been a great starter, but the hard-throwing right-hander makes a pretty terrific closer too. A "radar gun" is used to measure the speed of a baseball. You couldnt hit it far no matter what. . Less games meant more time to recuperate between starts. But Major League Baseball now registers that pitch as a 105.8 mph fastball. There will be a contest for pitchers later. 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