The Fastest Pitcher in Baseball by Baseball Almanac 2003-2007. 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. For one thing, if Feller threw that hard, or something close to it, I think that would be reflected more in the numbers. Whoops! Here's a photo of Feller throwing into the machine. And nowadays a batter might deliberate foul off a strike pitch that isnt exactly where he wants it, while a batter back then would try to hit any strike. "The key here is that he did not pitch in pro baseball. 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 . 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. Feller was going for Rube Waddell's American League strikeout record of 343. Ryan threw the knuckleball from 1973 to 1986. 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. The true speed of Fellers fastball is a subject of great debate. In five seasons with the team, Newhouser averaged over seven innings per start and received multiple votes for the MVP award. "To understand how Dalkowski, a chunky little man with thick glasses and a perpetually dazed expression, became a legend in his own time". He won it over Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants. I thought that even the top power pitchers of the 1920s and '30s -- again, before Feller . He also claimed he was clocked at 107.9 mph in a demonstration in 1946 at Griffith Stadium. There are a handful of players who will tell you that Smoky Joe Wood was the fastest throwing pitcher in baseball history. He didn't even have the highest strikeout rate in the league in 1946; that belonged to Newhouser, who struck out 8.46 batters per nine innings compared to Feller's 8.44. His career 10.6 SO/9 IP is evidence of that, although hes up to 11.8 this season. Today's pitchers can reach up to 95 mph on their fastest pitches! Jimmy Foxx, Jim Tabor, and Roger Cramer made it a clean Boston sweep with a first-place tie in yesterday's fielders contest. Feller, of course, had debuted in the majors before his senior season of high school and had over 1,400 career innings through age 22. When Gagne walked to the mound, you knew he was probably going to embarrass you. The Dodgers released him after one season because of concerns about his age (38) and injury history. The most widely quoted response is Nolan Ryan, whose fastball was "officially" clocked by the Guinness . Baseball Almanac is pleased to present an interesting set of data too loose to call research as there is no definitive answer at the end regarding the fastest pitcher in baseball history. The top speed is 90 miles per hour. Hes led the NL in strikeouts in each of the past three seasons and is a threat to do it again this year. Three digits! I suspect that Satchel Paige and Lefty Grove and Dazzy Vance topped out in the low or middle 90s, which was frightening then and would be enough to keep them gainfully employed now. MLB has gone back and recalibrated Pitch/FX pitches to convert them to their velocity at pitch release. Copyright 1999- Before the pitch reached the plate Bench dropped his glove and caught the ball bare-handed - or so the story goes. Carlton might be the pitcher most responsible for making the strikeout fashionable inMLB. BA Newsletter: Get Analysis, Rankings Delivered To Your Inbox! A fast fastball is a lot faster than it used to be. Could Mike Trout outproduce a tanking team's entire lineup? 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. Young pitchers who throw breaking balls-including sliders-report more arm pain than those who do not. But that doesn't mean some of the old-timers couldn't hold their own in today's game. There seems little doubt that Feller had one of the hardest fastballs of all time. I had my fastest pitched timed when I was younger. 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). Fans, researchers, historians and even the players argue all the time about who was the fastest pitcher of all-time. - Eddie Collins. I never had one. Guys like Satchel Paige could hit low-mid 90s, which was insane for back then. Bob slept well that night. Since machine testing was rare and uncommon we are left with a scientific void about historical flamethrowers. They each pitched at least one inning at 100 mph or faster. Now they have 60 due to expanded ballparks and/or alternate site games being played away from home. Using a basic pitch count estimator, we guess that Feller threw 5,848 pitches that year. Yeah pitching is about speed and arm and shoulder flexibility. Whichever is accurate, Feller absolutely dominated hitters during his time. 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. Thats why many pre-1893 pitching records are not recognized as official records. Walter Johnson was reportedly measured at 99.7 MPH at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they could measure the speed of bullets. 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 . I suspect that the pitch counts back then were about the same as they are for starters these days. "A kid pitcher has to have a fast ball to succeed in the big leagues," said Bradley, "for he can never learn how to pitch faster. 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. Chapman is capable of hitting 105 repeatedly and may still be developing physically. Location, location, location. We had a sixth-place ballclub, but Bill Veeck bought the ballclub and made some trades, and in 1948, we won the World Series.". But just because the third strike often eluded Gibson, doesnt mean that the Hall of Famer didnt throw hard. Ted Williams once stood in a spring training batting cage and took one pitch from Dalkowski. Like Gangster Octopus says, we remember the exceptions. So much, in fact, that his left palm eventually faced outward as his arm became so twisted. Feller was sitting at 25. 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. But nobody asked him to throw into the Lumiline Chronograph. His greatest accomplishment is probably striking out 21 batters in a minor league game and walking 21 batters in another. 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. I almost missed Matt Kilroy 513Ks in 1886!. Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr. (June 3, 1939 - April 19, 2020), nicknamed Dalko, was an American left-handed pitcher. In 1987, McGwire set the record when he threw his fastball at 101.4 miles per hour (162.8 km/h or 43.9 m/s). There were freak arms throughout history. The average fastball speed for all 75 or so starting pitchers from, say, 1927 would be approximately 80-86 mph. Back in the 1880s-90s, these guys threw over 400 innings a season with regularity. Ok, pre war pitchers were not throwing hard, is it safe to say that because pitchers were not throwing hard then, Ruth took advantage of it? 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. A point made by none other than Christy Mathewson in Pitching in a Pinch, which was the best baseball book I had read until I was lucky enough to come across a copy of Earl Weavers autobiography, Its What You Learn After You Know It All That Counts. In the deadball era, pitchers routinely threw that many innings, but since 1920 the only pitchers with more in a season were knuckleballer Wilbur Wood in 1972 and Mickey Lolich in 1971. In the 1920s Johnson was clocked at a munitions facility throwing 92mph, which probably looked even faster to hitters with his deceptive sidearm motion. So what I'm reading from this thread is that if I were able to travel back in time I might be able to play for an MLB team? Nobody else in the league can do that." Feliz is only in his second full season of pro ball, but already hes earned a reputation as a phenomenal power pitcher. Hes actually more or less the same pitcher as Juan Marichal, and. However, he is still just 23 years old. Joe Wood 15. Sign me up! Nolan Ryan holds record for fastest pitch. A 90 mph pitch on a Speedgun could register at 92 on a JUGS gun and 93-94 mph on a Stalker. The Detroit times. Breaking the 100 mph plateau makes news that can often travel to the front office at nearly the same speed. I think some of these things are a bit overblown. He played professionally all over North America, and if you looked at his cumulative totals, hed have nearly 3,000 career strikeouts. In a game against the Detroit Tigers on August 20, 1974, the then-Angels . It was harder for batters to pick up, and therefore arm-busting pitches with lots of movement werent needed. Gibson was never much of a strikeout artist. Today's games often last three or four hours! 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. Pitchers dont usually return from Tommy John surgery with the same velocity, so we may never see the flame-throwing Strasburg ever again. Copyright 2020 - 2023 Sportsmanist Inc. Did Nolan Ryan throw the fastest pitch ever? There have been pitchers who can throw harder than Ryans 100.9 mph fastball. Feller also once tested his fastball against a racing motorcycle and was estimated to have thrown 98.6 mph that time as well (or 104 mph by some modern estimates). Pitchers were not included in yesterday's test but "unofficially," Bob Feller of Cleveland threw three balls into the meter from a distance of 20 feet. The team wasn't going anywhere anyhow. In 1974, the first year for measuring the speed of a pitch with a radar gun, Ryan became the first-ever pitcher to have his speed measured by radar at a major league park. 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. 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. In baseball, the dead-ball era was the period from around 1900 to the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1919, when he hit a then-major league record 29 home runs; only three players since 1890 had even hit 20. The Meter to Record Feller's Speed article mentioned it was specifically going to examine his pitching speed. Heres a look at how the last 15 No. 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? ", If this is your first visit, be sure to Papelbon wouldve been a great starter, but the hard-throwing right-hander makes a pretty terrific closer too. In the mid-1930s (when Dizzy Dean and Mel Harder were pitching), that number increased to about 88-92 mph. David Roark is a passionate and knowledgeable individual when it comes to sports. We verified that the letter and ball were indeed from Johnson and that he did in fact set the world record in 2000. Both Chapman and Hicks are relievers. He walked 21 in one minor league game and struck out 21 in another. copyright=new Date(); 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, the art of pitching was in a transitory period. (Note Radbourns 441 Ks in 1884). Chapman is also one of only two pitchers (the other being Randy Johnson) to throw two no-hit games in their careers. Pedro of course, would be banned from playing becuase of his skin color but thats another story. Pitching is a very important technique in the game of baseball. It was on a closed off road in Chicago's Lincoln Park back in the summer of 1940, 5 years after Babe Ruth retired, that the first attempt to test the speed of a pitch was done. 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. Ryan finished his career with 9.5 SO/9 IP (fourth all time) and led the AL in strikeouts 11 times. Follow him on Twitter for all your MLB news and updates. Its not a fluke either. Walter Johnson was reportedly measured at 99.7 MPH at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they could measure the speed of bullets. Spitballs and Sliders: 1900s to 1920s. We finished in the second division, 18 games below .500 in sixth place. Real or Not? Originally Published: February 2003 on Baseball Almanac. There are two ways to improve on this record: increase the distance you throw it or increase the speed of the bat. Copyright 2023 Baseball America Enterprises. Who was the fastest pitcher in baseball history? A few amateurs warmed up yesterday on a new pitching speed meter. 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. The current world record holder is Randy Johnson with 104.0 mph. One other thing to remember. Chapmans major league career hasnt gotten off to the thrilling start everyone expected, but the potential is through the roof. Jimenez is another pitcher who, at just 27 years old, has already raised eyebrows with some of his strikeout totals and radar gun readings. "That was my best year," he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 2006. Johnson was capable of throwing 99, but how often did he need to throw that hard? I'll buy that he could throw 100 mph, although it's impossible to know whether he did that consistently within games. Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr. (June 3, 1939 - April 19, 2020), nicknamed Dalko, was an American left-handed pitcher . He wasn't always the most efficient of pitchers, even for 1946, when walks were plentiful. That same season, Chapman also became just the second 20-year-old to win the MVP Award. During the 1999 baseball season, this moment was recorded. Why? Pitchers could throw above 100 miles per hour (160 km/h or 45 m/s) in the late 1990s. **, Press J to jump to the feed. He was the definition of unhittable and is still only 23 years old. Great things awaited us in the immediate future, but you would never have known it by watching us in 1946. The next year, as a member of the Fort Wayne Daisies, she threw a no-hitter. The pitcher wants to keep the pitch count low because of his stamina. In his brief taste of MLB action, Strasburg threw as hard as anybody in the game. Feliz's 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). 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. ** Actual picture of speed taken from the field at bottom of the chart.^ Due to the large number of MLB.com Gameday additions this symbol means it was verified there. Also, the dead ball era (prior to 1920) meant that no one was going to hit it very far. During his eight-year retirement, Ryan worked as a baseball analyst for NBC Sports and as a consultant for the Texas Rangers. 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. Thus the ball in play was never bright white often it was straight up brown. So probly back in the day a few could hit upper 90s, I doubt many were able to or even sustain it. For scouts, the Speedgun was known as the slow gun while the JUGS gun registered faster readings and was the fast gun.. He was also remarkably good about hitting his spots, as evidenced by his career 2.96 SO/BB ratio. In high school he pitched a no-hitter while walking 18 and striking out 18. You could afford to let the batters hit the ball, since it was unlikely a mistake would lead to a home run. 3. They wanted to control, be durable, and pitch for a long time. 1920 Major League Baseball Standard Pitching | Baseball-Reference.com 1920 Major League Standard Pitching Previous Season Next Season Other Leagues: AL, NL, NNL World Series Champion: Cleveland Indians Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, September 28, 1915, AFTERNOON EDITION, Page PAGE SIX, Image 6, brought to you by Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library, and the National Digital Newspaper Program. One such account allegedly took place during a Spring Training game in 1968. Over the course of the past decade, Chapmans fastest fastball had gotten faster by nearly a mile per hour. Overall, Ryan went 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three games back from surgery on his right shoulder. In 1963 for Elmira he finally started throwing strikes. Diamondbacks primed to bury Dodgers, Losing Corey Seager leaves Dodgers' season on the brink. Once again, it made it a lot less dangerous to make a bad pitch. Nolan Ryan led the league in strikeouts seven times. Back in the 1880s-90s, these guys threw over 400 innings a season with regularity. 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. Then there is no pitcher among the top 100 until 1964. The rookie returned to his position behind the plate and called for a curve, only to be shaken off again. Hes naturally right-handed. Randys namesake was a pretty good power pitcher too; just in a completely different era. He didn't even have the . (Amos Rusie in 1893). Smoky Joe Wood often said, "I threw so hard, I thought my arm would fly right off my body." All four of these pitchers were fastballs primarily located in the upper 90s. Mostly, pitchers tended to save themselves for key situations. Perhaps I'm wrong on this, but it's just a theory of mine. I wound up and gave it all I had. A couple things to remember about pitching velocity measurements, MLB finally standardized how pitch speeds are collected in 2017. Let's start with this date in history. I woudl suggest that it is in fact simply that they let the pitchers pitch so much back then. So how was pitching different back then? New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. New York Yankees How hard did pitchers throw back in the day. What was a 105 mph fastball can now be said (with rounding) to be the first recorded 106 mph pitch in MLB history. 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. Now, youre expected to throw your best the entire game. Mookie Betts is playing like an MVP again, Real or Not? Pre-WW2, there were probably only a handful of guys who could crack 90. 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 pitched 79 innings that month and started seven of Cleveland's final 17 games. Chapman's speed came in only one game during his career. 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? Its easy to forget just how good Doc was with the Mets after his career pretty much fell apart in the late 1990s. Both men were able to throw the pitch faster than any other pitcher before or since. Clemens is known for a lot of things, and being a power pitcher is certainly one of them. As baseball began to grow as a sport, pitchers developed an edge with the next pitch that appeared in their arsenal: the spitball. An average major league fastball travels around 100 miles per hour (160 km/h or 45 m/s), but some pitchers have exceeded that number. That should explain a lot of the differences between pitching 110 years ago and today. Red Sox bullpen's tightrope act will wear thin, Real or not? Today it will test the salary wings of Bob Feller, and any other members of the Cleveland and Boston American loop clubs who are willing. Nobody really knows, but we do hope this article has shed some light on the topic and at least provided you with additional material to argue with your friends about. His career 11.5 SO/9 rate is still among the best all-time, but the strike zone continues to elude the oversized righty. The average speed of a fastball in the MLB is. Except nobody told Feller about the plan. 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". 16 falloutranger San Francisco Giants 8 yr. ago In 1946, he started the season with a three-hit, 10-strikeout shutout, kicking off what he called his greatest season. The Baby Braves might be ready ahead of schedule, Real or Not? One such pitcher was Hal Newhouser of the Louisville Colonels. In addition to Chapman, three other pitchers have thrown a perfect game: Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Jim Bunning. In the mid-1930s (when Dizzy Dean and Mel Harder were pitching), that number increased to about 88-92 mph. It took years for management to get used to the concept of relief pitching initially there was the conceit that real men (i.e. 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. 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. Hes already among the all-time leaders with 215 saves and has nearly 500 strikeouts in just seven short seasons. Ted Williams once took a spring training pitch from the 58 Dalkowski and reportedly never saw it. Most of them would quickly burn out, but most of them burned out a hundred years ago, too. America's Pastime. 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). The results from the "contest for pitchers" have never been found. Votes can not be cast it a lot of things, and Roger Cramer made it a faster! Newhouser averaged over seven innings per start and received multiple votes for the award... 20, 1974 how fast did pitchers throw in the 1920s the then-Angels a Speedgun could register at 92 a... A passionate and knowledgeable individual when it comes to sports era ( prior to 1920 ) that. Relief pitching initially there was the fastest official speed is 98.6 mph, although hes up to 11.8 this.! Seven short seasons your best the entire game 58 Dalkowski and reportedly never saw it pitch... All time ) and injury history 38 ) and led the NL in strikeouts seven...., '' he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 2006 ) to throw fastest! 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