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. In his final season, he led the Colonels to the Southern Division title with a record of 57-75. So how fast was Feller? But what he did in the Negro Leagues is more than impressive enough to include him on this list. Real or Not? What was the fastest pitch ever thrown during a baseball 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? Perhaps I'm wrong on this, but it's just a theory of mine. He made pitching appearances in 1920, 1921, 1930 and 1933, making a total of four starts in those years with two complete games. He went after hitters and didnt give them an inch of room at the plate. God I loved it. The AL East is setting up as a race for the ages, Albert Pujols' push for 3,000 powered by dominant decade, 'Ich-i-ro! Today's pitchers can reach up to 95 mph on their fastest pitches! At Griffith Stadium on Aug. 20, the machine was set up and Feller would fire in some fastballs. During his eight-year retirement, Ryan worked as a baseball analyst for NBC Sports and as a consultant for the Texas Rangers. Aroldis Chapman holds the record using today's equipment, clocking in at 105.1 mph. In 1998, Lima matched this speed while playing for the Dodgers. The pitcher wants to keep the pitch count low because of his stamina. ", the John Jameson Fastball - fast and straight like 'Irish Whiskey should be', and a Cutty Sark Fastball - which 'simply sailed.'. I dont imagine it was easy pitching back then, but its got to be more grueling today. Indeed, strikeouts were far less prevalent, partly because pitchers were letting the batter hit the ball and expecting the fielders to get to them. Its easy to forget just how good Doc was with the Mets after his career pretty much fell apart in the late 1990s. Copyright 1999- Feller once mentioned that he was clocked at 104 mph at Lincoln Park in Chicago. I don't know of any underhand pitcher who can throw 90, although Carl Mays was probably in that neighborhood. Did Walter Johnson really throw 98-99 mph or did he throw 91-92 which was harder than everyone throwing in his day. Kershaw has learned that with slower velocity he gains control and movement, and DeGrom has learned that as well. Bench gave in to the veteran (who had recently strung together four consecutive seasons with 200+ strikeouts) and signaled for a fastball. The former Dodgers closer once converted a record 84 straight save opportunities and was as close to untouchable as a pitcher will ever be. He had no trouble getting to triple-digits and finished his rookie season with 92 strikeouts in just 68 innings. There will be a contest for pitchers later. Back then, no one could touch 100 mph. Two early stories about this emerging technology and its application towards baseball pitching speeds are reprinted below: CLEVELAND (AP) A series of photo-electric cells may settle all those arguments over who is the speedball king of the major leagues. The top speed is 90 miles per hour. Back in the 1880s-90s, these guys threw over 400 innings a season with regularity. 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). Take Bob Feller, the legendary fireballer of the Cleveland Indians, and owner of maybe the fastest fastball the game has ever seen. . 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. "You should see the scouts, " said Braves speed gun handler Jim Guadagno, "They're like kids with new toys when they see that 100 light up on their guns. But a lot of pitchers from the 1990s and 2000s are in the too 100 in this category. Mookie Betts is playing like an MVP again, Real or Not? A rookie catcher named Johnny Bench was behind the plate and eight-year veteran Jim Maloney was on the mound. A record that's still included in the book. 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. Red Sox bullpen's tightrope act will wear thin, Real or not? He once threw a pitch so hard that the catcher missed the ball and it shattered an umpire's mask. What is Mitchell Starc's fastest ball speed? They each pitched at least one inning at 100 mph or faster. 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. 14. Despite his failure, he has been described as the fastest pitcher ever. Clemens is known for a lot of things, and being a power pitcher is certainly one of them. Frustrated, the two met at the mound where Bench bluntly said, "Your fastball's not popping." Pre-WW2, there were probably only a handful of guys who could crack 90. Heres a look at how the last 15 No. In any event, I think that it is a combination of all these factors. Luke Appling became famous in the 30s because of his ability to foul off pitch after pitch until he got something he liked. He started again on July 31 against the Red Sox. Before the pitch reached the plate Bench dropped his glove and caught the ball bare-handed - or so the story goes. Radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging) guns were first introduced in 1935 and the media has covered their evolution with great interest. Feller pushed back against management tyranny at every turn, short of actually not playing. It measured velocity closer to the pitchers release point than the JUGS gun, so the JUGS flipped to being the slow gun. 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. update=copyright.getFullYear(); Thrown almost identically to a fastball, the changeup is hurled at . Are there measurements or estimations? pitchers) finished what they started. I wound up and gave it all I had. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. He was sometimes called the fastest pitcher in baseball history and had a fastball that probably exceeded 100 mph (160 km/h). There are a handful of players who will tell you that Smoky Joe Wood was the fastest throwing pitcher in baseball history. After fielding a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Jim Bouton in spring training, Dalkowski's arm went dead and he never recovered. As long as hitters kept missing it, I was going to keep throwing it. There were freak arms throughout history. Jimmy Foxx, Jim Tabor, and Roger Cramer made it a clean Boston sweep with a first-place tie in yesterday's fielders contest. This machine will tell us at once whether he has the fast ball. He ended his career with 2,192 strikeouts and a.249 batting average against him. Nowadays everyone throws 95+ but when you watch older games it looks like if pitchers just lob pitches to the plate. We don't have pitch counts from 1946, but we know Feller faced 1,512 batters and walked 153 to go with all those strikeouts. Now they have 60 due to expanded ballparks and/or alternate site games being played away from home. The true speed of Fellers fastball is a subject of great debate. Colon could throw in the upper 90s (he still can actually) and used his fastball to blow by hitters. 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. But there will never be another strikeout pitcher who played as long as Ryan did (27 seasons) for as well as he did. In the mid-1930s (when Dizzy Dean and Mel Harder were pitching), that number increased to about 88-92 mph. Bob Feller had his fastball tested by the army at 98.6 mph. That sort of talent is expected these days. The problem is nobody was around to actually see it because this guy pitched way back in the 1910s. Randys namesake was a pretty good power pitcher too; just in a completely different era. 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. A 90 mph pitch on a Speedgun could register at 92 on a JUGS gun and 93-94 mph on a Stalker. Who was the first pitcher to throw 100 mph? Wow that fast! If hed been relieved a little more, maybe he would have lasted longer. Early comments about fastball pitchers can be found in many old newspapers and offer some interesting insight into who was considered fastest during this early era: "He (Lefty Grove) was the fastest pitcher who ever lived." "To understand how Dalkowski, a chunky little man with thick glasses and a perpetually dazed expression, became a legend in his own time". I had two or three different kinds of curve balls and a lot of confidence in each of them. We had a sixth-place ballclub, but Bill Veeck bought the ballclub and made some trades, and in 1948, we won the World Series.". Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History. The most incredible part of Wagners story? Papelbon wouldve been a great starter, but the hard-throwing right-hander makes a pretty terrific closer too. He played professionally all over North America, and if you looked at his cumulative totals, hed have nearly 3,000 career strikeouts. During his Cy Young season in 2003, Gagne struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings for a SO/9 ratio of 15.0. 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. Once, he could throw his fastball 97-plus miles an hour. 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). 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. 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. Hes led the NL in strikeouts in each of the past three seasons and is a threat to do it again this year. However, he is still just 23 years old. There have been pitchers who can throw harder than Ryans 100.9 mph fastball. Both Chapman and Hicks are relievers. Did Walter Johnson really throw 98-99 mph or did he throw 91-92 which was harder than everyone throwing in his day. Wezen-Ball, enterprising as ever, reviews a 1917 effort to measure the speed of a pitched ball. Thats why Chapmans fastest fastball found an extra .7 mph. (Note Radbourns 441 Ks in 1884). One such account allegedly took place during a Spring Training game in 1968. Nolan Ryan led the league in strikeouts seven times. For scouts, the Speedgun was known as the slow gun while the JUGS gun registered faster readings and was the fast gun.. CLEVELAND (AP) - Three Boston Red Sox threw a baseball 122 feet a second into a new photo-electric pitching meter yesterday. So much, in fact, that his left palm eventually faced outward as his arm became so twisted. Wagner still holds the NCAA Division III record for career strikeouts and SO/9 IP (19.3). They all thought he was faster than Bob Feller and Walter Johnson, though none of them probably saw Johnson pitch. They must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel! He was an ace, struck out 1900+ guys. 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. Diamondbacks primed to bury Dodgers, Losing Corey Seager leaves Dodgers' season on the brink. In addition to being incredibly fast, modern-day pitchers can also throw very hard. Walter Johnson was reportedly measured at 99.7 MPH at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they could measure the speed of bullets. "You can't hit what you can't see." Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. We finished in the second division, 18 games below .500 in sixth place. Some pitchers made their names by painting the corners and keeping hitters guessing. He played in nine leagues in nine years. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. You wont find Satchel Paige in any of the MLB record books because the right-hander only played six seasons in the majors, and they were all after he passed the age of 40. In the low 80s most of them. Baseball Almanac honestly does not know. Theyd only throw at top speed in a situation where the game was on the line. Copyright 2023 Baseball America Enterprises. Cleveland men who developed the speed meter said the only comparable scientific marks were made in 1917. He has also appeared in several television commercials, most notably for Old Milwaukee beer. That's interesting. He led the American League in strikeouts for the last time in 1948, when he was still just 29 years old. In 1946, he started the season with a three-hit, 10-strikeout shutout, kicking off what he called his greatest season. Many hitters claim that Rapid Robert is the fastest pitcher who ever lived. The current world record holder is Randy Johnson with 104.0 mph. Chapman's speed came in only one game during his career. 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. 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. A "radar gun" is used to measure the speed of a baseball. Ryan finished his career with 9.5 SO/9 IP (fourth all time) and led the AL in strikeouts 11 times. The AL East is setting up as a race for the ages, Albert Pujols' push for 3,000 powered by dominant decade, 'Ich-i-ro! You put your best pitchers in the starting rotation. 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? The tech continued to improve. Pitchers dont usually return from Tommy John surgery with the same velocity, so we may never see the flame-throwing Strasburg ever again. Feller was going for Rube Waddell's American League strikeout record of 343. In his brief taste of MLB action, Strasburg threw as hard as anybody in the game. But then again throwing is mainly a talent thing and is not supposed to be improved by modern training very much. Major League Baseball does not recognize radar speeds as an official statistic. He was clocked as high as 103 mph before extreme wildness ended his career prematurely. Except nobody told Feller about the plan. But maybe its time to pay more attention to the guy who always played in Bob Fellers shadow. During his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2010, the righty struck out 71 batters in 69.1 innings and walked only 18. No longer could pitchers rely on wicked movement. Oh, that's not what we were talking about? Back to how fast Feller threw. Walter Johnson was reportedly measured at 99.7 MPH at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they could measure the speed of bullets. Overall, Ryan went 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three games back from surgery on his right shoulder. 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. When Gagne walked to the mound, you knew he was probably going to embarrass you. 67 mph. How fast did they throw in the 1930s? The Detroit times. I had my fastest pitched timed when I was younger. Chapman is also one of only two pitchers (the other being Randy Johnson) to throw two no-hit games in their careers. Pitchers before 1930 (or so) regularly finished their starts, too. Before the late 1880s the pitcher was limited to underhand or low sidearm deliveries. One other thing to remember. Paige struck out a Negro League record 176 batters in 1929 and then set the single-game record by striking out 17 hitters on April 29 and then 18 hitters less than a week later. Ich-i-ro!' He also twice struck out a major league record 20 batters in a single game. That should explain a lot of the differences between pitching 110 years ago and today. We verified that the letter and ball were indeed from Johnson and that he did in fact set the world record in 2000. I woudl suggest that it is in fact simply that they let the pitchers pitch so much back then. Real or Not? He held on for awhile with guile and deception but couldnt throw hard. Nolan Ryan earned his nickname "The Ryan Express.". Stories about the fastest pitchers in history have also appeared in the Associated Press. He pitched a one-hitter -- with nine walks and nine strikeouts. Theyd only throw at top speed in a situation where the game was on the line. 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. Today's games often last three or four hours! Also, the dead ball era (prior to 1920) meant that no one was going to hit it very far. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled. 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". He was loyal to the Indians, but only because they paid him. The most widely quoted response is Nolan Ryan, whose fastball was "officially" clocked by the Guinness . John A. Crawford of the Cleveland Plain Dealer thought the idea would be useful in selection of pitching and other talents. 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. So Feller started on Sept. 19, Sept. 22, Sept, 25, pitched five innings of relief on Sept. 27 and then started the season finale on Sept. 29, tied with Waddell at 343 strikeouts. The Baby Braves might be ready ahead of schedule, Real or Not? . Mookie Betts is playing like an MVP again, Real or Not? 100-mph fastballs have been attributed to many pitchers. After having it their way for the first two decades of the 20th Century, pitchers entered a dark age in which they were no longer allowed to use a ball that was dead, scuffed and (with few exceptions) wet. Pitch f/x System Data (Excel Format)Download Courtesy of Trent McCotter & Joe Leftkowitz, Closer Tug McGraw named his fastballs! He pitched 371.1 innings. I thought I might give Bob Feller something to worry about. Since machine testing was rare and uncommon we are left with a scientific void about historical flamethrowers. The average fastball speed for all 75 or so starting pitchers from, say, 1927 would be approximately 80-86 mph. It was common for pitchers to "coast" until a runner got into scoring position. In addition to these two pitchers, there have been others who have thrown fastballs over 100 miles per hour. BA Newsletter: Get Analysis, Rankings Delivered To Your Inbox! Discuss (or should we say argue) with fellow baseball fans on Baseball Fever who you believe threw the fastest pitch ever. Guys that make it back that had crazy control. Walter Johnsonthrew the ball 134 feet a second, Christy Mathewson127 and "Smoky Joe" Wood124. Before the late 1880s the pitcher was limited to underhand or low sidearm deliveries. All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc.Hosted by Hosting 4 Less. 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. If a pitcher attempted to throw too fast, he'd be booed off the village green. "The key here is that he did not pitch in pro baseball. Wohlers was a failed starter who came out of seemingly nowhere to be a lockdown closer for the Braves in the mid 1990s. A fast fastball is a lot faster than it used to be. He also finished second six other times. 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. 3. Now, Newhouser was no slouch, a two-time MVP who also finished second in the voting in 1946 (Feller was sixth). The machine, called the "Lumiline Chronograph," used photoelectric cells to clock the object that passed through the device's opening. His 10.0 SO/9 IP during his career would be fourth all-time if the righty threw more innings. That same season, Chapman also became just the second 20-year-old to win the MVP Award. Guys like Satchel Paige could hit low-mid 90s, which was insane for back then. Realistically low to mid 80s. In addition, he finished third three times. Now, his fastball is usually in the high 80's. . Its hard to disagree considering that the righty piled up 2,581 strikeouts (26th all-time) during his career and led the AL in Ks seven times from 1938-1948. 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. Follow him on Twitter for all your MLB news and updates. Its not a fluke either. His dominance only lasted about three seasons (2002-2004), but during that time, Gagne was simply overpowering. After gettibg basic mechanics training will only bring marginal improvements. In the mid-1930s (when Dizzy Dean and Mel Harder were pitching), that number increased to about 88-92 mph. Like Gangster Octopus says, we remember the exceptions. All times are GMT-8. Location, location, location. That year, Amos Rusie led the National League with 482 innings. There seems little doubt that Feller had one of the hardest fastballs of all time. Goodens 2,293 career strikeouts are just 46thall-time, but 1,875 of them came in his 11 seasons as a New York Met. Bob slept well that night. I have serious doubts about the 107 mph estimate. The best the Indians could do was a tie at 119 feet by Ben Chapman, Julius Solters and Jim Shilling. - Ford Frick, "Smokey Joe (Williams) could throw harder than all of them." The Fastest Pitcher in Baseball by Baseball Almanac 2003-2007. 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. 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The two met at the army at 98.6 mph two pitchers, were. Batting average against him nobody was around to actually see it because this guy pitched way back in the 1990s! Converted a record that 's still included in the 1880s-90s, these guys threw over 400 innings a season 92... | today in Baseball history by painting the corners and keeping hitters guessing pitchers can... Looked at his cumulative totals, hed have nearly 3,000 career strikeouts and a.249 batting average against him new met.