The fastest pitcher ever may have been 1950s phenom and flameout Steve Dalkowski. 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. 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. So how fast was Feller? "The key here is that he did not pitch in pro baseball. They each pitched at least one inning at 100 mph or faster. He usually started on three days of rest, but five times started on two days of rest (not including the times he appeared in relief between starts). He topped 100 Ks in his first full season as the Los Angeles closer and regularly reached triple-digits. In baseball statistics, pitch count is the number of pitches thrown by a pitcher in a game. "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 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. When a guy hits .358, he doesn't have slumps." Rogers Hornsby, 1961 In the mid-1930s (when Dizzy Dean and Mel Harder were pitching), that number increased to about 88-92 mph. b) Travel pervaded the season more in those days pitchers got a lot of rest while sitting around on trains. What is Mitchell Starc's fastest ball speed? 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. He was not physically as strong as some others, but he had long, tapering fingers and a peculiar whip to his arm that certainly drove that baseball through the air." 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. He had legendary wildness, which kept him out of the Major Leagues. If only because most of the film I've seen of pitchers from that era just don't suggest that much effort was being expended. His 105.1 mph fastball was the first time the 105 mph barrier had been broken. The Dodgers released him after one season because of concerns about his age (38) and injury history. God I loved it. You couldnt hit it far no matter what. But the fast ball was my bread-and-butter pitch. Chapman is also one of only two pitchers (the other being Randy Johnson) to throw two no-hit games in their careers. Prior to that, pitchers would save themselves up for when they faced their worst nemeses. I don't believe they threw, on average, as hard as pitchers throw today. "You can't hit what you can't see." For more information, please see our Red Sox bullpen's tightrope act will wear thin, Real or not? Baseball Almanac honestly does not know. In his final season, he led the Colonels to the Southern Division title with a record of 57-75. 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? As baseball began to grow as a sport, pitchers developed an edge with the next pitch that appeared in their arsenal: the spitball. New York Yankees How hard did pitchers throw back in the day. 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. Jimmy Foxx, Jim Tabor, and Roger Cramer made it a clean Boston sweep with a first-place tie in yesterday's fielders contest. Gerrit Cole's approach bringing Cy Young results, Mookie Betts vs. Bryce Harper -- and other pressing baseball debates, Real or not? But maybe its time to pay more attention to the guy who always played in Bob Fellers shadow. All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc. Privacy Policy. It was common for pitchers to "coast" until a runner got into scoring position. Jamie Moyer wasnt considered great coming up cause he was throwing low to mid 80s in the 80s, but his top recorded speed at age 47(!?!) The first radar guns that began appearing at ballparks in the late 1970s and early 1980s measured pitches much closer to the plate. What was a 105 mph fastball can now be said (with rounding) to be the first recorded 106 mph pitch in MLB history. http://www.kingandhiscourt.com/articles/article6.htm. But nobody asked him to throw into the Lumiline Chronograph. Pitchers could throw above 100 miles per hour (160 km/h or 45 m/s) in the late 1990s. Dalkowski was the basis for wild fastball pitcher Nuke LaLoosh in the movie Bull Durham. We finished in the second division, 18 games below .500 in sixth place. Feller's numbers from that season are mind-boggling from a modern perspective. So Feller refused to take part, staying under the stands until (Senators owner Clark) Griffith was forced to come down to him and negotiate. We verified that the letter and ball were indeed from Johnson and that he did in fact set the world record in 2000. Walter Johnson did not throw 99 mph for 370 innings in 1910. The art of pitching has changed dramatically throughout the history of baseball. Mathewson et al. Maloney delivered. At the Aberdeen Proving Grounds he was measured using the ever-popular speeding motorcycle test, once used in 1914 with Walter Johnson who reached 99.7 mph, and Feller reached 98.6 mph. It all depends on what pitch the pitcher is throwing, fastball are faster than curve balls, changeups. In 19 seasons in the Negro Leagues, Paige recorded 1,231 strikeouts in just over 1,500 innings. A varied assortment of men followed. During the 1999 baseball season, this moment was recorded. That sounds plausible, but he was averaging 6.6 K's per nine before that game, well below his 1946 figure. 10 More answers below Mike Burch Poet, Editor and Publisher Author has 11.6K answers and 25.2M answer views Oct 28 Related The Meter to Record Feller's Speed article mentioned it was specifically going to examine his pitching speed. A 94 mph pitch on the Stalker Pro registered as 95 on the Stalker Pro II. Pre-WW2, there were probably only a handful of guys who could crack 90. Radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging) guns were first introduced in 1935 and the media has covered their evolution with great interest. Freddy Peralta thrills family with dazzling debut, Real or Not? - Ford Frick, "Smokey Joe (Williams) could throw harder than all of them." 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). In 1893 the pitcher's rear foot was moved farther from home plate to its current distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. Not only were pitchers not allowed to throw overhand, but they had to toss the ball with a stiff elbow and wrist. Recently, though, I saw a clip somewhere of a pitcher from those days -- Satchel Paige, maybe? Chapman's speed came in only one game during his career. Major League Baseball does not recognize radar speeds as an official statistic. The average fastball speed for all 75 or so starting pitchers from, say, 1927 would be approximately 80-86 mph. He first broke into the major leagues with the Reds in 2011 and was immediately given the title of "Fastest Pitcher in History". What is the world record speed for throwing a baseball? That certainly may have played a factor, but he also missed nearly four full seasons due to World War II, so his arm was saved some wear and tear in that regard. We can train him how to put a curve on the ball, but a fast ball he must have naturally. Realistically low to mid 80s. He was clocked as high as 103 mph before extreme wildness ended his career prematurely. If you want to share an another or provide an accurate game date for those we have in the chart please send us an email. He was once clocked at 101 mph in 2009 and is capable of throwing in the upper 90s late in the game. 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 results from the "contest for pitchers" have never been found. Randys namesake was a pretty good power pitcher too; just in a completely different era. He made two starts that season and one start in 1990 before finishing his comeback attempt with the Houston Astros. They wanted to control, be durable, and pitch for a long time. Who could throw the fastest fastball? He has been playing sports his whole life and loves to talk about them. 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. 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. Answer (1 of 22): There were no radar guns in the days of Babe Ruth. I had two or three different kinds of curve balls and a lot of confidence in each of them. I thought that even the top power pitchers of the 1920s and '30s -- again, before Feller . People are people. During his Cy Young season in 2003, Gagne struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings for a SO/9 ratio of 15.0. Despite over 3,000 career punchouts Gibson finished his career averaging just 7.3 SO/9 and only led the league in strikeouts once. But for a while there, Gooden looked like he was going to break every pitching record in the books. Now, his fastball is usually in the high 80's. . 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). Back in the 1880s-90s, these guys threw over 400 innings a season with regularity. Here are the 28 hardest throwers in MLB history. Her best was 40 feet per second. The team wasn't going anywhere anyhow. Modern pitchers however exert themselves on every pitch. 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? I am scertain that most pitchers probably had shortened carrers because of the overuse, but the exceptions stick out in historythe Cy Younsg, Gorver Cleveland Alexanders and Walter Johnsons. Could Mike Trout outproduce a tanking team's entire lineup? 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. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. He held on for awhile with guile and deception but couldnt throw hard. 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. Three pitch speeds: slow, slower, and reverse." "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. For a while speeds were measured about 5 feet in front of the plate, then then they were measured by averaging the speed out of the hand and when it crossed the plate, pitch f/x measured speeds at 55 feet from home, finally statcast now presents speeds out of the hand. Feller was sitting at 25. Today, in the late 1990s pitchers can throw over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h or 45 m/s). Location, location, location. Document Creator: Sean Holtz of Baseball Almanac, Inc. 2003-2005. Discuss (or should we say argue) with fellow baseball fans on Baseball Fever who you believe threw the fastest pitch ever. check out the. How fast does a pitcher usually throw? He ended his career with 2,192 strikeouts and a.249 batting average against him. He walked 21 in one minor league game and struck out 21 in another. Satchel Paige, who could bring on the heat himself, believed Feller was the fastest and told teammates, "If anybody threw that ball any harder than Rapid Robert, then the human eye couldn't follow it." And no one threw sliders like they do today. I would guess that he saved his best fastball and used it maybe a dozen times a game. 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. He also finished second six other times. 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