Hey guys, does anyone now of the speed of the best old time pitchers(let's say till 1950s). 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. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. By the time he threw the ball, it seemed like his left arm was halfway to home plate. WWII sure screwed it up somebut made the stats more interesting! Thing isback in the days heck, even in the early 70's there just weren't many relievers, as everyone tended to just count on the starter going deep into the game, or pitching a complete game. Dave McClure from Worcester, UK on March 03, 2013: In the old days, they only wore leg pads, gloves and the vital 'box' or genital protector. I hope those guys are wearing helmets and the other protection needed! I'd be frightened too. Terrible they didn't find out what was going on with him. Question: How could you not include Sandy Koufax in the list of the hardest throwing pitchers? McGregor BAL. The Dodgers released him after one season because of concerns about his age (38) and injury history. The thing just hissed with danger. Why did he, all of a sudden, start throwing pitches 103? But his fastball had movement. The Fb velocity is the average fastball velocity for a player by age. In 1987, he started throwing the curveball more often than not. His 105.1 mph fastball breached the 105 mph mark for the first 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. He struck out more than 300 batters in a season on two occasions and in 1979 he led the National League with the lowest earned run average. 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. A. Hey Tom, I was going to ask you about that - Chapman starting, I mean. The letter and ball were received by our media relations office in Washington, D.C., which has the task of receiving and distributing information about all major league players. This page was generated at 05:58 AM. Nobody on my team has hit 100 miles per hour yet this season, but we've got a couple guys who could do it, and I plan to be watching when it happens :). Cannot belive Sandy Koufax was hardly mentioned at all. Wow that fast! He served as a gunner on the USS Alabama, participating in major military battles between the Allied forces and Imperial Japan. He made two starts that season and one start in 1990 before finishing his comeback attempt with the Houston Astros. He observed Nolan Ryan, J.R. Richard, Dwight Gooden, Roger Clemens, and Randy Johnson during his career. Nolan Ryan was a bit before my time, but I agree that Clemens was special as well with his velocity, but i haven't seen anyone like Verlander or Champan (or Zumaya for that matter). Nowadaysteams are terrified of their high dollar starting arms throwing many more than a hundred pitches. In 2018, he was at 91 mph on average, which means he gained half a tick from '18 to '19. Show #2-10. He was my hero then and even more so now. This hub is a homerun!!! Fastball velocity is on the rise. Out of curiosity, he stepped in (as a coach) into the batting box against Dalwkoski in a practice session. Currently viewing seasons between 2015 and 2015. The first batter was Brock Holt. It's narrated by Kevin Costner and talks about all the great fastballers. Back then, no one could touch 100 mph. The average fastball is between 50-60 mph. The average change up speed for this age group is about 10 mph slower, putting the velocity between 30-40 mph. An 85 mph fastball (if registered by a Speedgun at the plate) would be roughly 93 mph if measured by Statcast out of the pitcher's hand. Today's pitchers can reach up to 95 mph on their fastest pitches! Even Lee Meadows, who pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1939 to 1942, never reached 100 mph on a regular basis. But Hamel's pitch design is sublime. Division 2: 58 MPH or faster. Go ahead and laugh but you weren't standing in the batters box when the pitch went thirty feet over your head. - Quora Answer (1 of 13): There's no way of knowing ,but what is often overlooked when comparing pitching velocity over the decades is that in previous eras pitchers pitched with 3days or less rest between starts, and were expected to pitch much deeper into the game. From radar evidence we can be fairly certain that major league fastballs averaged around 88-89 mph in the 1980s before ticking up to 89-90 mph in the 1990s, coinciding with increased relief pitcher specialization. Copyright 2023 Baseball America Enterprises. In the days of Walter Johnson, all the way towards the end of Nolan Ryan's career, starting pitchers would start a game with the singular goal in finishing that game, and with a win. It has to do with the reference point. Nithya Venkat from Dubai on March 02, 2013: An interesting read, great write. He has always had excellent command of a slightly below average fastball and a slightly better than average collection of junk, but the command wavered at times this year leading to an unfortunate barrage of homeruns against him . 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. While that seems minor, it's actually an enormous boost over time. Then the fastball began to fall out of favor, slowly at first, but with stunning drops in the past two seasons. Other fast pitchers have included Carl Hubbell, Jack Quinn, and Roy Halladay. I remember Cliff Johnson getting into fight with Goose because his catching hand was so damaged by Goose's heater. Less than 1 month man and I'm fired up too. Copyright 1999-2021. He quickly became one of the top power pitchers in the American League, no small feat on a team that still included Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and other top pitchers, going 1610 with a 2.85 Earned Run Average (ERA) in his first year. His final start of his career was on the 22nd at Seattle when he blew out his arm in the 1st inning. He won a Cy Young award in 2011 as well as the triple crown of pitching in the American League; he led the league in strikeouts, in wins, and had the lowest earned run average. They each pitched at least one inning at 100 mph or faster. He refused all non-combat roles that would have had him serve more as a cheerleader. Ask any pitcher who loses a mile off their fastball, and they'll tell you how much easier it is for batters to square up on them at the lower speed. June 30 saw Richards having a practice throwing session at the Houston Astrodomehe tried to shake off the loud ringing in his ears but he soon collapsed on the AstroTurf, a victim of a stroke. We verified that the letter and ball were indeed from Johnson and that he did in fact set the world record in 2000. In Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers sent four pitchers to the mound who touched 98 mph or harder. When a closer is brought into a game, they are generally brought in during the 9th inning. Never knew so much, informative and interesting hub. The Baby Braves might be ready ahead of schedule, Real or Not? 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. It measured velocity closer to the pitchers release point than the JUGS gun, so the JUGS flipped to being the slow gun. How can that be? . He is sometimes referred to as the fastest pitcher in baseball history and had a fastball that probably exceeded 100 mph. Fastballs we're talkin' here) and Dick Stanley (although, Goose IS a good example. Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 December 10, 1946), was never recorded throwing a baseball at 100 mph or more. I've never seen one pitcher dominate a team like he did the Dodgers for about 4-5 years. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. He only stood 5'11" and weighed 175 pounds, yet people who saw large men like J.R. Richard and Randy Johnson pitch say Dalkowski threw much harder than those two. However, Major League Baseball officially considers that pitch to be a 105.8 mph fastball. Fastball speed for an average major-league pitcher starts at its lowest point in early April, rises by about 1.0-1.5 mph to a peak in the month of July, and declines gradually thereafter. Go Reds!! These new "speeds" are not technically accurate (because of speed averages, stride length and other factors - see Reaction Time page), but they are the speeds generally mentioned on TV, and they are pretty close. How fast do you have to throw a curveball. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. I'll have to check a Wiki for Herb Score. Still this is a surprise for me. the average four-seam fastball from a right-handed pitcher in 2010 was 92 mph, . In 1998, Lima matched this speed while playing for the Dodgers. Mookie Betts is playing like an MVP again, Real or Not? Christian Hunter Greene (born August 6, 1999), nicknamed "Surge", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). 2014-15 it ALMOST looked as if he might be done due to injury only to come back and be amazing again (I know his greatness quite well from the 2006 ALCS, 2012 ALDS and 2013 ALDS - I'm a life long A's fan and he's thwarted us time and again in the postseason - along with still every other time we face him!). That game is on Youtube. David Roark is a passionate and knowledgeable individual when it comes to sports. Out of all the men gifted with the talent of pitching at 100 miles per hour, Nolan Ryan was the man who kept it the longest and used it the most. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. In later years, his fastball declined to the 96 mph (154 km/h) range and his slider clocked at around 87 mph (140 km/h). But Nolan Ryan had seen Johnson pitch and he knew the potential he had. See there I go again. He's got a nearly flawless delivery. The chart below is based off of MLB data showing the average pitching velocities based on age. Typically girls will be successful throwing 50+ in high school (depending on school size and how many 'travel' girls are playing on the school's team) and having highest success while throwing in the upper 55 - 65 MPH range. The average fastball velocity for pitchers 10 years old and younger is between 40-50 mph. He first broke into the major leagues with the Reds in 2011 and was immediately given the title of "Fastest Pitcher in History". An MVP for a year IS STILL AN MVP THAT YEAR.). He consistently led the league in strikeouts (a then record 382 in 1965), He did have a devastating curve but I think he also threw at least as fast as anyone else in the 1960's. It is the fascinating power that these rare and gifted men hold that is so intriguing. The average fastball speed for all 75 or so starting pitchers from, say, 1927 would be approximately 80-86 mph. I can't even express how happy I was when the Rangers got him, as I don't live too far out of Dallas - and I was there at his second to last MLB start, he was 46 years old, throwing regular 96 mph fastballs, and his cureveball was devastating. An average changeup for this age is somewhere around the 50-60 mph mark. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. When Johnson first made it to the big leagues, he had a wild and long mullet, a big burly mustache, and he stomped around on the mound in a very angry manner. Two and a Half Miles a Minute: That's the speed at which a pitched ball travels. Pitchers nowadays do not truly expect to finish a game they've started. At just 30 years old, Verlander has already accomplished quite a bit and still has a lot left to deliverwhich is a scary thought for any competitor. Farewell to a Mariners legend. He has a fastball that can go anywhere from 94 to 102 miles per hour, and a big nasty curve-ball to go along with it. I don't know of any underhand pitcher who can throw 90, although Carl Mays was probably in that neighborhood. 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. It is no longer news that all form of measurement in softball is taken regarding players' age and the level of the league they play in, The same goes for The fastball velocity. Bases Loaded Softball lists the following for each division's average college softball pitching speed. A Major League fastball averaged 93.7 miles per hour in 2020. I'm excited for the new season. on Sept.17. [2] In 1956, Score improved on his rookie campaign, going 209 with a 2.53 ERA and 263 strikeouts, while reducing the number of walks from 154 to 129, and allowed only 5.85 hits/9 innings, which would stand as a franchise record until it was broken by Luis Tiant's 5.30 in 1968.". Some much fascinating history. Dalkowski threw a lot harder than Ryan. Perhaps I'm wrong on this, but it's just a theory of mine. Should I Hit the Top of the Ball? In the 1980s, theories about . 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. He worked in the zone a lot and had feel for 4 pitches. Unless, of course, you face Randy Johnson. I'll be watching my Texas Rangers play the Boston Red Sox, starting in an hour and a half. 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