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. In Game 3 of the 1975 World Series, a bunt took center stage. Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. in an era when strkieouts were much rarer than in today's home run derbies. Josh Bennett from Illinois on May 31, 2014: He is special for sure. He'd face and often defeat the best hitters of his era. Ty Cobb had the following to say, "...The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy windup. Thing is...back 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. 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. They used to say that they were “squishing the bug” with their back foot, because of the way they were twisting it. You still have guys that throw very hard, and you see triple digits now, and whether we had guys who threw that hard, I don’t know — but we had a plethora of guys who could throw mid-90s. But nowadays helmets are always worn too. He was placed on the 21-day disabled list.
Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Longest tail on a fastball I ever saw. Kilroy struck out 513 batters in 1886. The average fastball of a Major League Baseball pitcher reaches a speed of 91 mph. 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.
With the proper adjustments, Ryan’s 100.9-mph fastball dramatically explodes to an eye-popping 108.5 miles per hour.
I got to see Nolan a few times over the three seasons he played with Texas - we used to go as a family quite a bit back then. The Houston media said J.R. was just moody, and they even went so far as to say he was jealous of Nolan Ryan, who'd become the first pro athlete to make $1,000,000 per year that season. We got a guy in the minors (Louisville) named Billy Hamilton that's probably gonna' be up next year that you will hear about if you haven't already. Yes, he lost in 11 innings. Did more guys get hurt back then than nowadays? I’m not sure who the last one was to throw 300; I think it was Steve Carlton in 1980. The Houston television media apologized repeatedly for having questioned whether or not he was truly ill. Wesman Todd Shaw (author) from Kaufman, Texas on February 02, 2016: Thanks very much, Mr. Archer! Unless, of course, you face Randy Johnson. Back then there was a lot more pitching going on; the radar gun was used for our hitters more than it was for our pitchers. Yeah, me neither. Yep! In my starts, in the 1980s, I was never told how many pitches I threw. He was regarded as the fastest throwing pitcher ever seen by most of them. Wesman Todd Shaw (author) from Kaufman, Texas on June 21, 2019: Hey Thanks, Jennifer. 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). When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Feller enlisted for military service. 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. It was the first time in MLB history a regular starting pitcher averaged over one strikeout per inning. Now, pitchers aren’t really allowed to pitch tired; they come out before they get tired. In the National League, there wasn’t as much of a difference from today (in innings pitched per outing) because you still had to hit for pitchers. He started well and strong but left in the fourth inning due to complaints of blurry vision and numbness in his fingers.
The test satisfied multiple pre-set standards and MLB announced Feller’s fastball had been clocked at 104 miles per hour.
His season record of 383 strikeouts and his six seasons with more than 300 strikeouts are also very telling. It has to do with the reference point. Wesman Todd Shaw (author) from Kaufman, Texas on March 03, 2013: Hey Paraglider! Back then, I used to say that the biggest satisfaction I had was to complete a game that we won, and that was the mindset of guys who were embedded in a starting rotation. Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), was never recorded throwing a baseball at 100 mph or more. Question: Could Babe Ruth hit 100 mph pitches? Splitters actually work like change-ups and are usually labeled change-up.
This chart shows the average MLB fastball speed in the past 15 seasons, using data from any pitcher who threw 90 innings or more in a given season. Ah baseball, I so love thee. Wesman Todd Shaw (author) from Kaufman, Texas on May 28, 2013: Sunshine, if there were hardball leagues for people my age...amateur ones...I would be in heaven, and I wouldn't care what injuries I got in the process! Back then, you went out and pitched. Top Gun list for the Fastest Pitchers in the Majors; Pitch Type report shows Average Speed by Pitch Type in the Majors. I was more a Dodgers fan but lived closer to the Big A and went there more often. Nolan Ryan has the record, all in all, and this was from Doppler Radar. Terrible they didn't find out what was going on with him. How in God's name can a human arm throw so hard for so long and not just fall off?
but a cricket ball, at five and a half ounces, and hard as a stone (give or take the leather skin), is not something to stop with your body! Pitching Machine Speed for Little Leagues. I voted this hub up. It's pretty certain Sandy Koufax could throw that hard too - I remember reading that when he came up he was known for a monster fastball, but he couldn't find the strike zone...and after a while someone convinced him to take something off of it...and there you go - someone who was the equal of Bob Feller and Nolan Ryan for many a season! But as for the pitches, the fundamental pitches like the fastball, curveball, slider and changeup were all there in the ‘80s. Cannot belive Sandy Koufax was hardly mentioned at all. Pitchers have always "aired it out". He did have a long minor league career—a career in which he terrified people with pitches rumored to average 104 miles per hour. Great info on an amazing statistic - the 100 MPH pitch.
The chart below is based off of MLB data showing the average pitching velocities based off of age. I also appreciate the chess-like mastery of Sandy Koufax. They’re given pitch counts, they’re given only so many innings, and they’re getting sent home with tired arms, they get put down. Subscribe to our Free Newsletter, This Month in Sports ReferenceFind out when we add a feature or make a change.
1980s PITCHING ROUNDTABLE [Part One]: BUD BLACK, DANNY DARWIN, MIKE FLANAGAN, GREG MADDUX, JON MATLACK AND BOB WALK. The University of Cincinnati! In the past two decades, pitchers in major league baseball have begun to throw harder and harder. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? jbennett3112 - I started watching MLB in 1986. Virgil Trucks became only the third pitcher in the history of baseball to throw two no-hitters in one season after holding the Washington Senators and New York Yankees hitless during the 1952 season. Nice move by Kevin Kennedy when took him out after he threw his warm up pitches in the bottom of the 7th.
From 1976 to 1980, only two other pitchers in all of baseball could compare to him, Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan. Baseball Pitching Velocity Program Find out more. I assume the remaining pitches are slider, curveball or change-up. Thing is....I've never seen it played or televised in the USA...I know it is similar to baseball in some ways, but that is all I know! Read on to learn all about the best lefties to ever pitch in the MLB. He's got a nearly flawless delivery. He held opposing batters to a lower batting average than anyone at .204 and he won 324 games despite pitching most of … With the equipment used today, the record is held by Aroldis Chapman, at 105.1 mph. His statistics, however, indicate that his pitches very likely reached those speeds. There is a much greater range in the average speed at this level because major league baseball scouts and college scouts have to estimate; they simply don't have the data on every pitch to get more exact readings. Answer: You need to be more specific. 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!). It was determined Feller's pitch traveled 98.6 miles per hour. It doesn't matter if he's only throwing one inning or nine. I enjoyed it very much. In the past two decades, pitchers in major league baseball have begun to throw harder and harder.
I never had any pitch counts put on me. James Rodney Richard (born March 7, 1950) played his entire career with the Houston Astros. Hope all is well.
I threw 183 pitches in a Triple-A game once — that was back in the early ‘80s – so obviously they didn’t care all that much about pitch counts back then. Dalkowski threw a lot harder than Ryan.
He refused all non-combat roles that would have had him serve more as a cheerleader.
In his second to last career game as a starter, he was throwing fastballs at 96 miles per hour past bewildered men more than 20 years his junior. I am also looking forward to the season getting underway. I'm the type who wishes he could watch old baseball games from years ago. That damned Josh Hamilton is likely to hit 50 home runs this year! Pitchers nowadays do not truly expect to finish a game they've started. Bolt A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. HSBaseballWeb: What Scouts Look For When Evaluating Pitchers. Notice anyone tossing a screwball lately? Danny Darwin: We had pitch counts in the ‘80s, but it wasn’t like nowadays where it’s maybe 90 pitches. James Rodney Richard (born March 7, 1950) played his entire career with the Houston Astros.
I’d say the slider was the pitch of the ‘70s and the split-finger was the pitch of the ’80s.
I remember an instance in the ‘80s where I pitched five out of six days and one of them was five innings. It's that simple. It’s an actual record in the Guinness World Records and that feat belongs to Aroldis Chapman. He was one of the originators of match-ups and pitch counts, but with the pitch counts it was more of an upper limit. Here's a look at teams of today and yesteryear. I never really ran into them until I started coaching.
"In 1955, Score came up to the Major Leagues (with Colavito) as a rookie with the Cleveland Indians at the age of 21. I think that there are harder throwers today than in the ‘80s, in general, especially out of the bullpen. Wesman Todd Shaw (author) from Kaufman, Texas on May 31, 2014: He was an amazing sample of a human in regards to the physical, that's for sure. Holy smoke, are we going to have a sane world again, and there must be baseball! Pitch counts came into vogue, along with specialization in the bullpen, and since then there have been more and more pitchers on the staff. He'd end his career second only to Nolan Ryan in strikeouts with 4,875, and he'd tie Nolan with six seasons in which he'd strike out 300 or more batters. In our case, in Kansas City, it was Dan Quisenberry, who would go one-plus inning, two-plus innings, or just the ninth. In those days, guys were trying to stay on their back leg more; there were a lot more closed stances and upper-body rotation, with people trying to pull the ball a lot more. The average fastball at the high school level is between 75 and 85 mph, according to efastball.com.