fastest pitcher today/all time?

Hard to say about today. It seems that they don't throw as hard as they used to. Alot more emphasis on movement and location.

JR Richard who pitched with Ryan at Houston could bring it.

I'd read about Dalkowski before as well. I seem to recall that he didn't fit the proto-type for flame throwers. Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember him being something like 5'9", 165... or something like that.

If you could ever get what he had in a 6'4" frame... we might see 115-120 mph fastballs and every pitch over 100... and a rules change since there probably isn't a man alive that could touch a 120 mph fastball.

 

Good link with a chart of the 100 mph club:
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/fastest-pitcher-in-baseball.shtml

My dad used to see Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale pitch double headers at Forbes Field against the Pirates - still jealous

 

I once read that Steve Dalkowski was timed at 94 one time at the US military's Aberdeen Proving Grounds. It was considered a somewhat suspect reading as to his true speed. He pitched a complete game the day before, so they figured his arm was tired. He pitched from flat ground, not a mound. He'd thrown for a solid half hour, and was exhausted, before getting one in the area where the machine would read it. It was assumed that the above had taken at least 15 Mph, from his best speed. Some old-time baseball men said that he was the fastest of all time, and could throw so hard, that he could throw a low rising fast ball, the only one anyone claimed could do so. That he could start a pitch out with it heading for the batter's knees and have it rise to his belt, by the time it crossed the plate. Bob Feller was once timed at 104 mph, supposedly. To me, overall, guys like Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens, have to be considered, all throwing in the high 90(s) well into their 40(s). I saw a Roger Clemens pitch, in the last two years, and I actually believe it was last year, timed at 98. Softball trick pitcher and showman, Eddie Feiner was supposedly able to pitch a softball at 100 mph, as well. That's my guesses, anyway.
Ed

 

More than being a great player... I found myself attracted to Nolan Ryan the person. He never seemed to brag or act proud. He never seemed to seek the limelight but rather appeared to shun it. Yet, the personal testimonies of those who knew him closely are pretty uniform in saying what a great person he is.

One would have to wonder if he would have been nearly the pitcher he was if he wasn't the man that he is.

The best athletes I knew coming up... usually ended up failures. They became proud and couldn't handle success or failure. One kid threw over 90 in high school- but was all but uncoachable. Another guy rushed for over 400 yards in one game and was a terrific baseball player (hit a HR against me on a pitch that would've been in the dirt had he not hit it)... but refused to do school work and eventually washed out with the Cubs farm system.

Still another guy was one of the best running backs you never heard of. He was a white kid from western NC. (In an area that produced Heath Shuler and Carl Pickens, anyone who saw all 3 play would tell you this guy was much better than either of them). He was only 5'10"- 185... but bench pressed over 400 lbs, could cut on a dime, and ran a sub-4.4 forty... without working out. It was all natural. His college coaches did everything they could to get him by. He didn't even have to do the manditory weight lifting... but one day he just decided it was completely unreasonable for them to expect him to go to class and quit.

Nolan Ryan is a rare commodity. A guy incredibly gifted... who didn't lose perspective.

 

Walter Johnson, who played 1907-1927, reportedly won his 416 games (2nd only to Cy Young) and 113 shutouts by having 2 pitches; "a fast ball, and a faster ball." This was long before radar guns, of course, but I remember a story that an attempt was made to time his fast ball (or maybe his faster ball) by using a motorcycle sped up to a certain mph speed, and he timed his windup to release the ball just as the bike went by him. I don't remember what speed they came up with, but that story is probably available from somewhere.

But would the fastest speed, however it is determined, really be more important than the results of using such a fastball, perhaps in conjunction with other pitches if a fireballer has another good one? Sandy Koufax reportedly spent 6 major league seasons trying to get his fastball under control, then 6 more being the most dominant pitcher in the game. By starting at that level at age 18 it's little wonder he didn't last past 30 years of age.

An even worse case could be David Clyde. You might have to be over 40 to remember him, but he was the best high school pitcher in the nation, with many ho-hitters and strikeout records, in the early 70's. The Texas Rangers, just having moved from Washington D.C. to Arlington, TX, and clearly still the worst team with the worst attendance in the majors, drafted him first, just out high school at age 18, and immediately prepared him to start a game for them in June, 1973. They did get their first sellout and he actually won the game, striking out 8 in 5 innings (?). He started a few more games but was not effective, and then quickly developed severe arm problems which caused him to lose all ability. A great fastball isn't worth much if the pitcher is ruined like that.

There have been attempts to make football players (receivers; kick returners) out of pure track stars, and most are unsuccessful-- usually they are not good at catching the ball and/or the vicious hitting in football makes them timid. Baseball pitching is comparable in a way; pure speed is only part of it. A pitcher still has to have control, endurance, fielding ability, and must study the game and the players.

 

Here is the "100 mph club



Mark Wohlers
103.0 mph
1995
Spring Training

Armando Benitez
102.0 mph
2002
Shea Stadium

Bobby Jenks
102.0 mph
08-27-2005
Safeco Field

Randy Johnson
102.0 mph
07-09-2004
Pacific Bell Park

Robb Nen
102.0 mph
10-23-1997
Jacobs Field

A.J. Burnett
101.0 mph
05-31-2005
PNC Park

Rob Dibble
101.0 mph
1992
Candlestick Park

Kyle Farnsworth
101.0 mph
05-26-2004
Minute Maid Park

Eric Gagne
101.0 mph
04-16-2004
Pacific Bell Park

Jose Mesa
101.0 mph
1993
Cleveland Stadium

Guillermo Mota
101.0 mph
07-24-2002
Qualcomm Stadium

Billy Wagner
101.0 mph
06-11-2003
Yankee Stadium

Nolan Ryan
100.9 mph
08-20-1974
Anaheim Stadium

Josh Beckett
100.0 mph
10-12-2003
Pro Player Park

Daniel Cabrera
100.0 mph
05-09-2005
Camden Yards

Roger Clemens
100.0 mph
10-10-2001
Yankee Stadium

Bartolo Colon
100.0 mph
10-06-1999
Jacobs Field

Francisco Cordero
100.0 mph
07-07-2004
Jacobs Field

Rich Harden
100.0 mph
05-27-2005
McAfee Stadium

Jorge Julio
100.0 mph
09-16-2004
Skydome

J.R. Richard
100.0 mph
1976
Candlestick Park

C.C. Sabathia
100.0 mph
2002
Jacobs Field

Ben Sheets
100.0 mph
07-10-2004
Miller Park

Derrick Turnbow
100.0 mph
05-27-2005
Miller Park

Kerry Wood
100.0 mph
08-10-2005
Wrigley Field