Posted on 05/21/2018 7:19:24 AM PDT by simpson96
Cardinals rookie pitcher Jordan Hicks came as close as humanly possible to throwing literal fireballs against the Phillies on Sunday.
He hit 105 mph with the fastball twice, which tied the MLB mark with Aroldis Chapman for the fastest-recorded pitch. He also broke out 104 mph two other times in his 1.1 innings of work.
The Cardinals dugout couldn't believe what they were watching.
As if the 105 mph heat wasn't crazy enough, Hicks had plenty of movement too. It was ridiculous.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
The Cuban Missile, Aroldis Chapman, may have thrown a 105.1 mph fastball in 2010 to set a Major League record, but (SPOILER ALERT) when you correct for radar gun placement, Nolan Ryan’s legendary 1974 heater clocked at 100.9 was really the top speed ever, at a blazing 108.5 miles per hour.Apr 22, 2015
Per Wiki
Sandy Kolfax was regularly in the low 100s.
Supposedly my child’s cord and cord blood is at the same facilty as Ted Williams’s cryogenically-preserved head!
Scottsdale or Mesa, I think.
“Supposedly my child’s cord and cord blood is at the same facilty as Ted Williams’s cryogenically-preserved head!”
I hope they treat your child’s remains better than they’ve treated Ted Williams head;
Book claims Ted Williams’ frozen head abused
https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/book-claims-ted-williams-frozen-head-abused-100309
“Larry Johnson says in the book “Frozen: My Journey Into the World of Cryonics, Deception and Death” that he watched an Alcor official swing a monkey wrench at Williams’ frozen severed head to try to remove a tuna can stuck to it. The first swing accidentally struck the head, Johnson contends, and the second knocked the tuna can loose.
“Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Scottsdale, Ariz., issued a statement on its Web site denying the allegations and promising legal action.
“Alcor denies allegations reported in the press that there was mistreatment of the remains of Ted Williams at Alcor,” the company said. “Alcor will be litigating this and any other false allegations to the maximum extent of the law.”
Johnson says he worked for Alcor for eight months in 2003, first as clinical director then as chief operating officer. He included several photographs in the book, including one of an upside down severed head, not Williams’, that had what appeared to be a tuna can attached to it.
Johnson says Alcor used the cans, from a cat that lived on the premises, as pedestals for the heads.
Williams’ head was being transferred from one container to another when the monkey wrench incident took place, Johnson said in the book. When the head was removed from the first container, Johnson described it.
“The disembodied face set in that awful, frozen scream looked nothing like any picture of Ted Williams I’ve ever seen,” he wrote.
“Johnson said that an Alcor employee tried in vain to remove the tuna can.
“Then he grabbed a monkey wrench, heaved a mighty swing, missing the tuna can completely but hitting the head dead center,’ Johnson wrote. “Tiny pieces of frozen head sprayed around the room...”
“The Cardinals will probably trade him for a utility infielder.”
The Giants have a few good utility infielders and need a fireballer in the bullpen.
Maybe they and the Cards can make a deal.
Made him a great pilot, too.
I read that the average eyesight among all major leaguers is 20/12.
Babe Ruth said in his biography that if you want to reach the top, you've got to have really good eyes.
“Crazy thing to me is that with 5 pitches in the 104-105 range the batter STILL managed to put wood onto 2 of them for fouls.”
Buster Posey, the Giant all star catcher and excellent hitter does better with the really fast pitchers who are fanning his team mates.
A younger relative, who also was a catcher with really good eyes, was a good hitter on fast balls. He said playing catcher gave you good training on where the ball was probably going and how to watch the pitcher before and at the actual pitch.
But many catchers are poor hitters.
When I adjusted the speed to about 45mph, I felt like Babe Ruth. If major league pitchers could only get up to 45mph, I'd be a Major League hitter.
I don’t think Ryan was clocked officially at 106. His career began with the Mets slightly before the 1st radar guns came out. I believe the 106 figure is an extrapolation based on early measurements to bring them in line with modern measuring techniques.
What you are hitting in the batting cages at 90 are not real baseballs though, they are rubber coated.
Nevertheless it is still hard as hell.
I saw Andre Dawson work out at my local cage and he hit every single ball from the 90 MPH machine straight back up the middle with authority.
He used a 20 pound barbell plate as a batting weight to warm up.
I faced only 2 or three guys who threw in the mid 90’s when I played in amateur leagues, the impressive thing is the sound the ball makes as it splits the air on the way in, it sizzles, which is a different sound than the rubber ones make.
I had some good at bats, just dont be afraid and swing hard and early and if you make contact, the ball is going places.
Now 105 is scary, wouldn’t get up against an amateur throwing that hard.
The other thing that is surprising is that the velocity in the 90’s is a gift from God, you either have it or you don’t, I have seen guys that you would not think physically capable of throwing above 80 do it, and vice versa.
apocryphall ted williams
Rookie pitcher bears down as ted williams enters the box. Fast ball on the outside black edge of the plate or just off. The umpire calls ball 1.
The second pitch on the inside edge. Ball two. the pitcher looks angry.
The third pitch at the knee ball three.
The pitcher comes off the mound. The umpire brushes off the plate. The pitcher asks, where are those pitches?
The ump: Son, Mr. Williams will let you know when you throw a strike.
Man, thanks for that reference. Had now clue and read the wiki on it. Hilarious.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryne_Duren
100 MPH fastballs http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/duren-hit-em-hit-article-1.877657
9. Ryne Duren
2 OF 10
There’s no doubt that Ryne Duren was a hard thrower, and his one-time manager, Casey Stengel, said it best: “I would not admire hitting against Ryne Duren, because if he ever hit you in the head you might be in the past tense.”
Sure, Duren could throw hard and he could strike people out, too. For his career, his K/9 was a respectable 9.6. The problem with Duren was that his control was awful, as his 1.41 career WHIP shows.
Still, his velocity combined with his unpredictable control made him one of the most intimidating arms of his generation.
103 MPH 10. Mark Wohlers
Wohlers may be the man kicking off the list, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that his velocity put him in the record books.
His 6’4”, 207-pound frame made him an intimidating presence on the mound, and to date he his the third-fastest recorded pitcher in baseball history. During a 1998 spring training game, his fastball clocked in at 103 miles per hour.
The hard-throwing righty’s time in the spotlight may have been brief, as he had three productive years as the Atlanta Braves’ closer before arm problems robbed him of his velocity. Still, he finished his career with 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings, and that’s respectable no matter how you look at it.
5. Bob Feller
6 OF 10
Known as “The Heater from Van Meter” (a nod to his birthplace of Van Meter, Iowa), Feller’s fastball was officially clocked at a then-record 98 miles per hour. He finished his career with 2,581 strikeouts, a number that may have been much higher were it not for three years spent in the military during World War II.
On top of that, legend has it that Feller’s fastball was once clocked at 107 miles per hour. Whether it’s true or false, it’s quite impressive that someone just six feet tall would have that kind of velocity.
1. Aroldis Chapman
10 OF 10
Chapman’s MLB career may still be in its early stages, but his 105 miles per hour fastball doesn’t lie. When it comes to flamethrowers, nobody scares me more than this young right-hander.
If he becomes a starter, other teams will collectively go, “Uh-oh...” when it comes time to face him. Once that happens, the sky’s the limit.
We had a pitcher like that in my Babe Ruth League for a couple of years. An extreme fast ball and a just as extreme lack of control made it impossible for you to get into the batter's box and dig in. Every time I got up to bat, I was balanced on the balls of my feel so that I could do the ol' Teaberry Shuffle just to stay alive ...
feel = feet
“I always thought catchers read pitchers better anyway.”
This younger relative when he caught a couple of innings his batting eyes ability increased. He was a 400+ hitter and about a 250 when not catching.
He had to give up catching after a couple of wrestling injuries, each knee got whacked. He still wrestles and can’t squat very long. So catching went out the window.
Ted Williams dominant eye was his left eye.
So, when he batted right handed he could see the ball earlier and faster than a normal right handed batter with a dominant right eye.
One of our sons was basically right handed and his dominant eye was his left eye and he batted in the 400’s right handed.
He was/is also very ambidextrous, and could bat left handed. However, his batting average left handed was about 250.
One of his best friends in high school, college and decades later is an eye doc, and he has explained the above to us.
Of course having great vision, 20/10, and great reflexes helped.
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