[Hootowl99]

I saw Nolan Ryan pitch a number of times in the early 1980s in Houston when he was with the Astros. It was amazing. From up in the skyboxes, you really couldn't see the fast ball. It was that fast. You just saw him release then a POW would crack from the catchers mit. The radar gun would usually be high 90s low 100s for the fast ball, mid to high 90s for the curve and low to mid 90s for the change up. It was great when the change up had batters hitting empty air. His wicked fast curve ball may have struck out just as many as the fast ball.

Joe Niekro was also on that Astros team. His and brother Phil's screw ball were legend. You couldn't appreciate the screw ball up in the skyboxes but was a blast to see from behind home plate.

[Ransomed]

The Niekro bros were famous for knuckleballs, they can have corkscrew action. Joe Niekro was caught with a file in his pocket, but he wasn’t cutting up the ball with it. It was for his nails in the dug out to throw the knuckleball. Not to say Joe Niekro wasn’t cutting up balls, but he wasn’t doing it with a nail file in his back pocket. Joe was much more of a junk pitcher, he could have thrown actual screwballs regularly.

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