Posted on 10/10/2022 7:06:15 AM PDT by Red Badger
VIDEO AT LINK.......................
Andrés Muñoz of the Seattle Mariners threw a nasty 103-mile-per-hour fastball during a playoff game Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The opposing batter was Toronto’s Vlad Guerrero, Jr., and even he was blown away by how fast the pitch was thrown. Guerrero could be seen shaking his head in awe at it.
Muñoz’ throw was the fastest pitch heaved during the MLB playoffs in five years, Codify reported.
The 103 mph heater was indicative of how the first game of the American League Wild Card series would wind up going. The Seattle pitching duo of Luis Castillo and Muñoz held the Blue Jays scoreless, en route to their 4-0 victory. Luis Castillo threw seven innings and notched five strikeouts before Muñoz relieved him to carry out the shutout. According to ESPN, the victory Friday was the Mariners first post-season win since 2001. (RELATED: Blake Bortles Announces His Retirement From Pro Football)
In 2022, the Blue Jays led Major League Baseball with 1,464 hits throughout the regular season. The Jays picked a bad time to go cold with their bats. Toronto faces elimination Saturday in game two of the best-of-three series if they lose again.
If Seattle puts on another pitching clinic in the second post-season game, they’ll surely advance to face the Houston Astros on Tuesday for the divisional round series.
I think they use the equivalent of a the distance of the pitcher's mound in baseball to softball to compute the difference.
Eddie Feigner is reported to have pitched underhand from 104 to 114 mph....depending on the source of the reporting. Difficult to hit with softballs movement.
Ah yes, the King and his court. I had an at bat against him. Struck out. He not only had speed but movement.
On February 18, 1967, Feigner appeared in a celebrity charity softball game against many Major League Baseball players. In the game, Feigner struck out Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Maury Wills, and Harmon Killebrew all in a row
Nolan wah da bomb, baby!
The Pitch/FX system that MLB used in 2010 measured pitches at roughly 50 feet from home plate, which is where the 105.1 mph of Chapman’s fastball was measured. The current MLB Statcast system measures velocity as the pitch leaves the pitcher’s hand...........
Whatever the reason or however measured an athlete throwing a baseball 95+ is remarkable and judging by the number of Tommy John surgeries being performed on young teens not without peril.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/the-measure-of-a-fastball-has-changed-over-the-years/
Don’t forget Charlie Hough.
With the ball going over 6 feet per frame at 100 mph, I doubt it will be able to accurately calculate the difference between 5.8 and 6.1 feet per frame. But then, I don’t pretend to be an expert on the matter. Just call me a skeptic.
In the early 1980s, I watched Nolan Ryan pitch at the Astrodome in Houston. He was hitting 101mph that night. Joe Niekro with the knuckle ball was also on that team. Great view from the skybox over 3rd base. It was like him winding up then POW the ball was in the catchers glove.
Ryan was probably at his peak then. Fast ball high 90s and bumped at bit higher on some pitches, curve ball in mid-90s and change up in the low 90s. Curve ball was the strike out pitch.
Remember Ryne Duren with those thick glasses? Scary as Hell with his 100+ mph fastball.
When I played first base back in the day, I would also wear one or two batting gloves underneath my mitt. I was a dainty man.
The laws of Physics are not just a good idea.
Apparently in our known world immutable.
I usually was the catcher, so I used toilet paper in my glove.
Maybe that’s why I have bad knees!.................
“You can’t hit what you can’t see...”
When young, it’s a good plan to save your knees for old age.
No running, no handball, and apparently no playing catcher.
YMMV. ;-)
Knuckleball and forkball are two edges of the same knife. Both float and while a forkball generally dips down when it loses speed a knuckleball can go anywhere.
To my knowledge, the only true knuckleball pitcher left in the majors, currently unsigned, is Mickey Jannis. There were a few “pitchers” last year that threw a few, but they were mainly infielders or outfielders filling the position for runaway games in late innings to save a pitching staff. Two important things about the pitch is it is hard to control and it needs to have the wind in the face of the pitcher to get the best movement. Wind blowing out is good for hitters but not for most conventional pitchers. It may get them a tiny amount of movement but that goes out the door with an attempt at 100 mph. Many pitchers have come up throwing a knuckle curve or a splitter (forkball at high speed). Easier to control at better velocities. Also doesn’t give the hitter time to read the pitch as well. Only pitcher I ever saw that got away with a slow knuckle curve was Stu Miller from the Giants many years ago and the most successful knuckleball pitcher was Phil Niekro. He was a starter and won 318 games with a career era at 3.35. He and his brother could throw it for strikes more than not. But the new pitchers don’t use it enough to call it a featured pitch.
There is talk of a woman in the minors named Eri Yoshida that is somewhat successful throwing it side armed and could have been the first female in the majors. She played pro ball in Japan. But she has been in, and I believe left, the minors as she was signed in 2010 in northern California.
The nastiest one I ever saw throw was by Hoyt Wilhelm in an all star game. He got ahead in the count o and 2, and threw one that crossed the plate a strike but was over the catcher’s and umpire’s heads before it got to them and went to the screen. Nasty!
wy69
Indeed. Like a paintball.
Impressive movement.
And to think Nolan Ryan threw 104 every day.
Chapman was playing for the Cubs in 2016 when they won the World Series.
I had never seen him before, and I was blown away by what he was doing on the pitcher’s mound. The next year, or the year after that, he was playing for another team, and did the same thing to the Cubs.
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