Lot of >100 mph pitchers.
Probably many more in the past, but technology to measure wasn’t precise.
Also a likely reason hitters swing for the fences. They have to commit very quickly, with no time to adjust..
List from this year:
Walter Johnson.
From Ty Cob.
On August 2, 1907, I encountered the most threatening sight I ever saw in the ball field. He was a rookie, and we licked our lips as we warmed up for the first game of a doubleheader in Washington. Evidently, manager Pongo Joe Cantillon of the Nats had picked a rube out of the cornfields of the deepest bushes to pitch against us.... He was a tall, shambling galoot of about twenty, with arms so long they hung far out of his sleeves, and with a sidearm delivery that looked unimpressive at first glance.... One of the Tigers imitated a cow mooing, and we hollered at Cantillon: ‘Get the pitchfork ready, Joe—your hayseed’s on his way back to the barn.’ ... The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy windup. And then something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed with danger. We couldn’t touch him.... Every one of us knew we’d met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park.[8]
They should be able to get fairly accurate numbers from old videos and films of baseball games by using precision timers of the release to home plate time since the distance is known.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find that 100+ mph fastballs were common ................
“the Heater from Van Meter”
I always smile when I drive by that I-80 exit....
Fastest pitch of 105.8 mph by Aroldis Chapman.
And the Yankees just left him off their post season roster for an unexcused absence from a team meeting.