How fast could pitchers throw in 1920? (2023)

How fast did pitchers throw in the 1910s?

Hard-throwing Walter Johnson again helped out in 1914 when his pitch velocity was measured against a speeding motorcycle. This time his pitch came in at a more realistic 99.7 miles per hour.

With exceptions, I've heard the average was about 83-85 plus/minus a few. Simply put, knowledge on pitching mechanics was not as well known and researched as it was today.

Spitballs and Sliders: 1900s to 1920s

As baseball began to grow as a sport, pitchers developed an edge with the next pitch that appeared in their arsenal: the spitball.

So when you read of 85-90 mph fastballs from the early 1980s, realize that they would be registering much faster with current measurement tech. An 85 mph fastball (if registered by a Speedgun at the plate) would be roughly 93 mph if measured by Statcast out of the pitcher's hand.

The average fastball velocity for major league pitchers in 1940 was approximately 91 miles per hour, according to the research conducted by the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This is a considerable decrease from the record-breaking speeds recorded just a few years earlier.

Fastest pitch ever thrown

As a result, Aroldis Chapman is credited with throwing the fastest pitch in MLB history. On Sept. 24, 2010, Chapman made MLB history. Then a rookie relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, the fireballer unleashed a fastball clocked at 105.1 mph by PITCH/fx.

1. Jhoan Duran, RP, Twins. Duran is the only pitcher in MLB averaging better than 100 mph on his fastball, and he's been a dominant reliever for Minnesota.

13 And 14-Year-Olds

An average fastball from this age range is anywhere from 55 mph (on the low side) to 75 mph. A pitcher throwing 75 mph is better than most people for this age, and their fastball is at a high school quality. An average changeup for this age is approximately around the 50-60 mph mark.

This 35.1 MPH Frank Schwindel pitch is the slowest (known/measured) MLB pitch to ever get hit for a home run!

Koufax was an American baseball legend. He possessed a 100-mph fastball and what announcer Vin Scully called “a twelve-to-six curveball” that started at 12 o'clock then dropped to 6 o'clock. From 1963–1966, he had the best four-year span of any pitcher in baseball history.

Who was the best pitcher in the 1920s?

Nolan Ryan: 108.1 MPH.

11 and 12 Year Olds

The average fastball is between 50-60 mph. However, at this age the players may start to hit puberty, therefore it is not uncommon to see a pitcher throwing near 70 mph. The changeup velocity at this age is typically between 40-50 mph.

I'm often asked what are the ranges (average, above average, excellent) for a 10, 11 or 12 year old's baseball pitching speed. Some of the kids that I do pitching lessons for that are 10-12 years old are around 50 mph to low 60's mph.

But flamethrowers aren't a new phenomenon in Major League Baseball, going back to the days of greats such as Walter Johnson. As far as the technology of the time could tell us, Nolan Ryan threw a 100 mph fastball. Randy Johnson was clocked as high as 102.

Jhoan Duran is first in MLB history to throw 100 mph off-speed pitch - Sports Illustrated Minnesota Sports, News, Analysis, and More.

Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball.

More and more pitchers are throwing triple digits. The fastest of them tops out at 105 MPH. WIRED examines why the 110 MPH fastball is almost impossible.

In the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), there have been 223 MLB pitchers to hit 100 on the radar gun, according to Baseball Savant's Statcast.

Who threw 110 mph fastball?

Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr. (June 3, 1939 – April 19, 2020), nicknamed Dalko, was an American left-handed pitcher. He was sometimes called the fastest pitcher in baseball history and had a fastball that probably exceeded 100 mph (160 km/h).

Everyone wants to throw a fastball 90 mph but only a rare few can do it. Some who can do it also want the ability to do it every pitch. The problem is most pitchers have very little understanding of the requirements to throwing a fastball 90 mph.

The number of pitchers who can break the 100 MPH has gone up dramatically in the last decade, with one who can throw 105. But breaking 110 MPH is nearly impossible, due to the physical limitations of human bones, muscles, and ligaments.

The Fastest Pitch Ever: Aroldis Chapman's 106 MPH Heater

On September 24, 2010, former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman, who hails from Cuba, delivered a 105.1-mph fastball, measured by Statcast, in a game against the San Diego Padres, which is recognized as the Guinness World Record for fastest pitch ever.

Velocity Myth #2: “I Throw 90”

Despite it being more common than ever, still, very few pitchers can do this. On the average Division-I baseball team, each team usually has 4-8 players capable of touching 90mph, though perhaps only 1 or 2 who can average it.

The maximum is probably around 110 mph (177 km/h). We know this from a long history of fireball pitchers. In recent games, Aroldis Chapman has been clocked with a radar gun as high as 105 or 106, measured at about 10 feet from the point of delivery.

Definition. A screwball is a breaking ball designed to move in the opposite direction of just about every other breaking pitch. It is one of the rarest pitches thrown in baseball, mostly because of the tax it can put on a pitcher's arm.

Sewell's teammate Maurice Van Robays took care of that. He concocted the name "eephus" and when asked why, he responded by saying, "Eephus ain't nothing, and that's a nothing pitch." In Hebrew, the word "efes" can be loosely translated into "nothing," and the word "eephus" undoubtedly stems from that.

The best pitchers' velocity in Ruth's day topped out at about 90 miles per hour, while relievers you've never heard of now flirt with 100 mph fastballs. But some objective measures of athleticism are consistent.

How fast was Bob Gibson's Fastball? Bob Gibson's 4-seam fastball “sat” between 92-95 mph in the sample I considered. It's likely he actively varied his grip or intended velocity, producing a high velocity range, measured at 87-95, with numerous indications that he regularly exceeded 95 mph.

Who has the best fastball ever?

Aroldis Chapman was just 22 years old, a little over a year removed from his defection from Cuba, and had pitched fewer than 10 major league innings when he set a big league record with a 105.1 mph pitch on Sept. 24, 2010 against the Padres, the fastest ever reliably recorded by the PITCHf/x system.

Well, first the obvious: Ruth and Shore are credited for having thrown the first combined no-hitter recorded in baseball history. And Ruth gets his name in there despite having thrown just four pitches and zero innings in the contest.

Early Wynn

Wynn was one of the most intimidating pitchers of the 1950s. Mickey Mantle once said of him, "That s.o.b. is so mean he would (expletive) knock you down in the dugout." The 300-game winner was once quoted as saying he would throw at his own grandmother. "I'd have to," he said.

Some think that the very first pitcher to hit the 100 MPH mark was Walter Johnson. Johnson pitched for the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927. Although technology was unable to give us a number to attach to Johnson's pitch speed, he once threw a ball that outpaced a moving motorcycle.

(Mickey's a blur as he races from home to first in the photo on the right.) He was clocked at an incredible 2.9 seconds from home to first on a left-handed drag bunt (after his 1951 World Series injury he slowed to a still blazing 3.1 seconds), and could round the bases in an amazing 13 seconds!

The flaming fastball, equivalent to roughly 153 km/h (95 mph) on a big-league field, created a buzz across media outlets, including Yahoo Japan, the nation's biggest media portal.

Nolan Ryan threw 235 pitches in one game.

A 100-mph fastball reaches home plate in under 400 milliseconds. The swing itself takes about 150 milliseconds. That leaves less than a quarter of a second for a batter to spot the pitch and decide whether and where to swing.

At this speed, it takes about four tenths of a second for the ball to travel the 60 feet, 6 inches from the pitcher's mound to home plate, where the batter, with muscles as tense as coiled springs, like a predatory animal about to pounce, waits for the precise moment to swing at the ball.

How fast does a Little League pitcher throw? The average fastball is between 50-60 mph for a pitcher in the Majors division of Little League (11-13 yo). Pitchers in the Little League World Series throw fastballs 60-70+ mph.

How fast should a 17 year old pitch?

In baseball, the pitcher drives first with his legs, then his hips, shoulders, arm, wrist, and fingers. As each part approaches full extension, the next part in the sequence begins to move, efficiently transferring momentum in a whip-like action.

Prototypical Division I pitching recruits throw anywhere between 87 and 95 MPH on a consistent basis. It is important to remember that coaches are looking for pitchers to consistently throw at this velocity, not just touch it every once and awhile.

Long-toss has been integrated into throwing programs for years as a means of building arm strength, increasing throwing endurance, improving glenohumeral range of motion, increasing velocity, and decreasing injury risk [4–6].

Pitches thrown from the mound were significantly faster compared with flat-ground pitches at both distances, with throws at 60.5 ft having greater velocity than those at 50.5 ft (+0.7 m/s [95% CI, 0.4, 1.0]; P < . 001).

Yes, a human can throw a baseball at around 110 MPH. The pitcher's ability to throw a fast ball is based on their genetics and muscle strength. There are many pitchers who can reach 105 MPH or even faster, but the record for the fastest pitch ever thrown is held by an anonymous American pitcher who hit 108 MPH in 2011.

Ryan Helsley's 103 mph fastball.

The best pitchers' velocity in Ruth's day topped out at about 90 miles per hour, while relievers you've never heard of now flirt with 100 mph fastballs. But some objective measures of athleticism are consistent.

13 And 14-Year-Olds

An average fastball from this age range is anywhere from 55 mph (on the low side) to 75 mph. A pitcher throwing 75 mph is better than most people for this age, and their fastball is at a high school quality. An average changeup for this age is approximately around the 50-60 mph mark.

Who in the MLB can throw 100 mph?

Jhoan Duran gave Alex Verdugo a nasty taste of his incredible pitch. Jhoan Duran gave Alex Verdugo a nasty taste of his incredible pitch.

The fastest pitch recognized by Major League Baseball (MLB) was on September 25, 2010, at Petco Park in San Diego by then-Cincinnati Reds left-handed relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman. It was clocked at 105.1 miles per hour.

1. Jhoan Duran, RP, Twins. Duran is the only pitcher in MLB averaging better than 100 mph on his fastball, and he's been a dominant reliever for Minnesota.

Nolan Ryan: 108.1 MPH

Nolan Ryan with a 108.1 MPH reading according to the doppler laser radar readings that were used in 1974. The Ryan Express was really bringing the heat that night in 1974, throwing the fastest pitch ever recorded in a Major League Baseball game.

However, even if the radar gun used last Friday gave Chapman 5 mph, his pitch still flirted with the maximum speed a human can throw a baseball, which Fleisig says is about 100 mph.

Velocity Myth #2: “I Throw 90”

Despite it being more common than ever, still, very few pitchers can do this. On the average Division-I baseball team, each team usually has 4-8 players capable of touching 90mph, though perhaps only 1 or 2 who can average it.