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Chapman tossed the pitch, a 105 MPH fastball (I assume it was a fastball, would have been a hell of a changeup). He threw 25 pitches in relief, almost all exceeding 100 MPH:
http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/cache/speed.php-pitchSel=547973&game=gid_2010_09_24_cinmlb_sdnmlb_ 1&batterX=&innings=yyyyyyyyy&sp_type=1&s_type=.g if (broken link)
Ralph Kiner talks a lot about Steve Dalkowski. The story goes that Dalkowski could throw anywhere from 110 to 115, but he was completely wild. Apparently he could throw a baseball at a fence and break the boards of the thing, and some of the legend of Steve Dalkowski was loosely referenced in Bull Durham.
There were no radar guns around at the time, but some of the other greats of the game who were around him here and there said he threw every bit of 110+
He was eventually clocked well below that during an exhibition on a military base, but that was off of flat ground and the day after he pitched in a minor league game.
Breaking boards out of a fence makes for a heck of a story anyway. But who knows? Baseball stories from back then are a lot like fishing stories. Even today, who really knows? It's pretty much accepted that the radar guns are juiced anyway.
Ralph Kiner talks a lot about Steve Dalkowski. The story goes that Dalkowski could throw anywhere from 110 to 115, but he was completely wild. Apparently he could throw a baseball at a fence and break the boards of the thing, and some of the legend of Steve Dalkowski was loosely referenced in Bull Durham.
There were no radar guns around at the time, but some of the other greats of the game who were around him here and there said he threw every bit of 110+
He was eventually clocked well below that during an exhibition on a military base, but that was off of flat ground and the day after he pitched in a minor league game.
Breaking boards out of a fence makes for a heck of a story anyway. But who knows? Baseball stories from back then are a lot like fishing stories. Even today, who really knows? It's pretty much accepted that the radar guns are juiced anyway.
I recall Dalkowski, he was the subject of some speculation when I started following baseball in the early 1960's.
Ever take a look at his minor league numbers? He pitched almost 1000 innings, and averaged well over a walk per inning:
Sidd Finch was actually legit. I don't have any video of him, but the day the Mets promoted him he did pitch an inning in relief during this game at Shea.
It is physically impossible to throw a baseball over 107 mph according to a physicist that I watched on the Science Channel.
Any harder than that would tear muscle and break bones.
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