# Baseball Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365 "2000-09-24T15:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![n5tp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@n5tp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/n5tp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/1 "2000-09-24T15:38:14Z")
Questions regarding major league fastball pitchers: (Pitchers who have been around since they started using radar guns) What is the fastest measured speed of a major leaguers’ fastball, and who threw (throws) it? Has anyone thrown a 100 mph fastball? Who are the recognized leading major league fastballers (based on the speed of their fastballs, and what are their typical fastball speeds? (Randy Johnson? (Kerry Wood? (Nolan Ryan?) It is realized that measured speed is dependent on the accuracy of the radar gun, and there may be some errors there. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/2 "2000-09-24T16:07:14Z")
Welcome to the SDMB. Some of you questions have already been discussed (or debated) [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=29539). You can look for topics already discussed by clicking on the “search” icon at the top of the page. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/3 "2000-09-24T19:20:07Z")
A number of current pitchers can throw fastballs in the 100-105 mph range, including all the ones you named. I’m not aware of any central repository of records for it, though. Randy Johnson would probably be the fastest today, due to his height and arm length. Pedro Martinez can bring it, too. Bob Feller (Cleveland, late 40’s - 50’s)was the first to have his fastball measured at 100 mph, but the apparatus was much cruder than today’s Doppler radar guns. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/4 "2000-09-25T00:58:29Z")
Another reliever who’s gotten to 99 mph (according to SI) is John Rocker. Glory, is it painful to watch that guy pitch. He fidgets more than a 5-year-old child on speed! ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/5 "2000-09-25T01:04:11Z")
I know they clocked Rich Gossage at 100 mph, and I think Nolan Ryan and J. R. Richard were both clocked at that speed as well. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/6 "2000-09-25T02:18:16Z")
Add Armando Benitez (N.Y. Mets) and Troy Percival (Anaheim Angels) to the 100mph club. And, of course, Sidd Finch. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/7 "2000-09-25T02:41:38Z")
Didn’t Mark Wohlers also top 100mph when he was the Braves’ closer? ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/8 "2000-09-25T03:07:45Z")
Billy Koch, closer for the Blue Jays, tops out at 101, and has been measured at that speed quite often. Randy Johnson hits 100 occassionally, but it’s easier for a closer to let it fly if he’s only out for one inning. There have been a number of pitchers who have hit 100. Of course, even if you could throw at that speed consistently, eventually any major leaguer will catch up with it, unless you change speeds. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/9 "2000-09-25T03:26:14Z")
Bartolo Colon can hit 100. Hell, he can hit 99 in the 8th inning! Jman ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/10 "2000-09-25T15:04:30Z")
There was a guy in the Orioles farm system a while back, I believe his name was Steve Dalkowski. He could supposedly throw close to 110. But, control problems kept him from ever reaching the big leagues. Walter Johnson of the old Washington Senators had quite a fastball in the days before accurate means of measurement existed. The Big Train, as he was called, was probably one of the first to top 100. ---
**Author:** ![mazzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mazzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazzer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-questions/34365/11 "2000-09-25T15:39:18Z")
All of the above are (somewhat) misinformed. The fastest pitch on record is 100.9 mph by Nolan Ryan when he was with the California Angels. It was measured using a laser (ie, not radar) measuring device, the main caveat of which was that it had to be aimed _before_ the pitch was thrown, and not moved until the next pitch. This meant they had to “guess” where the pitch was going to be thrown. Radar guns can be moved to follow a pitch, but this makes them slightly inaccurate. Radar guns at ballparks have been known to be off anyway, even when not moved. FYI, the two men that conducted the laser clocking of Nolan Ryan clocked _only_ Nolan Ryan and _only_ one game. They told reporters that there were pitches they saw that seemed visibly faster than the 100.9 pitch, but their device was aimed at the wrong place.