Steve Dalkowski, who may have had the fastest fastball in baseball history, has died at the age of 80. The character of Nuke Laloosh in the movie Bull Durham is supposed to have been based on him. You can read about him here.
Dalkowski never made the majors because, while his fastball was nearly unhittable, he couldn’t throw it for strikes. While pitching for Stockton in 1960 he struck out 262 batters in 170 innings, but also walked 262. His walks per inning was higher than most pitchers’ WHIP.
When Earl Weaver was managing in the minors in 1964, he decided to give IQ tests to all his players. According to Bill James, Weaver discovered that Dalkowski’s IQ was well below average. Weaver decided to simplify his coaching of Dalkowski, telling him to throw only the fastball and slider, and to throw strikes. He told him this over and over, and Dalkowski had his best season, with 141 strikeouts, 62 walks, and an ERA of 2.83 in 108 innings. Unfortunately, Dalskowski injured his arm not long after that, and he was never the same again.
As a tribute to Dalkowski, I present this quote from Bull Durham:
“You slept with Annie? Great, that’s great, you’re gonna have a great year. So is she, ah, as good as they say?”
“…No, man, we didn’t fuck. Nah, she sat and read poetry to me all night; it was more tiring than fucking.”
The story of Steve’s life is way wilder (and often sadder) than the movie. Here’s an old profile of him in Sports Illustrated. Oddly enough, on the one time he was tested with a pitching machine he only got up to 93.5 mph.