Joe Berton was the greatest pitcher to ever climb a mound.
Walter Johnson
“The Big Train ranks #1 due to his longevity and dominance. Consider Johnson's career rank among pitchers who threw 2,000+ innings in their career (397 players),” writes Pitcher List. Johnson put together a stellar career but also had some of the most impressive single-season efforts in MLB history.
His legacy was best summed up by baseball greats Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Dizzy Dean, and Bob Feller, who all proclaimed Satchel Paige to be the greatest pitcher ever.
Other MLB legends are said to have thrown faster pitches than Chapman's, but with older, less reliable technology, it can be difficult to confirm the speed of a historic pitch. Thus, tales of Nolan Ryan's 108.1 mph fastball in 1974 or Bob Feller's 107.6 mph pitch in 1946 remain unofficial.
arms laboratory, Walter Johnson recorded 134 feet per second, Christy Mathewson 127 and "Smoky Joe" Wood 124. They used a gravity drop interval recorder. The new meter, which gives an immediate reading which engineers said compared with standard laboratory meter accuracy, is built in a trailer.
Boasting a fastball that registered 103 mph during the 1978 All-Star Game, Gossage led the American League in saves three times -- in 1975 with the White Sox (26), then again in 1978 (27) and 1980 (33) with the Yankees.
He is sacred.” 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.
Randy Johnson: 102 MPH
It's not surprising that Randy Johnson recorded a pitch of 102 MPH, but what is surprising is that this was the fastest pitch recorded of Johnson's career and it came at age 40. Johnson's blazing pitch was recorded in 2004 while he was starting for the Arizona Diamonbacks.
Ohtani threw the fastest pitch of his career, tracked by Statcast, in the top of the second inning, when he fanned Vinnie Pasquantino on a 102-mph fastball. It topped his 101.4-mph fastball last September against the Astros.
On October 8, 1956, in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, pitcher Don Larsen of the New York Yankees threw a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.
Monte Ward threw his perfect game at the Grays' park in Providence, but Buffalo, by virtue of a coin toss, which was the custom under the rules at that time, was officially the "home" team, batting in the bottom of each inning. At the age of 20 years, 105 days, Ward is the youngest pitcher to throw a perfect game.
2003 — The Texas Rangers swept three games at Yankee Stadium for the first time in the franchise's 43-year existence, winning 5-3. 2004 — Randy Johnson, 40, became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, retiring all 27 hitters to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0.
Nolan Ryan holds the record for no-hitters in the major leagues with seven. A no-hitter is a rare accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff—only 320 have been thrown in MLB history since 1876, an average of about two per year.
Cy Young holds the MLB win record with 511; Walter Johnson is second with 417. Young and Johnson are the only players to earn 400 or more wins. Among pitchers whose entire careers were in the post-1920 live-ball era, Warren Spahn has the most wins with 363.
What is the fastest pitch ever thrown? Aroldis Chapman officially holds the Guinness World Record for fastest baseball pitch with a 105.8 mph fastball. On Sept. 24, 2010, the Cincinnati Reds' pitcher set the record with a high-velocity pitch against the San Diego Padres.
Lou Trivino pitched a 3-pitch inning for the Oakland A's on Saturday night against the Seattle Mariners. This was surprisingly rare, as only 12 other pitchers have done it in MLB history. Trivino struck out all three batters he faced and preserved a 2-0 lead for his team at the time of his outing.
He struck out the Pittsburgh Pirates' Tucupita Marcano on three pitches in about 20 seconds at an exhibition game in Bradenton, Florida. (Watch the video below.) Pitching data analyst Codify called it the “the quickest strikeout in baseball history.”
To Recap. Babe Ruth was a legendary baseball player and one of the most popular athletes in history. He is best known for his home run record, but he also had an impressive throwing ability. A study found that Babe Ruth threw the ball with an average speed of 97 miles per hour.
Koufax led the Majors in 1961 (269), '63 (306), '65 (382) and '66 (317), with Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Nolan Ryan the only other pitchers in the Modern Era (since 1900) to reach the 300 mark three times. That total of 382 in 1965 set a modern single-season record, since surpassed only by Ryan (383 in 73).
Schilling's fastball came in hot at around 96-98 mph and was definitely his strikeout pitch for his career. Particularly early in his career, Schilling had a bulldog mentality and believed he could throw gas by anybody.
For ratios, Mathewson had the lower absolute ERA (2.13 to 2.17), but on an adjusted basis, Johnson was better (147 to 136 ERA+); their WHIPs are essentially the same. Again, in part due to greater longevity, Johnson has the higher Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of 165.2 to 104.0.
In 1917, a Bridgeport, Connecticut, munitions laboratory recorded Johnson's fastball at 134 feet per second, which is equal to 91 miles per hour (146 km/h), a velocity that may have been unmatched in his day, with the possible exception of Smoky Joe Wood.
Happy 136th birthday to Christy Mathewson, the Hall of Famer who pitched two no-hitters for the New York Giants. Mathewson, who posted a career record of 373-188 over 17 seasons, threw two no-hitters for the Giants, and both came on the road.