WEBVTT

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I started playing
the game at a young age.

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And fell in love
with it and...

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You know, Nolan Ryan
was my idol growing up.

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So obviously I wanted
to be a power pitcher.

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You know, I go to college
and I grow into myself

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and I hit a 100 for the
first time my junior year.

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You know, I guess that's kinda
when I started thinking,

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you know, how would I compare
to these guys back in the day?

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They didn't
really have radar guns.

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You know,
i remember Bob feller

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throwing
against a motorcycle.

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Um, you know, you've got
Walter Johnson, Sandy koufax...

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You know,
you always just wanna know

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how you'd stack up

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against the greats
of a different era.

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If I can get
in a time machine

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and just step
into the past,

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you know that would be
the best way

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to compare yourself
to those guys.

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To stand next to them
and throw with them.

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This gentleman in blue

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claims that he can clock
anything on wheels.

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Well, a baseball doesn't
travel on wheels, officer.

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But if you want a race,
it's your motorcycle.

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I guess
we're all set.

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Here's the test which shows
which is the faster.

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The racing motorcycle,

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or the pitched ball.

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Coming down the highway
at a speed of 86 miles per hour,

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the policeman crosses
the pitching line

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and there they go...

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Bingo, and look,

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Bob feller gives him a head start of
10 feet before he throws the ball.

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Watch the ball now. Bob's
pitch is gaining all the way.

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It breaks the target
right through the bull's-eye

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a few feet in front
of the motorcycle.

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Well, where are you,
mister policeman?

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Oh, there you are.

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I don't know what your
speedometer reads now,

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but that ball was traveling
better than 100 miles an hour,

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and that's plenty fast.

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Baseball m the 21st century.

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It is a game
of specialists.

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A game molded
by technology

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driven by data,

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and statistics.

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It's a game
managers try to win

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by predicting
what can only be guessed at,

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by controlling
what can only be hoped for.

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For every time
the umpire says, "play ball,"

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it is still a game
of infinite possibility.

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And at its core,

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an ancient contest

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between two people alone
on a field.

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A primal battle

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between a man
with a stick...

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And a man with a rock.

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I don't think there's
more excitement anywhere

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than a power pitcher
out on the mound

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and then you've got
a power hitter up there.

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Something's gonna give.

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You're getting it all here.

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The kid
against the veteran.

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The fastballer
against the fastball hitter.

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There they go.

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Struck him out!

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Ballgame is over!

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Who was the hardest throwing
pitcher I ever faced?

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The fastest fastball...

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The nastiest I ever faced

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was the hardest thrower
who ever threw a baseball.

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The fastest I ever saw was...

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He was the hardest thrower
that I ever saw...

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He had one
of those special arms.

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He threw it harder than any man
i ever saw in my life.

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There is this
powerful desire

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for every baseball fan

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to know, okay, what...
Who threw the fastest pitch?

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It's one of the great
mysteries of baseball.

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He struck him out swinging.

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You just can't
change the game.

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You know, no matter
how much time goes by,

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everything in essence
remains the same.

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He knows I'm throwing
a fastball.

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I know I'm throwing
a fastball.

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This is it.
Let's see what happens.

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Just don't get scared when you look at the
miles per hour and it says "98" up there.

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You'd be like, "oh, man." Some pecple
get scared. They start shaking.

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You can tell. They don't
want to hold a bat.

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You can see it in some of the
batters' eyes, you can tell.

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If you got
anywhere close to plate,

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and you threw that hard...

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High and tight...

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There was a lot
of fear involved.

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Oh, you can
definitely hear a fastball.

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You can hear it
whizzing by you.

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It sounds like trouble,
is what it sounds like.

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But if you're facing someone
with some control problems...

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It can be a very,
very troubling experience.

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Even the best batters,
i kinda feel bad for them.

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You know,
they're in a situation

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that is really pushing
the limits

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of what a brain can do.

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People go,
"what, were you scared?"

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No, you can't have fear
when you walk to the plate.

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Because that...
That defeats you.

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As predator-prey.

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And that's why I never look
at the pitcher's eyes.

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He's the predator,
and you're the prey.

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If you look
into his eyes.

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They wouldn't look at me.

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Most hitters
would not look at me.

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And I looked at them

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I'd follow them up, you know and I'd
look at them and I'd size them up.

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And they just look away.

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They... you know, they didn't
want any part of me.

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You know, I had a license
to kill out there on the mound.

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Oh!

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He thought
he was hit.

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Holy cow.

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People would meet me,
even players, and they said,

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"man, you're not at all
like you are on the mound,

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are you?"

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I said,
"no, I... you know,

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I couldn't possibly carry that
persona around with me every...

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I'd be thrown in jail."

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Goose gossage.

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I would have to say
he has the nastiest...

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He had the nastiest...
All of it.

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He had the windup
and everything.

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And he was very scary.
He was big.

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Threw hard.

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Very mean.

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I would say he was probably
the nastiest I ever faced.

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The arm is everywhere,

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head could be violently
shaking as he threw it.

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And you just hope he had
home plate zeroed in there.

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Threw the fastball
in on the hands and got him...

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It was one
of my biggest tools

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that I had out there

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was the intimidation
factor.

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There were times that I would
look at a hitter in the box

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and I would just
look at him and go,

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"man, I would not want
to be this guy right now."

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Roy ls gone.

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It's the law of the jungle,
you either eat

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or you get eaten.

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And I was not
gonna get eaten.

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Gossage ls throwing bullets.

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He is throwing hard.

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Struck him out.

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You are either the hero
or the goat,

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being a relief pitcher.

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Closer is the word
they use today.

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"Closer" wasn't
even a coined phrase,

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we were "relief pitchers."

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Live from Fenway park,

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the second playoff game ever
in the American league.

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My goodness, if there isn't
something about a moment like this

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that arouses the competitive
juices in a man,

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you've got no business
being involved in sports.

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The 191s playoff game

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was the biggest game
that I ever played in.

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I remember going to bed
the night before the game

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thinking that I'll probably be
facing yaz for the final out.

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And you know, you're
gonna get some heat right here.

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And Mr. "goose" gossage
coming on.

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I have never been so nervous
in a game in my life.

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I remember coming
out of the bullpen

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and it was hard for me

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to put one foot
in front of the other.

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I was shaking so hard.

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So the big
youngster from Colorado

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comes on in relief.

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I came into the game
in the seventh inning.

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With one out a couple of
runners on, I believe.

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And I got out
of that jam

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and then
the ninth came around

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and who comes
to the plate?

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The batter ls Carl yastrzemski.

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This ballgame going
right down to the wire.

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(Two guys on, twc) Outs
in the ninth, in Fenway.

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And yaz is coming up
to the plate.

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Well, I had a moment
to think about...

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You know, because yaz was
getting a standing ovation.

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For about...
Seemed like five minutes.

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And I had a conversation
with myself.

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I said, "gosh, why
are you so nervous?

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What's the worst thing
that can happen?"

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I said, "I'll be back in
Colorado tomorrow, elk hunting."

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It's just a game.

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It felt like the weight
of the world

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was lifted
off my shoulders.

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It was the first time all day
that I had relaxed.

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And I knew because when
yaz stepped in the box,

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the first pitch
i threw him

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was the hardest pitch
i had thrown all day.

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Popped up, that might be it.

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Nettles over
at third base.

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He'll squeeze it
and it's over.

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And look
at those Yankees.

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And I remember in all
the chaos in the clubhouse,

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I went in the training room
to get away from,

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kin da everybody,

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and just gather
my thoughts a little bit

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and thurman followed me
in the there, munson.

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And he goes,
"that had another foot

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on anything else
you've thrown all day."

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I said,
"i relaxed."

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He said, "what the hell
took you so damn long?"

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Where's he at?

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Right down
in the middle.

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There he is right there,
rich gossage.

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That guy could throw.

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- Tony, you faced him.
- Yeah.

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If you're
a right-handed hitter,

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you had no chance.

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Wasn't that
the pine tar deal?

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He was the pine tar guy.

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All right, here's the challenge,

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Brett with the bat,
and gossage with the ball.

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You know,
i was generating

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some kind of power
with that fastball

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and George,
was swinging the bat

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as hard
as he could swing it.

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And wow.

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Uh-oh.

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Uh-oh.

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00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:06.605
That's gone.

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00:10:06.800 --> 00:10:08.211
And then when
he finally hit 'em,

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they threw the bat away
and called you out.

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That was
the worst part of all.

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Well, what
they're talking about

235
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is that he's got
too much pine tar.

236
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George Brett
looking around,

237
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wanting to know
what's going on.

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00:10:20.040 --> 00:10:21.201
There's pine
tar all over this bat.

239
00:10:21.400 --> 00:10:23.209
Tim mcclelland,
the home plate umpire

240
00:10:23.400 --> 00:10:25.971
lays it across home plate,
which is 18 inches wide.

241
00:10:26.160 --> 00:10:28.128
They might be
gonna call George Brett out.

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Well, the Yankees win.
He is out.

243
00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:31.291
Yes, sir.
Brett is out.

244
00:10:31.520 --> 00:10:33.602
Look at this.
Brett is out.

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00:10:33.800 --> 00:10:35.290
And he is steaming mad.

246
00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:37.687
That was maddest human being
I've ever seen

247
00:10:37.880 --> 00:10:39.689
anywhere in my life.

248
00:10:39.880 --> 00:10:41.370
We're walking
off the field.

249
00:10:41.560 --> 00:10:44.325
And we're all laughing.

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I loved being
a power pitcher.

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If I could change
one thing in my career,

252
00:10:50.160 --> 00:10:51.400
iwouldn't change
a single thing.

253
00:10:51.560 --> 00:10:52.800
You know, I said,

254
00:10:53.040 --> 00:10:55.805
even the home runs I gave up
were great.

255
00:11:04.760 --> 00:11:06.808
My name's Clifford blankenship.

256
00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:08.604
I'm a big league catcher
by trade.

257
00:11:08.800 --> 00:11:11.201
For the Washington senators.

258
00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:14.842
I was a backup, batting .219,
until I broke my finger.

259
00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:18.840
Now I'm in weiser, Idaho,
on a wild-goose chase.

260
00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:20.724
Here to look over
some palooka

261
00:11:20.920 --> 00:11:24.811
who was burning up the snake
river valley semi-pro league.

262
00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:27.287
Someone sent the senators
a telegram,

263
00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:29.403
said there was a kid,
Johnson,

264
00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:31.523
threw so fast
you couldn't see 'em.

265
00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:33.563
And that he knew
where he was throwing it too,

266
00:11:33.760 --> 00:11:35.728
'cause if he didn't,

267
00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.931
there'd be dead bodies buried
at home plates all over Idaho.

268
00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:42.043
I get to the field
just in time

269
00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.368
to see him
shamble out to the mound.

270
00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:46.244
All arms and legs.

271
00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:49.091
Eyes down like he don't
even wanna be there.

272
00:11:49.280 --> 00:11:51.886
Then... holy smoke.

273
00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:54.970
19 years old and no one
in big league ball

274
00:11:55.160 --> 00:11:57.811
ever had a fast one
like this.

275
00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.971
So I offer the kid $500
to join the senators.

276
00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:04.168
You know what
that hayseed says?

277
00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.044
If I promise him
train fare home

278
00:12:06.280 --> 00:12:07.645
in case
he don't make it,

279
00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:09.046
he'll come.

280
00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:10.651
I say, "kid...

281
00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:13.605
A one way ticket's
all you're gonna need."

282
00:12:21.640 --> 00:12:23.847
When the greatest
hitter of the time, Ty Cobb,

283
00:12:24.040 --> 00:12:26.122
first faced
Walter Johnson,

284
00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.926
he said that the ball
traveled so fast

285
00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.408
that it hissed like a train
as it went by.

286
00:12:32.640 --> 00:12:34.961
The legend of "the big
train" was born.

287
00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:39.880
[Posnanskh
i think Walter Johnson

288
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:41.604
very specifically
changed the game,

289
00:12:41.800 --> 00:12:44.406
in that he made
the fastball

290
00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:45.806
something large.

291
00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:49.447
Something larger
than life.

292
00:12:49.640 --> 00:12:51.802
Especially in that era,
of course that's dead ball,

293
00:12:52.040 --> 00:12:53.360
nobody's really
hitting home runs.

294
00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:55.249
The way that the game
is played

295
00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:57.283
is Ty Cobb
slashing through,

296
00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.324
and stealing bases
and it was a very rough game.

297
00:13:00.520 --> 00:13:02.682
And here was this
little bit of magic.

298
00:13:02.920 --> 00:13:06.242
This one guy who was a
very modest individual,

299
00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:09.603
but he had this
just amazing fastball.

300
00:13:09.800 --> 00:13:11.000
And they'd come
from all around

301
00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:12.570
to see him throw.

302
00:13:12.760 --> 00:13:14.364
And it was
exciting to people

303
00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:15.601
in away
that I don't think

304
00:13:15.800 --> 00:13:17.609
anything really had
been before.

305
00:13:17.800 --> 00:13:20.963
If you have an exceptionally
good curve...

306
00:13:21.160 --> 00:13:22.286
Better curve ball
than a fast one,

307
00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:23.480
or when you get out there

308
00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:24.761
and a base hit
might hurt you,

309
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.610
in a ball game
when a good batter up

310
00:13:26.800 --> 00:13:28.006
or something like that,

311
00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:29.241
well then you want
to throw him a curve

312
00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:30.407
if you have
a real good curve.

313
00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:31.487
If you have
a better fast one,

314
00:13:31.680 --> 00:13:32.727
than you have a curve,

315
00:13:32.920 --> 00:13:34.160
if you have
a real good fastball

316
00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:35.361
and not
a very good curve,

317
00:13:35.560 --> 00:13:38.040
why I'd throw him
the fastball.

318
00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:39.127
[Posnanskh now people
are starting to say,

319
00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:41.561
"well, how fast is lt?"

320
00:13:41.800 --> 00:13:44.087
And as time goes on,
that becomes

321
00:13:44.280 --> 00:13:47.409
a really important part
of the game.

322
00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:49.887
The earliest known
measurements of pitching speed

323
00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.765
were actually made
back in 1912.

324
00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:54.371
Who knows
how to do that right

325
00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:55.600
is the military,

326
00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:57.051
because they have
a century

327
00:13:57.240 --> 00:13:59.891
of measuring things
like musket balls.

328
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:01.570
So the first measurements
were made

329
00:14:01.760 --> 00:14:06.163
at the Remington armory
on their ballistics range.

330
00:14:06.400 --> 00:14:07.561
At the age of 24,

331
00:14:07.760 --> 00:14:09.683
dressed
in his church clothes,

332
00:14:09.880 --> 00:14:12.360
Walter Johnson walked
into the Remington rifle range

333
00:14:12.560 --> 00:14:13.891
and became the first pitcher

334
00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:17.283
to ever have his fastball
measured scientifically.

335
00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.370
So Walter Johnson
walks into a large room.

336
00:14:20.560 --> 00:14:24.201
He sees a 2-foot by 2-foot
wooden frame.

337
00:14:24.400 --> 00:14:25.561
And within that wooden frame

338
00:14:25.800 --> 00:14:28.121
are a series
of thin copper wires.

339
00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:32.522
15 feet further down

340
00:14:32.760 --> 00:14:35.969
there's a plate
on a stand

341
00:14:36.160 --> 00:14:38.891
so Walter Johnson's job
is to pitch the ball

342
00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.048
so it passes
through the copper wires

343
00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:44.244
which break a wire,
sends a signal to the clock.

344
00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:45.970
And starts the timing.

345
00:14:46.160 --> 00:14:49.528
The ball then hits the plate
15 feet further back.

346
00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.405
That gives us a start time
and a stop time.

347
00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:54.602
We know the distance
is 15 feet.

348
00:14:54.800 --> 00:14:57.644
So one can compute
the speed of the baseball.

349
00:15:01.400 --> 00:15:03.687
They do the throw,
they make the measurement

350
00:15:03.920 --> 00:15:06.287
and it comes up
with a very famous,

351
00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:09.484
122 feet per second.

352
00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:15.283
Johnson's speed
was met with astonishment.

353
00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:16.600
And from that point forward,

354
00:15:16.680 --> 00:15:18.125
the big train
was crowned

355
00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.120
the fastest pitcher
of all time.

356
00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:24.004
[Posnanskh nobody had ever
seen anything like him.

357
00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:26.487
And the game had
this new kind of hero.

358
00:15:26.680 --> 00:15:28.523
This new kind
of mythology.

359
00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.563
That they
could build and he...

360
00:15:30.760 --> 00:15:34.242
I think he's the one
that really started it.

361
00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:37.205
122 feet per
second was a magic number

362
00:15:37.400 --> 00:15:38.765
in aworld
where human beings

363
00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:42.368
weren't yet measured
in miles per hour.

364
00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:44.244
A century later

365
00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:47.808
we'd represent that
measurement like this...

366
00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:48.762
That comes out to be

367
00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:53.488
83.2 miles per hour.

368
00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.049
The fastball is probably
the easiest thing to see

369
00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:09.083
because we have
a radar gun.

370
00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:11.322
But it's probably
the hardest thing to scout.

371
00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:18.526
You know, you're looking
at what the number says now

372
00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:20.131
and you're
trying to figure out

373
00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:22.368
what the number's
gonna say in the future.

374
00:16:22.560 --> 00:16:23.800
And these guys that you'll see
sitting behind home plate,

375
00:16:24.040 --> 00:16:26.805
that's what
they're so good at.

376
00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:29.168
It could be a high
school guy throwing 86.

377
00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:31.203
But you see a fluid arm.

378
00:16:31.400 --> 00:16:32.731
You see looseness.

379
00:16:32.920 --> 00:16:33.762
And you know
that there's gonna be

380
00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:36.201
more there
in the future.

381
00:16:36.400 --> 00:16:38.926
Every scout ls on
the hunt for the fastball.

382
00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:40.201
With that elusive quality

383
00:16:40.400 --> 00:16:43.165
they call,
"electricity."

384
00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:45.044
I don't know
if you see "electricity."

385
00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:47.242
I think it's something
that you feel.

386
00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:48.891
Those are the guys,
the hitters all know,

387
00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.401
the dugout lights up,
everything stops.

388
00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:54.126
Everybody makes sure
they're looking to see that guy.

389
00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:56.283
It almost looks like

390
00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:58.209
they're throwing a different
ball than everybody else.

391
00:16:58.400 --> 00:17:02.405
Hannellh electric stuff
explodes at the plate.

392
00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:04.489
When the guys are warming up
in the bullpen

393
00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:06.489
it sounds like a shotgun
was just fired.

394
00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:08.011
When they... when it hits
the catcher's mitt.

395
00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:09.280
You know it
before the game.

396
00:17:09.360 --> 00:17:10.805
Now you start
getting excited.

397
00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:13.367
We're all searching
for that guy

398
00:17:13.560 --> 00:17:15.085
with the big power fastball

399
00:17:15.280 --> 00:17:17.123
that could walk out and say,
"it's game over."

400
00:17:17.320 --> 00:17:19.641
And basically do it
with one pitch.

401
00:17:19.840 --> 00:17:22.207
That's what
we're all chasing after.

402
00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.528
That's what we're spending
eight nights in a row

403
00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:25.960
out searching.

404
00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.288
Watching one game,
driving five hours,

405
00:17:28.520 --> 00:17:30.090
waking up the next day driving five hours.
We'll find...

406
00:17:30.280 --> 00:17:33.489
We're looking
for that guy.

407
00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.604
That premium, elite, electric
fastball's a holy grail.

408
00:17:40.360 --> 00:17:42.488
M the early years
of the 21 st century,

409
00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:45.047
Cuba was the only place
on earth off limits

410
00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:47.766
to American
baseball scouts.

411
00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:50.082
But it was from a town
in eastern Cuba

412
00:17:50.280 --> 00:17:52.044
just about the size
of weiser, Idaho,

413
00:17:53.080 --> 00:17:54.080
that word began
to spread

414
00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:56.527
of a kid named
aroldis Chapman.

415
00:17:56.760 --> 00:17:57.886
Who might some day
lay claim

416
00:17:58.080 --> 00:17:59.809
to the title held
by Walter Johnson

417
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.048
100 years earlier.

418
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.049
The fastest
to ever throw a ball.

419
00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:10.563
There's a certain
amount of myth around him.

420
00:18:10.760 --> 00:18:12.842
The hardest thrower,
you know, on the planet.

421
00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:17.920
When he showed up,
i remember the first game,

422
00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:20.201
we were bringing him in,

423
00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:21.811
and he came in throwing...

424
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.490
It was
just hard to fathom,

425
00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.082
it was 102, 103,
104 mile an hour fastball.

426
00:18:28.120 --> 00:18:32.444
I'd never seen that.

427
00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:34.165
That was the “wow” moment.

428
00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:38.330
No chance.

429
00:18:42.600 --> 00:18:45.046
Ballgame! Ph ew!

430
00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:46.730
Sometimes you go up there
and take one pitch,

431
00:18:46.920 --> 00:18:48.251
you can hear
the ball go past you.

432
00:18:52.040 --> 00:18:53.883
- Oh yeah, you can hear that...
- Boom!

433
00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:55.764
"Gosh, I gotta get
the heck out there.

434
00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:58.566
I ain't ready
for this."

435
00:18:58.760 --> 00:19:01.081
That's good 0l.'
Country hardball right there.

436
00:19:01.320 --> 00:19:02.606
See ya later.

437
00:19:02.800 --> 00:19:04.290
The number one thing
going through my head is,

438
00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.084
I don't wanna die,
you know what I mean?

439
00:19:06.280 --> 00:19:07.805
Him throwing a pitch
that hard

440
00:19:08.040 --> 00:19:10.327
and you know, sometimes
he gets a little wild.

441
00:19:30.840 --> 00:19:33.571
Put it m, aroldis Chapman!

442
00:19:33.760 --> 00:19:36.161
The forward roll!

443
00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:38.971
Just three weeks after
comme-to the major leagues,

444
00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:40.924
Chapman wrote a number
on the radar gun

445
00:19:41.120 --> 00:19:43.009
that had never
been seen before.

446
00:19:47.560 --> 00:19:49.801
When he hit 105,

447
00:19:50.040 --> 00:19:52.850
I looked at that and I said,
at this moment,

448
00:19:53.080 --> 00:19:54.525
I think I've seen something
I'll never see again.

449
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:56.006
And if I do see it again,

450
00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:58.009
it'll only be
from this pitcher here.

451
00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:11.802
Swing and a miss!

452
00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:41.440
We had a great hall of famer
just pass away,

453
00:20:41.560 --> 00:20:42.721
Bob feller.

454
00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:44.400
I mean... and they
talked about him...

455
00:20:44.560 --> 00:20:46.562
They timed it
with a motorcycle.

456
00:20:46.800 --> 00:20:49.007
Or he says that at 104.

457
00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.645
I mean,

458
00:20:50.840 --> 00:20:52.800
I mean, did you know people
that talked about him?

459
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:54.291
Oh yeah,
i played with guys

460
00:20:54.520 --> 00:20:56.727
that faced feller
when he was in his prime.

461
00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:57.960
And said
he was unhittable.

462
00:20:58.080 --> 00:20:58.842
- Yeah.
- Yeah.

463
00:20:59.040 --> 00:21:00.326
Ted Williams always said

464
00:21:00.520 --> 00:21:02.329
he was the toughest pitcher
he ever seen.

465
00:21:02.520 --> 00:21:03.931
Well, that's
enough right there.

466
00:21:04.120 --> 00:21:05.400
Yes, that's
exactly what he said.

467
00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:12.769
This husky teenager
is Robert William Andrew feller

468
00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:14.525
of Van meter, Iowa.

469
00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:16.688
That fastball was famous
all over the state

470
00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:18.445
when he was a schoolboy.

471
00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:22.008
He struck out 23 in a sandlot
game at the age of 16.

472
00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:23.486
And at 17
he was signed

473
00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:26.331
by the Cleveland Indians
in 1936.

474
00:21:26.520 --> 00:21:27.760
In his first
major league start,

475
00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:30.327
he struck out
15 St. Louis browns,

476
00:21:30.520 --> 00:21:31.931
and two years later
set a record

477
00:21:32.120 --> 00:21:34.691
by striking out
18 Detroit tigers.

478
00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:37.486
[Posnanskh Bob feller, when
he comes m as a 17 year old,

479
00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:41.366
in the 1930s,
he's just a high school kid

480
00:21:41.560 --> 00:21:43.005
coming out
and just... and just

481
00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:44.850
throwing
these incredible fastballs

482
00:21:45.040 --> 00:21:48.283
that are frightening
major leaguers.

483
00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:51.643
In every one of
feller's first seven full seasons,

484
00:21:51.840 --> 00:21:54.491
he led the American league
in strikeouts.

485
00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:57.365
And caused people
to reconsider the very limit

486
00:21:57.560 --> 00:22:00.245
of what a human arm
could do.

487
00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:02.363
[Posnanskh he's a unique
character m this story.

488
00:22:02.560 --> 00:22:05.848
Bob feller was
the first guy to really try

489
00:22:06.040 --> 00:22:09.123
to find out how fast
the fastball went.

490
00:22:09.320 --> 00:22:11.607
People, you know, had
a reference point already

491
00:22:11.800 --> 00:22:14.929
and so the question was,
faster than Walter Johnson,

492
00:22:15.120 --> 00:22:17.043
that was...
That was the point.

493
00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:19.925
And he does all of these
different things.

494
00:22:20.120 --> 00:22:22.441
He races a motorcycle
with a fastball.

495
00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.405
He tries to throw it
through some army contraption.

496
00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:27.967
Bob feller,
pitcher for the Cleveland Indians

497
00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:29.247
takes time off
in the nation's capital

498
00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:31.886
to demonstrate
his cannonball delivery.

499
00:22:32.120 --> 00:22:34.726
In 1946, Bob feller's speed
was measured

500
00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:37.491
in an experiment done
on a baseball diamond,

501
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.604
by bringing in
a fairly modern device,

502
00:22:40.800 --> 00:22:45.010
that used light beams as a start
timer and the stop timer.

503
00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:47.328
It is recorded by the army
ordinance department

504
00:22:47.520 --> 00:22:49.363
lumiline chronograph.

505
00:22:49.560 --> 00:22:52.211
He threw
from the pitcher's mound,

506
00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:53.367
through the opening
in this box

507
00:22:53.600 --> 00:22:54.806
at home plate.

508
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.162
And the device measured
his speed at this point

509
00:22:57.360 --> 00:23:01.888
with a speed
of 98.6...

510
00:23:02.080 --> 00:23:03.286
Miles per hour.

511
00:23:03.520 --> 00:23:04.806
While Walter Johnson

512
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:06.047
has traditionally
been considered

513
00:23:06.280 --> 00:23:07.770
the fastest pitcher
who ever lived,

514
00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:10.247
bullet Bob left a
scientifically timed record

515
00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:12.283
for future generations
to shoot at.

516
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.960
98 and 6/10
miles per hour.

517
00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:17.806
Feller pitched
in the 19308 and the 19408.

518
00:23:18.040 --> 00:23:20.042
I mean,
Bob feller started,

519
00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:23.210
basically when Jesse Owens
won gold medals in Germany.

520
00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:25.801
And at the time
there was no question

521
00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:28.970
that Jesse Owens
was a quantum leap forward

522
00:23:29.160 --> 00:23:30.366
in track.

523
00:23:30.560 --> 00:23:32.130
They looked
at Jesse Owens and said,

524
00:23:32.320 --> 00:23:35.210
you're not gonna get
any faster, any stronger,

525
00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:36.890
you're not gonna jump
any further,

526
00:23:37.080 --> 00:23:40.243
this is the limit of what
human beings can do.

527
00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:41.766
And of course it wasn't.

528
00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.964
The times that Jesse
Owens ran in 1936

529
00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:46.571
are high school times now.

530
00:23:46.760 --> 00:23:48.489
And that's the way it is
across the board.

531
00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:50.762
Every record
has been smashed.

532
00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.566
So if you brought
that along in baseball,

533
00:23:53.760 --> 00:23:54.966
if you looked
at it that way,

534
00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:58.363
and Bob feller
was throwing 98.6,

535
00:23:58.560 --> 00:24:02.849
if you brought that timing
with us for 70 years,

536
00:24:03.080 --> 00:24:05.970
people would be throwing
120 miles an hour.

537
00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:08.288
How come nobody
has been able to find

538
00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:09.288
a new way
to throw a fastball

539
00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:14.327
that's 20 miles an hour
faster than anybody else?

540
00:24:14.520 --> 00:24:15.521
It doesn't exist.

541
00:24:26.520 --> 00:24:28.045
Baseball starts an d stops

542
00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:31.528
with the starting pitcher.

543
00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:32.720
I love my fastball.

544
00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:36.609
I love it.

545
00:24:36.800 --> 00:24:39.406
Lot of 95s, 96s.

546
00:24:39.600 --> 00:24:42.206
Some 97s.

547
00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:45.370
For the most part, I'll probably
sit around 94, 95.

548
00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:50.288
If I need a big pitch,

549
00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:52.209
more often times
than not,

550
00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:53.890
I'm gonna throw
a fastball.

551
00:24:58.040 --> 00:24:59.166
There's no better feeling

552
00:24:59.360 --> 00:25:01.601
than throwing
a fastball by somebody.

553
00:25:04.080 --> 00:25:05.570
Especially
for strike three.

554
00:25:09.760 --> 00:25:11.330
You know what the
fastest pitch you ever threw

555
00:25:11.520 --> 00:25:12.851
in the major leagues is?

556
00:25:13.040 --> 00:25:16.965
I think it was
in 2010 in Detroit.

557
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:19.328
I faced jhonny peralta.

558
00:25:19.520 --> 00:25:21.443
It was in the fifth inning.

559
00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:24.849
I was over 100 pitches so I knew
this was gonna be my last inning.

560
00:25:25.080 --> 00:25:26.081
And the 0-2.

561
00:25:26.280 --> 00:25:27.725
Swing and a miss.

562
00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:30.645
He just threw it right by him
at 100 miles an hour.

563
00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:32.041
I definitely looked up there

564
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:34.481
and it said 100.

565
00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.245
Aw, I mean,

566
00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:38.681
I never envisioned myself
throwing 100 mile an hour.

567
00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:40.530
I mean, that's...

568
00:25:40.760 --> 00:25:42.967
That's crazy.
And everybody was like,

569
00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:47.370
"aw, you know, that gun's juiced."
Guys razzed me a little bit but...

570
00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:49.204
No, if that radar gun
reads a hundo,

571
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:51.522
that's...
That's what I threw.

572
00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:54.930
Gibson th rew hard,

573
00:25:55.120 --> 00:25:57.566
but he threw
the hardest low fastball

574
00:25:57.760 --> 00:25:58.966
of anybody
I'd ever seen.

575
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:00.486
You know, koufax
and those guys you know,

576
00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:01.681
are up here,
around there.

577
00:26:01.880 --> 00:26:03.211
But Gibson could
get it down here,

578
00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:04.840
I guarantee you
it's still around 100

579
00:26:05.040 --> 00:26:07.281
when he got it
right around in the knees.

580
00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:08.970
I couldn't believe it, that's when
i first got to the big leagues.

581
00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:11.083
I'd never seen
that before, you know?

582
00:26:11.280 --> 00:26:12.725
I mean, never. And then I swung
at it, I couldn't handle it.

583
00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:14.689
Joe, let me
ask you a question,

584
00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:17.161
- were you ever fearful that he'd hit you?
- No no no.

585
00:26:17.360 --> 00:26:18.964
- Didn't he have the reputation of
just hitting people? - Oh, heck yeah.

586
00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:21.003
But he was never wll_n.

587
00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:23.248
It was one of those things if
you hit a home run off of him...

588
00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:25.010
Well, he walked up, he would
walk up to the cage before the game,

589
00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:27.328
- and say, "I'm gonna get you today."
- Yeah.

590
00:26:27.560 --> 00:26:31.201
He told hitters "I'm gonna get
you today, and he hit 'em.

591
00:26:43.080 --> 00:26:45.731
I hear all of
these wild stories

592
00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:48.571
about the way
people saw me.

593
00:26:48.760 --> 00:26:51.206
And that the things
that I did...

594
00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:54.165
I heard that
i threw at people.

595
00:26:54.360 --> 00:26:56.044
“Yeah, you're always
throwing at people.”

596
00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:58.766
no, the people
i threw at, I hit.

597
00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:00.724
I'd never threw at a guy
and not hit him.

598
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:06.324
If you're actually
trying to hit a guy,

599
00:27:06.560 --> 00:27:07.925
I would say
that you would probably

600
00:27:08.120 --> 00:27:09.485
aim at his ribs.

601
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:12.001
He can move his head,
he can move his legs,

602
00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:13.770
but the middle part
of his body

603
00:27:13.960 --> 00:27:15.450
is very difficult
to move.

604
00:27:19.400 --> 00:27:20.481
That was Bob Gibson.

605
00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:24.207
He believe in having
part of the plate

606
00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:26.050
and you had
to give it to him.

607
00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:28.481
You know, I mean,
and he threw very hard.

608
00:27:28.680 --> 00:27:32.366
I always thought about it.

609
00:27:32.560 --> 00:27:35.245
It always was in the back
of my mind that one day

610
00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:36.441
he's gonna turn loose one

611
00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:39.041
and come
upside my head with it.

612
00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:40.321
You know, I felt...

613
00:27:43.840 --> 00:27:45.490
Bob Gibson told me

614
00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:48.121
one of the greatest quotes
that I've ever heard.

615
00:27:48.320 --> 00:27:50.243
He said,
"half of that plate's mine."

616
00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:52.084
And he said,
"now you gotta figure out

617
00:27:52.280 --> 00:27:54.851
which half
I'm coming after."

618
00:27:55.040 --> 00:27:57.168
He was just a
great competitor.

619
00:27:57.400 --> 00:27:59.050
His whole disposition,
you know

620
00:27:59.280 --> 00:28:03.285
that he wanted it more than
the hitter wanted to hit him.

621
00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:04.766
And he got tougher

622
00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:06.291
he could reach
back inside

623
00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:09.211
and get a little bit more
when he needed to.

624
00:28:09.400 --> 00:28:10.765
I hit a squibber.

625
00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:14.288
The cue shot it up the middle
for an rbi single,

626
00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:16.608
and the next at bat,
he drove me in the arm.

627
00:28:16.840 --> 00:28:19.081
Boom. Right there.

628
00:28:19.280 --> 00:28:21.123
I still have a mark.

629
00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:25.288
He tells me now, because
I've said it a lot of times

630
00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:26.600
on the air,
you hear about...

631
00:28:26.760 --> 00:28:29.206
He says, "i didn't hit nearly as many
guys as you guys think. Look it up."

632
00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:31.368
- Gibson would look in like this.
- Yeah.

633
00:28:31.600 --> 00:28:33.728
- He couldn't see though.
- He couldn't see. And that's what...

634
00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:36.082
All of a sudden the catcher's putting
a sign down in the shadows,

635
00:28:36.280 --> 00:28:38.044
he couldn't see.
And Bobby going like that.

636
00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:39.765
And the hitters
the next day say,

637
00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:42.008
"why in the hell are you
looking at me like that?"

638
00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:45.005
And Bob said, "man, maybe
I'll just do it every time.

639
00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:46.651
Whether I can see
or not."

640
00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:53.011
Since the day i
turned 19 years 0l_l:>,

641
00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:55.646
I haven't had
really good eyesight.

642
00:28:55.840 --> 00:28:57.604
And I wore glasses.

643
00:28:57.840 --> 00:29:00.161
Never on the field.
But I wore glasses.

644
00:29:00.360 --> 00:29:03.011
And I would look in...

645
00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:05.965
And try to see the sign.

646
00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:09.243
So the intimidating factor,

647
00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:12.250
um, I think
it's the way I look. Period.

648
00:29:17.600 --> 00:29:18.840
I think one
of the reasons

649
00:29:19.040 --> 00:29:22.123
that they viewed me
as this ogre,

650
00:29:22.360 --> 00:29:24.362
is because I was
a black kid.

651
00:29:24.560 --> 00:29:25.766
White kids did
the same thing

652
00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:27.928
and nobody
even thought about it.

653
00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:30.160
But I did it and...
"Ooh, we're around this guy..."

654
00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:32.402
You know,
"this monster."

655
00:29:32.600 --> 00:29:34.841
And that wasn't
gonna hold me back.

656
00:29:35.080 --> 00:29:38.721
And I don't imagine I did anything
to dispel any of that, you know.

657
00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:41.247
But I don't know
where that image came from.

658
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:45.286
I guess it was
because I was who I was.

659
00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:47.289
You're not an
angry guy, you're not a...

660
00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:48.970
I'm not angry now,
i was then.

661
00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:50.924
We never got any runs.

662
00:29:54.560 --> 00:29:58.281
Well, anger came from racism.

663
00:29:58.520 --> 00:29:59.931
Of course it did.

664
00:30:00.120 --> 00:30:03.442
But racism was a way of life
that...

665
00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:05.130
It was stuff
that I had to deal with

666
00:30:05.360 --> 00:30:07.124
on a day-to-day basis.

667
00:30:07.360 --> 00:30:09.080
I didn't every once and
a while go somewhere

668
00:30:09.280 --> 00:30:11.362
and then all of a sudden
there it was.

669
00:30:11.560 --> 00:30:13.289
No. It was there
and it followed me

670
00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:14.845
all the way
through my childhood.

671
00:30:15.080 --> 00:30:17.128
And not just
through the childhood,

672
00:30:17.320 --> 00:30:20.085
through the first part
of my major league career.

673
00:30:20.280 --> 00:30:22.647
It was there.

674
00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:27.010
That fueled
a lot of the anger

675
00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:29.521
that I suppose
i projected.

676
00:30:29.760 --> 00:30:31.603
I don't know.

677
00:30:31.800 --> 00:30:33.165
I'd have to be
on the outside looking in.

678
00:30:33.360 --> 00:30:35.522
All I knew
was the way I felt.

679
00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:38.485
And I felt
that I had to be better

680
00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:40.887
in order to get
just as far

681
00:30:41.080 --> 00:30:42.844
and I was determined
to do that.

682
00:30:45.760 --> 00:30:47.569
M 196s,

683
00:30:47.760 --> 00:30:50.206
Bob Gibson delivered
what by many measures

684
00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:52.971
was the greatest season
any pitcher ever had

685
00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:54.804
in major league baseball.

686
00:30:56.840 --> 00:31:01.880
M 196a, I was m
a zone that entire year.

687
00:31:02.080 --> 00:31:04.651
At the age of 32
i was probably

688
00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:07.406
as bright

689
00:31:07.600 --> 00:31:09.364
as I ever was
gonna be.

690
00:31:09.560 --> 00:31:12.689
I was strong
as I ever was.

691
00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:15.326
I had complete control

692
00:31:15.560 --> 00:31:17.767
over the game.

693
00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:22.010
I felt like I could throw the ball
anywhere I wanted to throw it.

694
00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:24.123
That's the zone
that I was in.

695
00:31:24.360 --> 00:31:26.647
And I was in the zone
for a complete year.

696
00:31:26.840 --> 00:31:28.888
Which is kinda unusual.

697
00:31:29.080 --> 00:31:32.004
You might be that way
for a game or two,

698
00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:33.810
but not for a full year.

699
00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:35.490
Hoot wow 22 games.

700
00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:39.207
Including a record 13
complete game shutouts.

701
00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:42.609
His earned run average became one
of baseball fans' magic numbers.

702
00:31:42.800 --> 00:31:45.849
Like Hank Aaron's
755 home runs.

703
00:31:46.040 --> 00:31:49.283
Or DiMaggio's 56 game
hitting streak.

704
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:51.289
1.12.

705
00:31:51.480 --> 00:31:53.482
A staggering 35% lower

706
00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:55.529
than the next best figure
ever recorded

707
00:31:55.760 --> 00:31:57.330
in the live ball era.

708
00:31:57.560 --> 00:31:59.801
You know, you talk
about angry, that look...

709
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.970
I lost nine games
that year.

710
00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:06.004
Because if it wasn't
a one to nothing game,

711
00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:07.804
I didn't win.

712
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:10.890
And I would sit
by myself on the bench

713
00:32:11.080 --> 00:32:12.200
and nobody
would come near me

714
00:32:12.280 --> 00:32:14.009
because I was pissed off.

715
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:17.289
You know,
just get me a run.

716
00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:19.323
And my roommate,
curt flood,

717
00:32:19.520 --> 00:32:20.851
we'd get one run,
and he'd say,

718
00:32:21.080 --> 00:32:22.730
"okay, roomie,
we got it, hold 'em."

719
00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:24.325
He thought that was funny

720
00:32:24.520 --> 00:32:27.205
but that was
not funny at all.

721
00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:30.404
M game one 0f
the 196s world series,

722
00:32:30.600 --> 00:32:33.171
hoot capped it off with the
most dominating performance

723
00:32:33.360 --> 00:32:34.885
in series history.

724
00:32:35.080 --> 00:32:36.650
A 1-2 pitch to cash.

725
00:32:36.840 --> 00:32:39.684
Struck him out
on a blazing fastball.

726
00:32:39.880 --> 00:32:41.644
A 2-2 pitch
to mcauliffe.

727
00:32:41.840 --> 00:32:45.003
Struck him out.

728
00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:48.761
Got him!

729
00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:50.200
Struck him out!

730
00:32:50.440 --> 00:32:51.771
The 11th strike out.

731
00:32:53.520 --> 00:32:57.047
He struck him out
swinging.

732
00:33:00.560 --> 00:33:03.040
Once again
a standing ovation.

733
00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:05.720
A new world series record.

734
00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:07.405
Certainly, you know,

735
00:33:07.600 --> 00:33:10.171
17 strikeouts was...

736
00:33:12.080 --> 00:33:13.809
I guess
it's still a record.

737
00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:15.490
In the world series.

738
00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:17.449
And he can end it all now

739
00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:20.763
with the most dramatic
of flourishes.

740
00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:23.804
He got it,
struck him out!

741
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:27.686
Look at the scene on the field.
Mccarver's the first one.

742
00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:29.405
A new world record

743
00:33:29.600 --> 00:33:33.127
of 17 strikeouts
in one game.

744
00:33:33.360 --> 00:33:34.805
Doing what you no,

745
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:37.685
and knowing
that you're good at it.

746
00:33:37.880 --> 00:33:39.291
That's the great feeling.

747
00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:40.811
Not just playing ball,

748
00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:43.207
but I knew
that I was good at it.

749
00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:44.526
And I could do

750
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:45.846
pretty much
what I wanted to

751
00:33:46.080 --> 00:33:48.003
at a certain point
in my career.

752
00:33:48.200 --> 00:33:49.964
And that's
a wonderful feeling.

753
00:34:01.760 --> 00:34:03.524
Nobody's gonna
give me anything.

754
00:34:05.720 --> 00:34:07.643
I need to work for it.

755
00:34:11.480 --> 00:34:13.289
The fans here in Atlanta

756
00:34:13.480 --> 00:34:15.244
treat the last three outs
of the game

757
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:17.886
unbelievably.

758
00:34:18.080 --> 00:34:19.366
To say
i don't hear them,

759
00:34:19.560 --> 00:34:22.928
I'd be lying,
'cause I do.

760
00:34:23.160 --> 00:34:27.449
It pumps me up,
makes me excited.

761
00:34:27.640 --> 00:34:30.644
When the fans
are behind you,

762
00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:32.484
your body takes over.

763
00:34:37.240 --> 00:34:38.571
It's hard to explain.

764
00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:40.450
But seems like
it happens every time.

765
00:34:42.520 --> 00:34:44.568
You have complete trust
in yourself

766
00:34:44.760 --> 00:34:45.841
that if I throw
this pitch,

767
00:34:46.040 --> 00:34:48.850
I'm gonna get
the guy out.

768
00:34:49.040 --> 00:34:51.884
You need to believe that you're
gonna throw a pitch for a strike

769
00:34:52.080 --> 00:34:54.321
or maybe throw it
by a guy.

770
00:34:56.840 --> 00:34:58.080
That's just
the way of thinking

771
00:34:58.320 --> 00:34:59.526
that you have to have.

772
00:35:02.360 --> 00:35:04.601
There's no way
i can't strike this guy out.

773
00:35:16.080 --> 00:35:17.160
They played
their hearts out

774
00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:19.123
for nine innings
for us to win.

775
00:35:19.320 --> 00:35:21.163
And for me to come in
and blow a save

776
00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:23.249
and lose the game
because of that,

777
00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:25.329
you know, in my mind,
that's unacceptable.

778
00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:29.281
Got mm!

779
00:35:29.520 --> 00:35:31.045
Swing and a miss,
it's all over.

780
00:35:31.240 --> 00:35:32.685
No one wants
to hit off Craig.

781
00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:34.530
No one's gonna say,
"man, give me a bat,

782
00:35:34.720 --> 00:35:36.927
I wanna go up there
and hit off of this guy."

783
00:35:37.120 --> 00:35:38.849
So when the ninth inning
comes around,

784
00:35:39.040 --> 00:35:40.201
you hope
your spot's not up.

785
00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:44.410
You know, he has that
little stare that he does

786
00:35:44.600 --> 00:35:46.602
when he's getting
ready to pitch.

787
00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:49.087
Definitely has
a really hard fastball.

788
00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:50.327
It comes at you,

789
00:35:50.520 --> 00:35:51.851
it can pound
the strike zone.

790
00:35:52.080 --> 00:35:53.764
Nine times out of ten,
it's a fastball.

791
00:35:57.720 --> 00:35:59.609
He is the best closer
in the game by far.

792
00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:01.524
Comes in
and closes the door.

793
00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:03.922
Washington, soon night.

794
00:36:04.120 --> 00:36:05.326
He wants to shove it
down your throat

795
00:36:05.520 --> 00:36:06.760
every single night
he faces you.

796
00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:09.281
His fastball is electric.

797
00:36:09.520 --> 00:36:11.807
M l-lls first
four seasons as a closer,

798
00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:14.924
Craig kimbrel led the league
in saves every year.

799
00:36:15.120 --> 00:36:17.202
A feat unequalled
in baseball history.

800
00:36:21.040 --> 00:36:23.281
But even at 99 miles an hour,

801
00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:24.480
no pitcher in baseball

802
00:36:24.640 --> 00:36:26.324
has a smaller
margin for error

803
00:36:26.520 --> 00:36:29.524
than the closer.

804
00:36:29.720 --> 00:36:31.609
You never know
what's gonna happen.

805
00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:34.246
It could change
in one pitch.

806
00:36:34.440 --> 00:36:35.726
4-4 game.

807
00:36:35.960 --> 00:36:37.928
Two outs here, in the
bottom of the ninth inning.

808
00:36:38.120 --> 00:36:39.451
And now lt'll be choo.

809
00:36:39.640 --> 00:36:41.051
The thing in baseball
is being a reliever,

810
00:36:41.240 --> 00:36:42.605
they say,
"have a short memory."

811
00:36:42.840 --> 00:36:44.729
But how
iapproach it is

812
00:36:44.920 --> 00:36:46.285
you wanna have
a short memory,

813
00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:47.606
but you don't
wanna forget.

814
00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:49.370
Two and one to choo.

815
00:36:49.600 --> 00:36:51.125
In the air,
left center.

816
00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:54.927
Oh, choo to win it.

817
00:36:55.120 --> 00:36:57.088
What an unbelievable
finish.

818
00:37:02.920 --> 00:37:04.922
I threw him a
fastball middle-away,

819
00:37:05.160 --> 00:37:07.447
shin-soc choo hit it
out of the ballpark.

820
00:37:07.640 --> 00:37:09.005
I tip my cap to him,

821
00:37:09.240 --> 00:37:11.720
and I just had to move on
for your next outing,

822
00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:13.524
and the outing
after that.

823
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:31.490
What's the difference

824
00:37:31.720 --> 00:37:34.530
between a 92-mile an hour
fastball

825
00:37:34.720 --> 00:37:36.245
and a 100-mile an hour
fastball?

826
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:37.481
Home runs.

827
00:37:38.680 --> 00:37:41.490
Probably about 92...

828
00:37:43.120 --> 00:37:44.690
Probably about that much.

829
00:37:46.840 --> 00:37:47.921
And that much can make

830
00:37:48.160 --> 00:37:50.083
so much of a difference.

831
00:37:50.280 --> 00:37:51.566
You bet.

832
00:38:03.040 --> 00:38:05.771
If the two pitches
were thrown together,

833
00:38:05.960 --> 00:38:07.405
when
the 100 mile an hour pitch

834
00:38:07.600 --> 00:38:09.204
reaches home plate,

835
00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:11.368
the 92 mile an hour pitch

836
00:38:11.600 --> 00:38:14.285
would still have four and a
half feet left to travel.

837
00:38:18.640 --> 00:38:20.404
When you
throw a 92,

838
00:38:20.600 --> 00:38:22.762
you can read the major
league logo on the ball,

839
00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:24.086
you can see the seams,
you can see all that.

840
00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:27.005
But when a guy
throwing a 100...

841
00:38:27.240 --> 00:38:29.049
It look like a golf ball.

842
00:38:29.280 --> 00:38:30.280
Good luck.

843
00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:35.089
It's kind
0f funny to say it,

844
00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:36.327
but it's night and day.

845
00:38:36.520 --> 00:38:37.965
92 and 100.

846
00:38:38.160 --> 00:38:40.083
You feel as though you have
a lot longer to hit,

847
00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:42.123
when actually,
you don't.

848
00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:43.560
The
difference between say

849
00:38:43.800 --> 00:38:45.882
a 90-mile an hour ball

850
00:38:46.080 --> 00:38:48.321
takes about 450 milliseconds
to get to plate,

851
00:38:48.520 --> 00:38:51.444
and a 100 mile an hour ball
takes 396 milliseconds.

852
00:38:51.680 --> 00:38:54.365
That 50 some odd
milliseconds

853
00:38:54.600 --> 00:38:56.841
is crucial brain time.

854
00:38:57.040 --> 00:39:01.523
50 milliseconds is an eternity
in this kind of a process.

855
00:39:01.720 --> 00:39:03.802
If you as a rough
estimate assume

856
00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:05.411
that every
synaptic connection

857
00:39:05.600 --> 00:39:07.443
takes about
two milliseconds,

858
00:39:07.640 --> 00:39:10.007
an extra
50 milliseconds or so

859
00:39:10.240 --> 00:39:14.962
gives you about 25 times
the number of computations.

860
00:39:15.200 --> 00:39:18.682
So you get about 25 times
the information.

861
00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:21.724
Just because you have
that extra 50 milliseconds.

862
00:39:21.960 --> 00:39:24.406
But at 100 miles an hour,

863
00:39:24.600 --> 00:39:27.285
you're given almost no time
to make a decision.

864
00:39:27.480 --> 00:39:29.448
And it's getting close
to that range,

865
00:39:29.640 --> 00:39:31.802
of where its physiologically
impossible

866
00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:34.321
to actually plan
the voluntary action

867
00:39:34.520 --> 00:39:36.124
based off
the information of the ball.

868
00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:44.211
When the
pitcher's mound was set

869
00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:46.442
at precisely
60 feet, 6 inches

870
00:39:46.640 --> 00:39:48.005
from home plate,

871
00:39:48.200 --> 00:39:51.522
the game of baseball
was set in perfect balance.

872
00:39:51.720 --> 00:39:55.964
A showdown between the fastest it's
humanly possible to throw a ball.

873
00:39:56.200 --> 00:39:59.841
And the fastest it's humanly
possible to react to it.

874
00:40:03.320 --> 00:40:04.003
You're not gonna have

875
00:40:04.200 --> 00:40:05.531
that many moments
in your life

876
00:40:05.720 --> 00:40:06.960
where you're
going to see

877
00:40:07.160 --> 00:40:09.242
the edge
of human performance,

878
00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:11.807
meeting the edge
of human performance.

879
00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:14.162
And so when they
actually do meet,

880
00:40:14.360 --> 00:40:16.044
it's a beautiful thing.

881
00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:23.048
The pitcher
is pushing the limits

882
00:40:23.240 --> 00:40:26.244
of how fast
a ball can go.

883
00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:28.244
And that limit
is coming close

884
00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:30.482
to the limit
of how fast

885
00:40:30.680 --> 00:40:33.411
a hitter can
make a decision.

886
00:40:33.600 --> 00:40:36.649
And so you have these two
extremes of human performance

887
00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:37.921
doing this kind of dance

888
00:40:38.160 --> 00:40:38.888
right at the edge

889
00:40:39.120 --> 00:40:41.009
of where their biology

890
00:40:41.200 --> 00:40:43.931
is constraining them.

891
00:40:44.120 --> 00:40:47.203
We have these very basic
events that are some on.

892
00:40:47.400 --> 00:40:49.926
Throwing a rock
and hitting it with a stick.

893
00:40:50.120 --> 00:40:52.361
And it's only
when we realize

894
00:40:52.560 --> 00:40:53.925
how hard these things are,

895
00:40:54.120 --> 00:40:58.170
how precisely balanced
batters and pitchers are,

896
00:40:58.360 --> 00:41:01.807
that we really come
to appreciate

897
00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:03.240
the beauty in this

898
00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:05.608
and the marvelous way
that the game is set up

899
00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:09.566
to make
this balance fair.

900
00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:12.843
The pitcher wmns up,

901
00:41:13.040 --> 00:41:15.520
as the pitcher's arm
swings around,

902
00:41:15.720 --> 00:41:18.564
the hitter's brain
can make a little prediction

903
00:41:18.760 --> 00:41:21.206
as to roughly
the trajectory of the ball

904
00:41:21.400 --> 00:41:25.041
before it's even left
the pitcher's hand.

905
00:41:25.240 --> 00:41:27.049
And then the pitch
is released.

906
00:41:29.560 --> 00:41:32.245
A 100-mile an hour
fastball reaches the plate

907
00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:35.011
in 396 milliseconds.

908
00:41:35.200 --> 00:41:38.204
Faster than the blink
of an eye.

909
00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:41.051
Any time that you blink,
it's by you.

910
00:41:41.240 --> 00:41:43.000
That's how hard the
fastball is coming to you

911
00:41:43.080 --> 00:41:44.923
if it's 100 miles an hour.

912
00:41:45.120 --> 00:41:46.565
If you blink...

913
00:41:46.760 --> 00:41:49.286
By you.

914
00:41:49.520 --> 00:41:51.170
Unlike any other sport,

915
00:41:51.400 --> 00:41:53.209
the game comes down
to what a person can do

916
00:41:53.440 --> 00:41:54.566
in less time
that it takes

917
00:41:54.760 --> 00:41:57.650
to say the word,
"fastball."

918
00:41:57.840 --> 00:41:59.604
Imagine we start a clock

919
00:41:59.800 --> 00:42:04.203
as the pitcher
releases the ball.

920
00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:07.802
That starts this propagation of
computations that happen in the brain.

921
00:42:08.040 --> 00:42:11.442
That trying to localize where the ball
is in space and where it's going.

922
00:42:11.640 --> 00:42:13.802
It tries to predict
the ball's trajectory.

923
00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:15.360
The ball is
moving too fast for you

924
00:42:15.480 --> 00:42:16.680
to even track it
with your eyes

925
00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:18.205
moment to moment.

926
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:19.765
Your eye
is rushing ahead,

927
00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:22.247
to the point where you
expect to see the ball.

928
00:42:22.440 --> 00:42:23.680
You don't know exactly
where it's gonna be,

929
00:42:23.880 --> 00:42:26.360
but you're making
your best guess.

930
00:42:26.600 --> 00:42:29.331
And you have a couple hundred
milliseconds at best

931
00:42:29.560 --> 00:42:32.609
to pick the next position where
you're gonna put your eyes.

932
00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:35.610
So right at midway ycu get
one glance at the ball.

933
00:42:35.800 --> 00:42:37.370
That's
your decision point.

934
00:42:37.560 --> 00:42:39.244
You better be planning
your swing now

935
00:42:39.440 --> 00:42:41.647
if you're gonna hope
to hit the ball

936
00:42:41.840 --> 00:42:45.242
if you're used to seeing a ball
moving at a certain speed,

937
00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:46.601
let's say
90 miles an hour

938
00:42:46.800 --> 00:42:48.962
is your average experience
of seeing balls.

939
00:42:49.160 --> 00:42:50.605
That prediction
is gonna put you

940
00:42:50.800 --> 00:42:52.245
where the ball would be

941
00:42:52.440 --> 00:42:54.727
if it's traveling
at that assumed speed.

942
00:42:54.960 --> 00:42:56.962
You move your eyes to right where
the position of the ball should be

943
00:42:57.160 --> 00:42:58.764
for 90-mile an hour
fastball.

944
00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:01.008
But lo and behold, this
pitcher has some extra gas

945
00:43:01.200 --> 00:43:04.204
and they pitched it
at 103 miles an hour.

946
00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:05.890
It left
the pitcher's hand,

947
00:43:06.080 --> 00:43:07.047
you look where it should be
it isn't there

948
00:43:07.240 --> 00:43:08.480
and from your perspective

949
00:43:08.680 --> 00:43:10.284
it's almost as if
it disappeared.

950
00:43:10.520 --> 00:43:13.569
Poof. It's gone.

951
00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:16.445
When the ball got to
5o feet, it disappeared.

952
00:43:16.640 --> 00:43:18.608
It was almost like
a jet taking off.

953
00:43:18.800 --> 00:43:20.484
All of a sudden...
Woo!

954
00:43:20.680 --> 00:43:22.170
You could lose
a baseball

955
00:43:22.360 --> 00:43:26.524
between the pitcher's hand
and it getting on you.

956
00:43:26.720 --> 00:43:29.007
Your brain tells you to swmcs.

957
00:43:29.200 --> 00:43:31.009
You knew you were gonna
make contact

958
00:43:31.200 --> 00:43:32.770
and then you swing
and miss

959
00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:35.480
and your brain goes,
"why'd you miss?"

960
00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:40.526
If you think about the
process 0f visual perception

961
00:43:40.760 --> 00:43:43.491
what you're really doing is looking
at the positions of the ball

962
00:43:43.720 --> 00:43:45.165
and making a best guess
all the time

963
00:43:45.360 --> 00:43:47.203
about where
it's likely to be.

964
00:43:47.400 --> 00:43:49.767
So if things happen
that you didn't anticipate,

965
00:43:49.960 --> 00:43:52.645
all sorts of optical illusions,
essentially can happen.

966
00:43:52.840 --> 00:43:54.251
So one of the ones
that can happen for the batter

967
00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:56.369
is that the ball
can completely disappear.

968
00:43:56.560 --> 00:43:57.800
And the 2-2.

969
00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:00.082
Swing and a miss.
It's all over.

970
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:03.722
Our brain does a really
good job of filling in gaps

971
00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:06.002
between the things
that we see

972
00:44:06.240 --> 00:44:07.890
and sort of allows us
to tell a story

973
00:44:08.120 --> 00:44:10.521
that makes sense
about what happened.

974
00:44:10.720 --> 00:44:13.485
In that case where the ball is
faster than your eye movements,

975
00:44:13.680 --> 00:44:16.001
the batter fails
to reacquire

976
00:44:16.200 --> 00:44:18.009
the visual image
of the ball.

977
00:44:18.200 --> 00:44:20.726
And the ball is now sort of beyond
the point where he thought it was.

978
00:44:20.920 --> 00:44:22.331
He's gonna look
to a particular spot

979
00:44:22.520 --> 00:44:24.329
and expect the ball
to be there

980
00:44:24.520 --> 00:44:26.124
and the ball's
not there.

981
00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:28.971
Now there's almost an
error message that occurs

982
00:44:29.160 --> 00:44:32.209
and there has to be
a new telling of the story.

983
00:44:32.440 --> 00:44:34.522
One story that
batter's brains create

984
00:44:34.720 --> 00:44:35.801
is that
the fastest pitchers

985
00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:38.207
can actually
make their fastball rise

986
00:44:38.440 --> 00:44:40.602
as it approaches
home plate.

987
00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:42.484
Koufax, he threw
a fastball

988
00:44:42.680 --> 00:44:45.081
and that ball
would start here

989
00:44:45.320 --> 00:44:46.560
and by the time
you swing at it,

990
00:44:46.640 --> 00:44:49.291
it would hop
a little bit up here.

991
00:44:49.480 --> 00:44:52.723
You watch the
ball leave l-lls hand,

992
00:44:52.960 --> 00:44:57.443
and then when you get ready
to swing at it, it rises.

993
00:44:57.640 --> 00:45:00.325
2-2 pitch to
Parrish, got him swmeuue.

994
00:45:00.520 --> 00:45:01.601
Dwight gooden,

995
00:45:01.840 --> 00:45:02.921
he had a lot of jump
and movement

996
00:45:03.120 --> 00:45:04.326
on the ball upward.

997
00:45:04.520 --> 00:45:05.920
There's very few guys
that get that.

998
00:45:06.080 --> 00:45:07.969
You can know
a fastball's coming,

999
00:45:08.160 --> 00:45:10.527
but it had
that upward rising to it.

1000
00:45:10.720 --> 00:45:13.246
And I could almost feel
the sting hit my mustache.

1001
00:45:13.480 --> 00:45:14.686
That ball
really scared me.

1002
00:45:14.880 --> 00:45:18.248
You know,
because you lost it.

1003
00:45:18.480 --> 00:45:20.448
Scientists
say it can't happen.

1004
00:45:20.640 --> 00:45:22.369
The ball can't rise.

1005
00:45:22.560 --> 00:45:24.085
I don't know, I don't think
they ever played baseball.

1006
00:45:24.320 --> 00:45:25.606
I don't think they did.

1007
00:45:27.240 --> 00:45:31.723
It may not sound logical,
but it rises.

1008
00:45:31.920 --> 00:45:33.410
And...

1009
00:45:33.600 --> 00:45:35.125
I don't want to get
into an argument

1010
00:45:35.320 --> 00:45:37.049
with a scientist
about that.

1011
00:45:37.240 --> 00:45:40.210
I have to say that in some
cases they make a mistake.

1012
00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:43.449
It wasn't impossible for it
to happen, because it did.

1013
00:45:43.640 --> 00:45:45.404
You come over the top

1014
00:45:45.600 --> 00:45:48.251
and you hold
a four-seamer this way.

1015
00:45:48.440 --> 00:45:51.125
You got one,
two, three, four.

1016
00:45:51.320 --> 00:45:52.685
Across the seams.

1017
00:45:52.880 --> 00:45:54.211
It did go up
a little bit.

1018
00:45:54.400 --> 00:45:56.687
You have
to throw pretty hard.

1019
00:45:56.880 --> 00:46:01.090
Those guys that throw
80s and 89, 90,

1020
00:46:01.320 --> 00:46:03.209
that ball's
not gonna go up.

1021
00:46:03.440 --> 00:46:06.649
Chapman, I guarantee you his
ball goes up a little bit.

1022
00:46:06.840 --> 00:46:09.605
Devastating fastball,
that has that late life.

1023
00:46:09.800 --> 00:46:11.882
It's impossible.

1024
00:46:12.120 --> 00:46:14.122
You believe that
the rising fastball's impossible?

1025
00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:16.527
Yeah, I believe
it's impossible.

1026
00:46:16.720 --> 00:46:19.720
But I think... you know, I don't think
it's possible for a fastball to rise.

1027
00:46:19.800 --> 00:46:22.531
But I think it's
possible for a ride.

1028
00:46:22.720 --> 00:46:24.165
You know, something
that's different.

1029
00:46:24.360 --> 00:46:27.967
Well, I tried to get
the ball to ride.

1030
00:46:28.160 --> 00:46:29.810
You know, if you talk
to a physicist,

1031
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:32.128
he says a ball
does not rise,

1032
00:46:32.320 --> 00:46:35.483
but it does not drop
as fast as others.

1033
00:46:35.680 --> 00:46:36.886
You hear guys that say

1034
00:46:37.080 --> 00:46:39.731
they have
"good ride through the zone."

1035
00:46:39.920 --> 00:46:41.570
You know,
it's just a natural spin.

1036
00:46:41.760 --> 00:46:44.161
You know, 12 to 6,
just like this.

1037
00:46:44.400 --> 00:46:45.970
Once the ball
leaves the pitcher's hand,

1038
00:46:46.160 --> 00:46:47.600
the dominant force
acting on the ball

1039
00:46:47.760 --> 00:46:49.120
is the one
we're all familiar with,

1040
00:46:49.200 --> 00:46:50.440
it's the force of gravity.

1041
00:46:50.640 --> 00:46:52.642
So the ball drops.

1042
00:46:52.840 --> 00:46:55.411
Something like that.

1043
00:46:55.600 --> 00:46:58.001
For a 90-mile per hour
fastball,

1044
00:46:58.200 --> 00:47:00.202
it's going to drop
about three feet

1045
00:47:00.400 --> 00:47:01.811
if the only force
on the ball

1046
00:47:02.040 --> 00:47:03.883
was the force
of gravity.

1047
00:47:04.080 --> 00:47:07.004
But a four-seam fastball
has a strong backspin on it.

1048
00:47:07.200 --> 00:47:10.090
That creates a Magnus force
that's pushing upwards

1049
00:47:10.280 --> 00:47:11.884
so the ball still drops,

1050
00:47:12.080 --> 00:47:14.924
but it drops slower
than it would.

1051
00:47:15.120 --> 00:47:16.645
And the trajectory
the ball takes

1052
00:47:16.840 --> 00:47:18.365
is something like that.

1053
00:47:18.600 --> 00:47:20.204
It actually crosses
home plate

1054
00:47:20.440 --> 00:47:23.364
about 10 inches higher.

1055
00:47:23.560 --> 00:47:26.962
If this is what a qo-mile per
hour fastball looks like,

1056
00:47:27.160 --> 00:47:29.766
think about
a 100-mile per hour fastball,

1057
00:47:29.960 --> 00:47:31.200
perhaps
with a stronger backspin

1058
00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:32.765
and more Magnus force,

1059
00:47:32.960 --> 00:47:35.691
it will have
a higher trajectory

1060
00:47:37.920 --> 00:47:39.206
and cross home plate

1061
00:47:39.400 --> 00:47:41.482
inches above

1062
00:47:41.680 --> 00:47:43.045
th e Stan dard
four-seam fastball.

1063
00:47:43.240 --> 00:47:46.926
The visual was
that it would kind of ride,

1064
00:47:47.120 --> 00:47:48.804
it would kind of like
ride up and away from you.

1065
00:47:49.000 --> 00:47:50.331
You swing
at that fastball...

1066
00:47:50.520 --> 00:47:51.851
How could I not
hit that pitch?

1067
00:47:52.040 --> 00:47:54.042
Every... it always gets
on top of my bat.

1068
00:47:54.240 --> 00:47:57.687
Now that's a fastball
that's hard to hit.

1069
00:47:57.880 --> 00:47:59.041
Physics tells us

1070
00:47:59.240 --> 00:48:00.844
the ball is really moving
in a smooth arc

1071
00:48:01.040 --> 00:48:02.166
throughout it's trajectory.

1072
00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:03.731
The problem is,
if we go back

1073
00:48:03.920 --> 00:48:06.241
to the first half
of the pitch,

1074
00:48:06.480 --> 00:48:09.086
there's very little difference
in the trajectories

1075
00:48:09.320 --> 00:48:11.800
between a-100 mile per hour
fastball,

1076
00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:14.890
and a 90-mile per hour
fastball.

1077
00:48:15.120 --> 00:48:16.480
And it's the beginning
of the pitch

1078
00:48:16.600 --> 00:48:18.409
the batter has to use

1079
00:48:18.600 --> 00:48:22.047
to estimate where the ball's
gonna cross home plate.

1080
00:48:22.240 --> 00:48:24.561
It's not until the ball
gets very close

1081
00:48:24.760 --> 00:48:25.841
that he realizes

1082
00:48:26.040 --> 00:48:27.610
that the ball
is actually up here,

1083
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:29.330
and this will give
the illusion

1084
00:48:29.520 --> 00:48:33.002
that the ball pops upwards
at the very end.

1085
00:48:33.200 --> 00:48:34.645
It's not
because it actually does,

1086
00:48:34.840 --> 00:48:36.330
it's the difference
between where his brain

1087
00:48:36.520 --> 00:48:38.204
is telling him
the ball is gonna be

1088
00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:39.400
and where
it actually is

1089
00:48:39.600 --> 00:48:43.127
when it approaches
home plate.

1090
00:48:43.320 --> 00:48:45.288
I think scientists are crazy
if they think that.

1091
00:48:45.520 --> 00:48:47.443
I mean...
Craig kimbrel.

1092
00:48:47.640 --> 00:48:50.484
It looks like his fastball rises
every time he throws it.

1093
00:48:50.680 --> 00:48:53.445
They need to grab a helmet,
grab a bat and get in the box,

1094
00:48:53.640 --> 00:48:55.760
'cause they don't understand
what's going on up there.

1095
00:49:05.600 --> 00:49:08.171
I wanna see
if you recognize them,

1096
00:49:08.360 --> 00:49:10.283
even know the name.

1097
00:49:10.480 --> 00:49:12.289
Any name on there
familiar to you?

1098
00:49:12.480 --> 00:49:14.403
Um...

1099
00:49:14.600 --> 00:49:17.410
Jack Smith.

1100
00:49:17.640 --> 00:49:19.449
- That's not the one we're talking about.
- Well, I didn't know.

1101
00:49:19.680 --> 00:49:21.091
I just said that.
I had 25% chance.

1102
00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:22.486
I didn't wanna
say, "no."

1103
00:49:24.640 --> 00:49:26.244
No. I mean, I don't...

1104
00:49:26.480 --> 00:49:28.960
Steve dalkowski.

1105
00:49:29.160 --> 00:49:30.650
Steve dalkowski?

1106
00:49:30.840 --> 00:49:32.729
No, don't know it.

1107
00:49:32.920 --> 00:49:34.524
How would I know it?

1108
00:49:57.360 --> 00:49:59.044
I'll show you something.

1109
00:49:59.240 --> 00:50:02.449
And ask you to tell me

1110
00:50:02.680 --> 00:50:03.806
who you see on that card

1111
00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:06.685
and tell me about him.

1112
00:50:10.840 --> 00:50:12.649
Well, the guy
that kinda sticks out

1113
00:50:12.840 --> 00:50:15.684
is Steve dalkowski.

1114
00:50:15.880 --> 00:50:17.041
What is it?

1115
00:50:17.280 --> 00:50:18.725
That guy right there,
can you...

1116
00:50:18.920 --> 00:50:21.764
Steve dalkowski...

1117
00:50:21.960 --> 00:50:25.487
1963 rookie stars.

1118
00:50:25.680 --> 00:50:27.808
Oh, my god.

1119
00:50:28.040 --> 00:50:29.690
I want you
to take a look at this card

1120
00:50:29.920 --> 00:50:33.322
and see if there's
anybody there you've heard of.

1121
00:50:33.520 --> 00:50:35.329
Speaking of the fastball...

1122
00:50:35.520 --> 00:50:38.683
0l-| yeah, yeah.
This dalkowski...

1123
00:50:38.880 --> 00:50:40.803
He's legendary.

1124
00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:43.207
There's no man on earth

1125
00:50:43.400 --> 00:50:47.530
that ever had
more talent. No man.

1126
00:50:47.720 --> 00:50:50.451
There's a man that if he
could've gotten it over,

1127
00:50:50.640 --> 00:50:53.644
I really believe he could've
just made his living

1128
00:50:53.840 --> 00:50:55.842
just th rowing fastballs.

1129
00:51:00.280 --> 00:51:02.886
Well, I didn't
know Steve dalkowski.

1130
00:51:03.120 --> 00:51:05.361
I knew of him.

1131
00:51:05.560 --> 00:51:07.369
And obviously
i came up in that era

1132
00:51:07.560 --> 00:51:09.085
that everybody knew him

1133
00:51:09.280 --> 00:51:10.964
and they said he was the
hardest throwing... thrower

1134
00:51:11.160 --> 00:51:13.970
that everybody
that had ever saw him,

1135
00:51:14.160 --> 00:51:16.003
said that.

1136
00:51:16.200 --> 00:51:17.725
And I never saw him.

1137
00:51:17.920 --> 00:51:19.160
But people
did talk about him.

1138
00:51:19.360 --> 00:51:22.284
Oh, he was a legend.

1139
00:51:24.200 --> 00:51:25.884
And you hear
all these stories about him.

1140
00:51:35.680 --> 00:51:37.284
Like "bull
durham's" nuke laloosh.

1141
00:51:37.480 --> 00:51:40.245
Who was based in part
on dalkowski,

1142
00:51:40.440 --> 00:51:43.250
or sidd Finch, George
plimpton's imaginary pitcher

1143
00:51:43.440 --> 00:51:46.205
who threw
168 miles per hour.

1144
00:51:46.400 --> 00:51:49.085
The story of Steve dalkowski
sounds like pure myth.

1145
00:51:50.120 --> 00:51:52.930
But it was real.

1146
00:51:53.120 --> 00:51:55.487
Tell us what we're
looking at, what did that arm do?

1147
00:51:55.680 --> 00:51:59.446
Threw a ball faster
than anybody that ever lived.

1148
00:51:59.640 --> 00:52:01.847
Anybody.

1149
00:52:02.040 --> 00:52:03.246
The nastiest I ever faced

1150
00:52:03.440 --> 00:52:04.930
was the hardest thrower
who threw a baseball

1151
00:52:05.120 --> 00:52:06.406
was Steve dalkowski.

1152
00:52:06.640 --> 00:52:07.960
You know, you get
into discussions

1153
00:52:08.080 --> 00:52:10.401
about who threw
the ball the hardest.

1154
00:52:10.640 --> 00:52:13.530
Well, this guy will come up
in every conversation

1155
00:52:13.720 --> 00:52:16.246
that the guys played
back in the day

1156
00:52:16.480 --> 00:52:18.448
saw this guy throw.

1157
00:52:18.640 --> 00:52:21.928
They 8nd that he... he was the
hardest thrower that they ever saw.

1158
00:52:22.120 --> 00:52:23.406
And this is
hard to believe

1159
00:52:23.600 --> 00:52:25.489
and as you get older,
the stories get bigger,

1160
00:52:25.680 --> 00:52:27.648
but I was there.

1161
00:52:27.840 --> 00:52:28.966
Steve and I played
together

1162
00:52:29.200 --> 00:52:31.202
for two years
in the minor leagues.

1163
00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:33.402
He's sort of a cult figure
in a way,

1164
00:52:33.600 --> 00:52:36.683
because he never played
in the major leagues.

1165
00:52:36.920 --> 00:52:39.161
We were
teammates in elmira aa.

1166
00:52:39.360 --> 00:52:40.920
And he was running
the outfield one time

1167
00:52:41.000 --> 00:52:42.968
and I said, "Steve, can
you throw that ball

1168
00:52:43.160 --> 00:52:44.571
through this fence?"

1169
00:52:44.800 --> 00:52:47.326
And it was 1x6s.

1170
00:52:47.560 --> 00:52:49.085
He said, "i don't know."
He hadn't even warmed up.

1171
00:52:49.280 --> 00:52:52.204
He grabbed a ball and just
fired it at the wall,

1172
00:52:52.400 --> 00:52:53.447
and threw it
right through the wall.

1173
00:52:53.640 --> 00:52:55.563
I said,
"i guess you can."

1174
00:52:55.760 --> 00:52:58.411
One game,
he broke my shin guard.

1175
00:52:58.600 --> 00:53:01.490
Split my shin guard.

1176
00:53:01.680 --> 00:53:03.091
Another game,

1177
00:53:03.320 --> 00:53:05.891
he broke the mask,

1178
00:53:06.120 --> 00:53:08.691
the bar mask that I had.

1179
00:53:08.880 --> 00:53:11.281
So after that
i got a wire mask.

1180
00:53:11.480 --> 00:53:14.563
I said, "man, I'm not
taking any chances."

1181
00:53:14.760 --> 00:53:17.127
But he threw
harder than...

1182
00:53:17.320 --> 00:53:21.211
This day than any man
i ever saw in my life.

1183
00:53:21.400 --> 00:53:23.482
Who taught
you to throw fast?

1184
00:53:23.720 --> 00:53:27.042
You don't teach people
how to throw fast.

1185
00:53:27.240 --> 00:53:29.811
It just comes natural.

1186
00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:33.004
I would love to have seen
him throw at his prime.

1187
00:53:33.200 --> 00:53:34.645
Um...

1188
00:53:34.840 --> 00:53:37.161
Because what people
said about him,

1189
00:53:37.400 --> 00:53:40.165
obviously he had
one of those special arms.

1190
00:53:42.720 --> 00:53:45.530
Befitting the
legend of Steve dalkowski,

1191
00:53:45.720 --> 00:53:49.042
no one has ever found
any footage of him pitching.

1192
00:53:49.280 --> 00:53:51.169
Tell me about that guy.

1193
00:53:51.360 --> 00:53:53.727
He's a good guy.

1194
00:53:53.920 --> 00:53:56.048
Couldn't throw strikes.

1195
00:53:56.240 --> 00:53:57.571
Yeah...

1196
00:53:57.760 --> 00:53:59.091
He was very wild.

1197
00:53:59.280 --> 00:54:00.645
Sometimes
when he threw BP,

1198
00:54:00.880 --> 00:54:01.961
you know
it was questionable

1199
00:54:02.160 --> 00:54:03.889
if he could throw it
in the cage.

1200
00:54:04.080 --> 00:54:07.846
I was do this and the
ball would go like that.

1201
00:54:08.040 --> 00:54:09.929
Out of control
they say.

1202
00:54:10.120 --> 00:54:11.770
His problem was
more up and down

1203
00:54:11.960 --> 00:54:13.325
than it was in and out.

1204
00:54:13.560 --> 00:54:15.483
You could tell Steve
to throw the ball,

1205
00:54:15.680 --> 00:54:17.720
"and I want you to hit
a foot in front of the plate.

1206
00:54:17.800 --> 00:54:19.086
I want you
to throw the ball 59 feet."

1207
00:54:19.280 --> 00:54:22.727
And the ball would be
over the catcher's head

1208
00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:24.126
by the time
it got to the plate

1209
00:54:24.360 --> 00:54:25.691
because his ball
had so much...

1210
00:54:25.880 --> 00:54:28.247
He had so much backspin
on his ball.

1211
00:54:28.440 --> 00:54:31.125
That the ball rose
that quickly.

1212
00:54:31.320 --> 00:54:35.405
Everywhere he pitched,
he set strikeout records.

1213
00:54:35.600 --> 00:54:37.728
But for every new mark
for strikeouts,

1214
00:54:37.960 --> 00:54:41.009
there was another new
record f or walks.

1215
00:54:41.200 --> 00:54:44.204
He pitched 697 innings,

1216
00:54:44.400 --> 00:54:47.609
and had
1,099 strikeouts.

1217
00:54:47.840 --> 00:54:50.491
And he had more walks
than he had strikeouts.

1218
00:54:50.720 --> 00:54:52.006
By 100.

1219
00:54:52.200 --> 00:54:54.009
Pretty amazing.

1220
00:54:54.200 --> 00:54:57.249
You still have to throw
the ball over the plate.

1221
00:54:57.480 --> 00:54:59.323
Could not throw a strike.

1222
00:54:59.560 --> 00:55:01.289
Tried everything.

1223
00:55:01.520 --> 00:55:03.966
I mean, everything.

1224
00:55:04.160 --> 00:55:08.609
All he wanted to do was get the
fastball over and he could not do it.

1225
00:55:08.800 --> 00:55:11.371
What a shame.

1226
00:55:11.560 --> 00:55:14.609
Over the years, it almost
became an obsession with him

1227
00:55:14.800 --> 00:55:16.643
to try to conquer
his control.

1228
00:55:16.840 --> 00:55:19.002
And he was getting better.

1229
00:55:19.200 --> 00:55:22.761
He wasn't perfect,
but he was getting better.

1230
00:55:23.000 --> 00:55:24.968
M 1962 at elmira,

1231
00:55:25.160 --> 00:55:28.403
under a new manager, the future
hall of famer, Earl Weaver.

1232
00:55:28.600 --> 00:55:31.171
Dalkowski finally found
the plate.

1233
00:55:31.360 --> 00:55:34.125
Over his final 52 innings
that summer,

1234
00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:38.609
he struck out 104
while walking only 11.

1235
00:55:38.800 --> 00:55:40.370
After all them years
of my life,

1236
00:55:40.600 --> 00:55:44.446
I finally got word

1237
00:55:44.640 --> 00:55:47.644
that I'm gonna
have the chance to make it.

1238
00:55:47.840 --> 00:55:50.002
That felt real good.

1239
00:55:50.240 --> 00:55:52.402
M spring training 1963,

1240
00:55:52.600 --> 00:55:54.011
dalkowski pitched
in two games

1241
00:55:54.240 --> 00:55:55.890
against the Dodgers
and the Yankees.

1242
00:55:56.120 --> 00:55:59.567
Allowing no runs
and no hits.

1243
00:55:59.760 --> 00:56:02.206
Topps printed
his baseball card.

1244
00:56:02.400 --> 00:56:03.920
In the morning
of his final appearance,

1245
00:56:03.960 --> 00:56:05.769
he was told
he had made the team.

1246
00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:07.650
And was fitted
for a big league uniform

1247
00:56:07.880 --> 00:56:10.565
for the very first time.

1248
00:56:10.800 --> 00:56:12.609
Then with two outs
in the third inning,

1249
00:56:12.840 --> 00:56:15.411
Steve came off the mound
to field a bunt,

1250
00:56:15.640 --> 00:56:17.085
as he threw to first

1251
00:56:17.280 --> 00:56:19.647
he felt a pop
in his elbow.

1252
00:56:19.840 --> 00:56:21.808
Tell me about
walking off the field

1253
00:56:22.000 --> 00:56:24.367
and knowing
that you are hurt.

1254
00:56:25.400 --> 00:56:26.481
I said, "why me?"

1255
00:56:26.680 --> 00:56:28.887
And I start crying.

1256
00:56:29.080 --> 00:56:31.287
Yep.

1257
00:56:31.480 --> 00:56:34.484
Steve went back
to the minor leagues.

1258
00:56:34.680 --> 00:56:37.809
He would never throw a pitch
in the majors.

1259
00:56:38.040 --> 00:56:41.681
I felt so bad
about him because...

1260
00:56:41.880 --> 00:56:45.043
When he was trying
to get it back,

1261
00:56:45.240 --> 00:56:47.242
you could walk downtown
at 1:00 in the morning

1262
00:56:47.440 --> 00:56:49.124
and you'd find Steve sitting
down there

1263
00:56:49.320 --> 00:56:50.845
with a bottle of wine.

1264
00:56:51.040 --> 00:56:55.045
I mean, he... it really,
really tore at his heart.

1265
00:56:57.160 --> 00:56:59.208
It's a shame that...

1266
00:56:59.400 --> 00:57:02.006
That a talent like that
never got there.

1267
00:57:04.080 --> 00:57:05.570
It's a fragile deal.

1268
00:57:05.760 --> 00:57:09.685
And if... you know,
if the wrong thing happens,

1269
00:57:09.880 --> 00:57:10.881
you never know.

1270
00:57:12.440 --> 00:57:14.522
He was just somebody

1271
00:57:14.720 --> 00:57:17.564
that was unable
to conquer his control.

1272
00:57:17.760 --> 00:57:18.841
And it's just unfortunate

1273
00:57:19.080 --> 00:57:21.731
that he never made
the big show.

1274
00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:23.649
If he'd had harnessed
his control

1275
00:57:23.840 --> 00:57:24.920
and gone
to the big leagues,

1276
00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:26.161
I think
he would have been

1277
00:57:26.360 --> 00:57:27.840
one of the premiere
fastball pitchers,

1278
00:57:27.920 --> 00:57:29.649
you know,
ever in baseball.

1279
00:57:37.120 --> 00:57:39.009
During the years
that dalkowski was struggling

1280
00:57:39.200 --> 00:57:41.771
to just find the plate
in the minor leagues,

1281
00:57:41.960 --> 00:57:43.610
another lefty
was working to control

1282
00:57:43.800 --> 00:57:46.485
the lightning in his own arm
in the majors.

1283
00:57:46.680 --> 00:57:47.886
This pitcher,
it was said,

1284
00:57:48.080 --> 00:57:51.084
had been born
with the left arm of god.

1285
00:57:51.320 --> 00:57:54.051
And when Sandy koufax
harnessed his gift,

1286
00:57:54.280 --> 00:57:56.521
he became a legend.

1287
00:57:56.720 --> 00:57:58.768
Untouchable.

1288
00:57:58.960 --> 00:58:02.646
Boy, I mean,
it came in and it went...

1289
00:58:02.840 --> 00:58:05.411
You could hear it go...

1290
00:58:05.600 --> 00:58:07.728
Wow.

1291
00:58:07.960 --> 00:58:09.485
One time he threw
a pitch in there

1292
00:58:09.680 --> 00:58:11.808
and I said,
"ball."

1293
00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:13.411
He got the ball back
like this.

1294
00:58:13.600 --> 00:58:14.726
And looked in at me

1295
00:58:14.920 --> 00:58:16.922
and he went like this
with his hand.

1296
00:58:17.120 --> 00:58:21.125
As if to ask,
"was it too high?"

1297
00:58:21.320 --> 00:58:22.970
And you know,
i just nodded.

1298
00:58:23.160 --> 00:58:24.844
That's right.

1299
00:58:25.040 --> 00:58:27.771
Next pitch, he brought
it down six inches,

1300
00:58:27.960 --> 00:58:30.611
same thing. Zoom, zoom, wham.
Strike three.

1301
00:58:35.080 --> 00:58:36.491
What a grand,
grand thing

1302
00:58:36.680 --> 00:58:38.682
to sit back there
and see this.

1303
00:58:45.480 --> 00:58:49.280
In 1965 on a late summer night
in Los Angeles,

1304
00:58:49.480 --> 00:58:52.450
koufax took the mound
for the Dodgers.

1305
00:58:52.640 --> 00:58:54.290
The game wasn't on TV.

1306
00:58:54.480 --> 00:58:55.925
But the Dodgers trainer,
bill buhler,

1307
00:58:56.120 --> 00:58:57.246
was an amateur film buff

1308
00:58:57.440 --> 00:58:59.522
and brought his camera
to the game.

1309
00:58:59.760 --> 00:59:02.127
He found an empty seat
behind home plate

1310
00:59:02.320 --> 00:59:04.527
and began to roll.

1311
00:59:04.720 --> 00:59:07.371
For decades the film sat
forgotten in a closet.

1312
00:59:07.600 --> 00:59:11.127
Now recently uncovered
and restored.

1313
00:59:11.360 --> 00:59:12.930
A glimpse
of Sandy koufax

1314
00:59:13.120 --> 00:59:15.930
on a night that maybe god
himself created especially

1315
00:59:16.120 --> 00:59:18.009
for his own left arm.

1316
00:59:31.880 --> 00:59:33.530
Batter after batter,

1317
00:59:33.720 --> 00:59:36.166
koufax was pitching
with mastery.

1318
00:59:36.360 --> 00:59:37.850
Precision.

1319
00:59:38.040 --> 00:59:39.451
Concentration.

1320
00:59:39.680 --> 00:59:41.569
And a fastball
that split the night.

1321
00:59:44.680 --> 00:59:46.170
With his handheld camera,

1322
00:59:46.360 --> 00:59:49.250
the Dodgers' trainer
was capturing history.

1323
00:59:49.480 --> 00:59:51.847
Till there were two out
in the third.

1324
00:59:52.040 --> 00:59:54.805
And bill buhler
ran out of film.

1325
00:59:57.920 --> 01:00:00.764
Only the 29,000 at dodger
stadium that night

1326
01:00:00.960 --> 01:00:03.691
actually witnessed
what happened next.

1327
01:00:03.880 --> 01:00:05.450
Threw 82i3rds,

1328
01:00:05.640 --> 01:00:08.849
26 up and 26 down.

1329
01:00:09.080 --> 01:00:10.445
And to capture
the final moments,

1330
01:00:10.640 --> 01:00:12.642
there was nothing
but the hall of fame voice,

1331
01:00:12.840 --> 01:00:14.569
of vin Scully
on the radio.

1332
01:00:14.760 --> 01:00:16.649
Making imagination real,

1333
01:00:16.880 --> 01:00:18.928
and baseball
that night...

1334
01:00:19.120 --> 01:00:20.610
Perfect.

1335
01:00:23.560 --> 01:00:27.406
He is one
out away from the promised land.

1336
01:00:27.640 --> 01:00:30.928
And Harvey kuenn
is coming up.

1337
01:00:31.120 --> 01:00:33.168
And koufax takes
a hitch at his belt

1338
01:00:33.400 --> 01:00:35.880
and walks
behind the mound.

1339
01:00:36.080 --> 01:00:37.650
I would think
that the mound

1340
01:00:37.840 --> 01:00:39.126
at dodger stadium
right now

1341
01:00:39.360 --> 01:00:43.251
is the loneliest place
in the world.

1342
01:00:43.440 --> 01:00:45.329
Sandy into his windup.
And the pitch.

1343
01:00:45.520 --> 01:00:49.127
A fastball for a strike.

1344
01:00:49.320 --> 01:00:52.403
And you can almost taste
the pressure now.

1345
01:00:52.600 --> 01:00:53.761
Koufax lifted his cap,

1346
01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:55.570
ran his fingers
through his black hair,

1347
01:00:55.760 --> 01:00:59.048
then pulled the cap back down,
fussing at the bill.

1348
01:00:59.240 --> 01:01:01.766
And there's 29,000 people
in the ball park

1349
01:01:01.960 --> 01:01:05.282
and a million butterflies.

1350
01:01:05.480 --> 01:01:07.926
Sandy readying
a strike one pitch.

1351
01:01:08.120 --> 01:01:10.088
Very high
and he lost his hat,

1352
01:01:10.280 --> 01:01:12.203
he really forced
that one.

1353
01:01:12.400 --> 01:01:15.688
Trying to get
that little extra.

1354
01:01:15.880 --> 01:01:17.530
You can't blame a man

1355
01:01:17.720 --> 01:01:21.441
for pushing
just a little bit now.

1356
01:01:21.640 --> 01:01:23.404
Now Sandy looks in.

1357
01:01:23.600 --> 01:01:26.251
Into his windup
and the 2-1 pitch to kuenn.

1358
01:01:26.440 --> 01:01:27.885
Swung on and missed.
Strike two.

1359
01:01:30.200 --> 01:01:32.282
Two and two
to Harvey kuenn.

1360
01:01:32.480 --> 01:01:34.448
One strike away.

1361
01:01:34.640 --> 01:01:36.085
Sandy into his windup.

1362
01:01:36.280 --> 01:01:37.520
Here's the pitch.

1363
01:01:37.720 --> 01:01:39.961
Swung on and missed!
A perfect game!

1364
01:01:47.960 --> 01:01:49.849
A warm summer night.

1365
01:01:50.040 --> 01:01:52.850
A golden voice crackling
over the airwaves.

1366
01:01:53.040 --> 01:01:57.090
And a fastball
no one could hit.

1367
01:01:57.280 --> 01:01:58.770
Baseball fans
didn't have to see it

1368
01:01:58.960 --> 01:02:01.486
to know how it felt.

1369
01:02:01.680 --> 01:02:05.480
Because in our minds, it was
the thing we always see.

1370
01:02:05.680 --> 01:02:07.842
The phenom made good.

1371
01:02:08.040 --> 01:02:11.249
The dream made real
before our eyes.

1372
01:02:11.440 --> 01:02:13.761
The pitcher with the gift
of the fastball.

1373
01:02:14.000 --> 01:02:16.401
Commanding the magic
in his arm.

1374
01:02:19.240 --> 01:02:20.924
For me
it's... I don't know,

1375
01:02:21.120 --> 01:02:22.929
I think koufax
was the most consistent

1376
01:02:23.120 --> 01:02:24.804
of any fastball
that I had to face.

1377
01:02:25.000 --> 01:02:26.445
You know,
day in, day out.

1378
01:02:26.680 --> 01:02:28.444
I say that
to all the guys,

1379
01:02:28.680 --> 01:02:30.444
I said, I don't think anybody
threw harder than koufax.

1380
01:02:30.680 --> 01:02:32.967
I have to tell you a story,
i grew up in San Francisco

1381
01:02:33.160 --> 01:02:35.128
watching koufax
against the giants

1382
01:02:35.320 --> 01:02:36.810
and those guys
all the time.

1383
01:02:37.000 --> 01:02:38.331
You know, as a kid or
something, I just would...

1384
01:02:38.560 --> 01:02:40.050
I just wanna
face Sandy koufax.

1385
01:02:40.240 --> 01:02:41.730
You know, you get in your mind,
you wanna face him, right?

1386
01:02:41.920 --> 01:02:44.764
So my rookie year,
we're going to dodger stadium

1387
01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:47.440
- and koufax was gonna pitch the next day.
- It was validation.

1388
01:02:47.560 --> 01:02:49.369
And I'm like,
"man, I can't wait."

1389
01:02:49.560 --> 01:02:51.483
And the guys on the bus are
looking at me like I'm crazy.

1390
01:02:51.680 --> 01:02:53.320
"Are you stupid
or what are you wanna do?"

1391
01:02:53.480 --> 01:02:54.845
Right, so...

1392
01:02:55.080 --> 01:02:56.650
And I find out the next day
i was stupid, right?

1393
01:02:56.840 --> 01:02:59.491
I mean, honest,
it took me two at-bats

1394
01:02:59.680 --> 01:03:01.364
before I even fouled
a ball, right?

1395
01:03:01.560 --> 01:03:02.561
He just blew me away

1396
01:03:02.760 --> 01:03:03.920
the first time,
the next time,

1397
01:03:04.000 --> 01:03:05.525
then I fouled
a ball, right?

1398
01:03:05.760 --> 01:03:07.330
I came back
and I told one of the guys,

1399
01:03:07.520 --> 01:03:08.806
I said,
"i got him now."

1400
01:03:09.000 --> 01:03:09.922
He struck me out, see? Right?

1401
01:03:10.120 --> 01:03:11.480
So I go back up
and I hit a pop up.

1402
01:03:11.600 --> 01:03:12.800
I said,
"i told you I got him."

1403
01:03:19.520 --> 01:03:21.170
Who's the
fastest you ever saw?

1404
01:03:21.400 --> 01:03:22.731
Uh, Juan berenguer.

1405
01:03:22.920 --> 01:03:27.448
With 101.5 in AAA.

1406
01:03:27.640 --> 01:03:29.768
And he was still throwing
about 100 for Minnesota

1407
01:03:29.960 --> 01:03:32.850
when I faced him.

1408
01:03:33.040 --> 01:03:36.328
He is just pumping
some major league gas.

1409
01:03:36.520 --> 01:03:39.524
Oh, mercy.

1410
01:03:39.720 --> 01:03:42.200
Of all the people I've
watched over the last 4o years

1411
01:03:42.400 --> 01:03:45.643
I think Billy Wagner
was probably as hard a thrower

1412
01:03:45.880 --> 01:03:47.609
as I'd seen.

1413
01:03:47.840 --> 01:03:49.205
Here's the pitch.
Swme and a miss

1414
01:03:49.400 --> 01:03:51.767
at a high fastball
at 100 miles an hour.

1415
01:03:51.960 --> 01:03:53.883
You're not gonna
catch up to that one.

1416
01:03:54.080 --> 01:03:55.684
I'd probably say
it's Kevin brown.

1417
01:03:55.880 --> 01:03:57.320
I really didn't like
facing that guy.

1418
01:03:57.360 --> 01:03:59.203
He threw hard.

1419
01:03:59.400 --> 01:04:01.641
He just has
so many different windups.

1420
01:04:01.840 --> 01:04:03.720
And he used to always come
high and tight on me,

1421
01:04:03.760 --> 01:04:05.410
I used to be...
And I was young then,

1422
01:04:05.600 --> 01:04:06.647
I was scared
to be in there

1423
01:04:06.840 --> 01:04:08.410
in the batter's box
with Kevin brown.

1424
01:04:08.600 --> 01:04:10.680
I mean, plus everybody knew
he was kind of crazy too.

1425
01:04:11.400 --> 01:04:13.402
Robin Roberts.

1426
01:04:13.600 --> 01:04:15.523
And when you got
men on base,

1427
01:04:15.720 --> 01:04:17.688
he could throw
a little bit harder.

1428
01:04:17.880 --> 01:04:20.451
He just reached back
and threw more.

1429
01:04:20.640 --> 01:04:22.563
I said, "wow.

1430
01:04:22.760 --> 01:04:25.286
Boy, this guy can
throw the ball."

1431
01:04:25.480 --> 01:04:26.845
Herb score.

1432
01:04:27.040 --> 01:04:29.805
I saw score
when I was just a kid.

1433
01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:32.480
My grandfather took me
to an exhibition game

1434
01:04:32.720 --> 01:04:34.449
and I never saw anybody

1435
01:04:34.680 --> 01:04:36.648
who could throw
the ball that hard.

1436
01:04:36.840 --> 01:04:39.446
It's one of those things
you remember in life.

1437
01:04:39.680 --> 01:04:41.603
The ball literally
just jumped.

1438
01:04:41.800 --> 01:04:43.131
I couldn't
see the ball.

1439
01:04:43.320 --> 01:04:45.687
And I told my grandfather,
i said, you know,

1440
01:04:45.880 --> 01:04:48.281
I've never seen anybody, grandpa,
thrcw a ball this hard."

1441
01:04:48.480 --> 01:04:52.644
And the young
hard thrower, Joel zumaya.

1442
01:04:52.840 --> 01:04:54.968
The rookie into the game.

1443
01:04:57.080 --> 01:04:58.809
Joel zumaya.

1444
01:04:59.040 --> 01:05:03.125
It just exploded
out of l-lls hand.

1445
01:05:03.320 --> 01:05:05.891
After the pitch was thrown
it was like by me,

1446
01:05:06.080 --> 01:05:07.525
and I'm like, "wow, this...
That was kinda hard.

1447
01:05:07.720 --> 01:05:10.291
Let me look up
and see what the radar says."

1448
01:05:10.480 --> 01:05:14.804
And the gun said 103. And
now I'm like, "oh, my god,

1449
01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:19.324
I gotta use all my mechanics, I gotta
get it ready early and just swing.

1450
01:05:19.560 --> 01:05:22.370
So I got my foot down
and I'm ready to go.

1451
01:05:22.600 --> 01:05:25.046
My eyes got
a little bigger.

1452
01:05:25.240 --> 01:05:27.040
Swme and a miss,
he went after the curve ball.

1453
01:05:27.080 --> 01:05:28.241
He struck him out.

1454
01:05:28.480 --> 01:05:29.447
And then he
threw me a curve ball

1455
01:05:29.640 --> 01:05:31.881
and I look like bugs bunny
spinning in the ground,

1456
01:05:32.080 --> 01:05:33.080
it was terrible.

1457
01:05:34.560 --> 01:05:36.403
I remember my first year.

1458
01:05:36.600 --> 01:05:38.204
And I was 20 years old.

1459
01:05:38.400 --> 01:05:41.609
You know, I was wide-eyed
and overwhelmed.

1460
01:05:41.800 --> 01:05:44.121
I'm in yankee stadium
for the first time playing.

1461
01:05:44.320 --> 01:05:46.129
I remember getting
in the box

1462
01:05:46.320 --> 01:05:47.685
and got
to a 3-2 count.

1463
01:05:47.920 --> 01:05:49.684
And the catcher
says to me,

1464
01:05:49.920 --> 01:05:52.571
well there's no mystery what
he's gonna throw right here.

1465
01:05:52.800 --> 01:05:56.486
And he struck me out
on the fastball.

1466
01:05:56.720 --> 01:05:59.644
Percival strikes out
jeter to end the ball game.

1467
01:05:59.840 --> 01:06:01.205
I got sent down right
after that.

1468
01:06:01.400 --> 01:06:03.607
But just wanted
to come back

1469
01:06:03.800 --> 01:06:06.121
and get a chance
to redeem myself.

1470
01:06:06.320 --> 01:06:07.810
All right, who was the hardest thrower?
Just pick one.

1471
01:06:08.000 --> 01:06:08.967
I would say Nolan Ryan.
Nolan Ryan.

1472
01:06:09.160 --> 01:06:10.810
Nolan Ryan.

1473
01:06:11.000 --> 01:06:13.651
I would say Randy Johnson
and Nolan Ryan. Each side.

1474
01:06:13.840 --> 01:06:16.127
I would say Nolan.
I mean, it was high heat.

1475
01:06:16.360 --> 01:06:18.522
And you were... from the time
you just left the dugout

1476
01:06:18.720 --> 01:06:20.131
you were starting
to swing.

1477
01:06:20.320 --> 01:06:21.880
I mean, it was just one
of those things.

1478
01:06:27.440 --> 01:06:29.204
You know when I threw
a fastball right

1479
01:06:29.400 --> 01:06:31.129
and I stayed with it,

1480
01:06:31.320 --> 01:06:32.970
I knew as soon
as it left my hand,

1481
01:06:33.160 --> 01:06:35.128
whether it was
the right pitch or not,

1482
01:06:35.320 --> 01:06:38.529
it was thrown correctly.

1483
01:06:38.760 --> 01:06:40.410
That was a gift.

1484
01:06:46.040 --> 01:06:48.202
Right past him, Nolan.
Right past him.

1485
01:06:50.800 --> 01:06:53.690
There's certain guys that are
electric what I called.

1486
01:06:53.880 --> 01:06:55.928
You don't know whether
they're gonna strike out 15

1487
01:06:56.120 --> 01:06:59.169
or you don't know whether
they're gonna pitch a no-hitter.

1488
01:06:59.360 --> 01:07:00.600
And Nolan,

1489
01:07:00.800 --> 01:07:03.565
when he got to the big leagues
at 19 years old,

1490
01:07:03.760 --> 01:07:05.762
that's the kind
of guy he was.

1491
01:07:06.000 --> 01:07:07.764
When he threw that fastball
above the waist,

1492
01:07:08.000 --> 01:07:10.526
it just exploded.

1493
01:07:10.720 --> 01:07:11.926
Pitching for the miracle mets

1494
01:07:12.120 --> 01:07:14.885
in the 1969
national league playoffs,

1495
01:07:15.080 --> 01:07:19.051
21 year old Nolan Ryan faced
home run king, Hank Aaron.

1496
01:07:19.240 --> 01:07:21.368
I had a good series
against the mets.

1497
01:07:21.560 --> 01:07:25.770
I hit one off seaver, I hit one off
koosman, and I hit one off gentry.

1498
01:07:25.960 --> 01:07:29.760
Hank Aaron now has
homered m each game 0f this series.

1499
01:07:29.960 --> 01:07:31.450
And...

1500
01:07:31.640 --> 01:07:35.201
And Nolan Ryan was the one
that almost hit me,

1501
01:07:35.440 --> 01:07:37.807
he cooled my pepper down
right here.

1502
01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:42.606
I grew up in the era
that was understood

1503
01:07:42.800 --> 01:07:45.087
that 0-2,
you knocked the hitter down.

1504
01:07:45.280 --> 01:07:49.330
And that you established
that you would pitch in.

1505
01:07:49.520 --> 01:07:52.171
And that's the way
i was taught.

1506
01:07:52.360 --> 01:07:56.365
That intimidation
is a tool that you can use.

1507
01:07:56.560 --> 01:07:58.130
Men and tight.

1508
01:07:58.320 --> 01:08:02.450
And I tell people that that's
a lost art nowadays.

1509
01:08:02.680 --> 01:08:05.126
He's outta there on strikes.

1510
01:08:05.320 --> 01:08:08.051
Nolan had
this edge about him.

1511
01:08:08.240 --> 01:08:10.641
And he was not afraid
to throw one under your chin.

1512
01:08:13.200 --> 01:08:16.522
I'd get goosebumps.

1513
01:08:16.720 --> 01:08:19.530
It's ridiculous to say, but you...
I could've got hit in the head

1514
01:08:19.720 --> 01:08:22.246
and died at home plate
against him, you know?

1515
01:08:22.440 --> 01:08:25.091
There's a lot
on the line there.

1516
01:08:25.280 --> 01:08:27.726
It's a damn scary at bat.

1517
01:08:27.920 --> 01:08:29.684
Nolan Ryan was
my last year.

1518
01:08:29.880 --> 01:08:31.200
And I says,
"Nolan, don't hit me."

1519
01:08:31.240 --> 01:08:34.289
- "I'm retiring next year,
please don't hit me." Wpleaset

1520
01:08:34.480 --> 01:08:35.686
I want to be able
to play golf

1521
01:08:35.920 --> 01:08:36.920
when I'm retired.

1522
01:08:41.760 --> 01:08:43.728
With the mets,
Ryan struggled to control

1523
01:08:43.920 --> 01:08:45.809
the lightning
in his arm.

1524
01:08:46.000 --> 01:08:50.369
I just threw as hard as i
coul_l:> For as long as I could.

1525
01:08:50.600 --> 01:08:53.729
There were times, you know,
that when I released the ball,

1526
01:08:53.920 --> 01:08:55.763
I didn't know
where it was going.

1527
01:08:55.960 --> 01:08:58.531
It's kinda like
what Oscar gamble said,

1528
01:08:58.720 --> 01:09:00.643
he said, "a good
night tonight is 0-4

1529
01:09:00.840 --> 01:09:02.490
and don't get hit
in the head."

1530
01:09:02.680 --> 01:09:04.284
You know.

1531
01:09:04.480 --> 01:09:06.687
M 1971 when the
angels called the mets

1532
01:09:06.880 --> 01:09:09.406
looking to trade
for pitcher Gary gentry,

1533
01:09:09.600 --> 01:09:11.602
the mets refused.

1534
01:09:11.800 --> 01:09:14.963
The angels settled
for their second choice.

1535
01:09:15.160 --> 01:09:17.447
And Nolan Ryan moved
to California.

1536
01:09:19.440 --> 01:09:20.965
Nolan Ryan,
when he first started

1537
01:09:21.160 --> 01:09:23.811
was incredibly wild.

1538
01:09:24.000 --> 01:09:26.731
So when the trade came in
and the headline,

1539
01:09:26.920 --> 01:09:29.571
"ls he Rex Barney
or is he Sandy koufax?"

1540
01:09:29.760 --> 01:09:31.569
There was a lot of reason
to believe

1541
01:09:31.760 --> 01:09:33.762
that he was Rex Barney.

1542
01:09:33.960 --> 01:09:36.088
The great line
about Rex Barney was

1543
01:09:36.280 --> 01:09:37.520
that he would have been
a great pitcher

1544
01:09:37.720 --> 01:09:39.609
if the plate had been
high and outside.

1545
01:09:39.800 --> 01:09:43.964
And Nolan Ryan could easily
have become that.

1546
01:09:44.200 --> 01:09:45.326
What nobody knew
about him,

1547
01:09:45.520 --> 01:09:48.171
and I don't even know if Nolan
Ryan knew about himself,

1548
01:09:48.360 --> 01:09:52.490
was that he had
this extreme competitiveness.

1549
01:09:52.680 --> 01:09:54.011
So he had the great arm

1550
01:09:54.200 --> 01:09:57.886
and he had this just hunger
to be successful.

1551
01:09:58.080 --> 01:10:00.606
Every single day,
every single pitch.

1552
01:10:00.840 --> 01:10:03.002
Almost immediately,
Ryan began an assault

1553
01:10:03.200 --> 01:10:06.602
on baseball's
pitching records.

1554
01:10:06.840 --> 01:10:10.731
First came the single season
mark for strikeouts.

1555
01:10:14.840 --> 01:10:16.649
Next came the no-hitters.

1556
01:10:18.200 --> 01:10:23.366
He popped it up.
A tough play.

1557
01:10:23.560 --> 01:10:25.688
No-hitter for Nolan Ryan.

1558
01:10:25.880 --> 01:10:27.644
There were a lot of times
when I was an over thrower

1559
01:10:27.840 --> 01:10:28.807
and that was something
i had to fight

1560
01:10:29.000 --> 01:10:30.490
my whole career.

1561
01:10:30.680 --> 01:10:32.887
But once I got
control of that,

1562
01:10:33.120 --> 01:10:34.849
I became
more effective.

1563
01:10:35.080 --> 01:10:36.650
And I knew
if I hit my spot,

1564
01:10:36.840 --> 01:10:38.922
they weren't
gonna hit it.

1565
01:10:39.120 --> 01:10:41.771
They're rooting for
Ryan to throw one more strike.

1566
01:10:42.000 --> 01:10:43.161
The 2-2 pitch.

1567
01:10:43.360 --> 01:10:44.646
It's strike three called.

1568
01:10:44.880 --> 01:10:48.930
Nolan Ryan has pitched
his fourth no-hitter.

1569
01:10:52.200 --> 01:10:55.568
Four no-hitters
equaled Sandy koufax's record.

1570
01:10:55.760 --> 01:10:57.603
There was no doubt
that Ryan's fastball

1571
01:10:57.800 --> 01:10:59.962
was the fastest
in the big leagues.

1572
01:11:00.160 --> 01:11:02.162
The only question
that remained

1573
01:11:02.400 --> 01:11:03.970
was it the fastest ever?

1574
01:11:04.160 --> 01:11:05.321
I think the three guys

1575
01:11:05.520 --> 01:11:07.727
who are different
from anybody else

1576
01:11:07.920 --> 01:11:11.641
are Walter Johnson,
Bob feller and Nolan Ryan.

1577
01:11:11.840 --> 01:11:14.605
In the moment,
in their moment,

1578
01:11:14.800 --> 01:11:17.724
people saw them
as the fastest ever.

1579
01:11:17.960 --> 01:11:19.371
When Walter Johnson
was pitching,

1580
01:11:19.560 --> 01:11:21.642
story after story
simply referred to him

1581
01:11:21.880 --> 01:11:24.406
as the fastest pitcher ever.
It was a fact.

1582
01:11:24.600 --> 01:11:27.843
It wasn't something that anybody
threw out as an opinion.

1583
01:11:28.040 --> 01:11:31.283
And then when feller came in,
it was the same thing.

1584
01:11:31.480 --> 01:11:32.447
And I think
then you have to go

1585
01:11:32.680 --> 01:11:34.364
all the way
to Nolan Ryan

1586
01:11:34.600 --> 01:11:37.365
who everybody wanted
to sort of use as the example.

1587
01:11:37.600 --> 01:11:41.730
Okay, how fast can a human
being throw a baseball?

1588
01:11:41.920 --> 01:11:43.809
No pitcher had ever
had l-lls fastball clocked

1589
01:11:44.000 --> 01:11:46.446
during an actual game.

1590
01:11:46.640 --> 01:11:49.007
But in 1974,
the invention of the device

1591
01:11:49.240 --> 01:11:50.969
that would become
the radar gun

1592
01:11:51.200 --> 01:11:54.966
made it possible
for the first time.

1593
01:11:55.200 --> 01:11:57.851
We have
a coherent infrared radar

1594
01:11:58.080 --> 01:12:01.084
located in the press box
at anaheim stadium.

1595
01:12:01.280 --> 01:12:02.770
And we send
an infrared beam

1596
01:12:03.000 --> 01:12:06.721
down over the catcher
and umpire's head.

1597
01:12:06.960 --> 01:12:08.325
They had me go out

1598
01:12:08.520 --> 01:12:10.443
and throw some
warm up pitches.

1599
01:12:10.680 --> 01:12:12.762
And you know,
they had one at 74,

1600
01:12:12.960 --> 01:12:14.325
and then
it went up to 84,

1601
01:12:14.520 --> 01:12:16.409
and then I think
the highest I threw

1602
01:12:16.640 --> 01:12:19.041
in those five
warm up pitches was 93

1603
01:12:19.240 --> 01:12:20.446
and I was sitting out...
Standing out there

1604
01:12:20.640 --> 01:12:23.120
thinking this is gonna
be a wreck.

1605
01:12:23.320 --> 01:12:25.448
Because it was all sheer
speculation

1606
01:12:25.640 --> 01:12:26.926
of what people threw.

1607
01:12:27.120 --> 01:12:28.360
You know, you hear
this guy has

1608
01:12:28.560 --> 01:12:30.324
a 100-mile an hour
fastball.

1609
01:12:30.520 --> 01:12:33.808
Bob feller was the hardest
thrower ever at 98.6.

1610
01:12:34.000 --> 01:12:36.924
And you know,
and nobody really knew.

1611
01:12:37.160 --> 01:12:40.164
The device was set up
to measure his pitching speed

1612
01:12:40.360 --> 01:12:43.284
about 10 feet
in front of home plate.

1613
01:12:43.480 --> 01:12:44.641
And he was
actually clocked

1614
01:12:44.880 --> 01:12:48.566
at 100.8 miles per hour
on that night.

1615
01:12:48.800 --> 01:12:50.165
Ladies and gentlemen,

1616
01:12:50.360 --> 01:12:53.091
we're pleased to announce
that Nolan Ryan,

1617
01:12:53.280 --> 01:12:56.124
officially is
the fastest pitcher

1618
01:12:56.320 --> 01:12:57.320
in baseball history.

1619
01:12:57.400 --> 01:13:01.803
Ryan's fastest pitch
came in the ninth inning.

1620
01:13:02.000 --> 01:13:04.844
He finished the night
with 159 pitches.

1621
01:13:08.160 --> 01:13:11.164
Ryan was officially sanctioned
as the fastest.

1622
01:13:11.400 --> 01:13:12.400
But as time passed

1623
01:13:12.560 --> 01:13:13.482
what became
even more amazing

1624
01:13:13.680 --> 01:13:15.682
than how fast Ryan threw,

1625
01:13:15.880 --> 01:13:18.531
was for how long
he could throw that fast.

1626
01:13:18.720 --> 01:13:20.882
Well, I pitched a game
against Luis tiant,

1627
01:13:21.120 --> 01:13:23.009
in '74,

1628
01:13:23.200 --> 01:13:26.522
where I threw somewhere
around 232 pitches.

1629
01:13:26.720 --> 01:13:30.008
I walked 10
and struck out 19.

1630
01:13:30.200 --> 01:13:32.407
Nolan had
pitched 15 innings

1631
01:13:32.600 --> 01:13:34.602
against the Red Sox
on Monday.

1632
01:13:34.840 --> 01:13:36.444
And Friday
was his day to pitch

1633
01:13:36.680 --> 01:13:38.682
and I said,
"you want an extra day?"

1634
01:13:38.880 --> 01:13:42.566
He said, "no." He said,
"i wanna pitch Friday."

1635
01:13:42.760 --> 01:13:44.125
So I'm not gonna
tell Nolan Ryan

1636
01:13:44.320 --> 01:13:45.890
he needs an extra day,

1637
01:13:46.080 --> 01:13:47.286
that's if he wants
to pitch every fourth day,

1638
01:13:47.520 --> 01:13:48.601
and he went out there

1639
01:13:48.800 --> 01:13:50.404
and he threw
a 1-0 shutout.

1640
01:13:51.440 --> 01:13:53.568
When I started the game,

1641
01:13:53.760 --> 01:13:56.331
my intent was
to finish the game.

1642
01:13:56.520 --> 01:13:57.601
That was my game

1643
01:13:57.800 --> 01:13:59.370
and I didn't want to
turn it over to somebody.

1644
01:13:59.560 --> 01:14:00.368
And if that's
what it took

1645
01:14:00.560 --> 01:14:01.686
that's what you did.

1646
01:14:01.880 --> 01:14:04.451
You know, he had 77 games

1647
01:14:04.640 --> 01:14:07.041
where he was leading
in the seventh lnning.

1648
01:14:07.240 --> 01:14:10.449
And he finished all 77
of them and won them.

1649
01:14:10.640 --> 01:14:12.563
So he was
his own closer.

1650
01:14:12.800 --> 01:14:14.802
I probably averaged
somewhere between 150

1651
01:14:15.000 --> 01:14:17.082
and 170 pitches
a start.

1652
01:14:17.280 --> 01:14:19.601
And on today's,
that's unheard of.

1653
01:14:19.800 --> 01:14:22.326
And anybody allowing
the pitcher to do that,

1654
01:14:22.560 --> 01:14:25.530
they'd run them
out of town.

1655
01:14:25.720 --> 01:14:27.051
Ryan was 27 years old

1656
01:14:27.240 --> 01:14:28.890
and believed his days
as a fireballer

1657
01:14:29.080 --> 01:14:30.491
were numbered.

1658
01:14:30.680 --> 01:14:33.445
"I don't look
for longevity," he said.

1659
01:14:33.640 --> 01:14:35.404
"If I can escape injury,

1660
01:14:35.600 --> 01:14:36.761
I should be
a fastball pitcher

1661
01:14:36.960 --> 01:14:39.440
for another five years."

1662
01:14:39.640 --> 01:14:41.881
When I went to Houston
as a free agent,

1663
01:14:42.120 --> 01:14:45.567
in 1980, iasked
for a three year contract.

1664
01:14:45.760 --> 01:14:48.161
'Cause I was 32 years old and i
figured you know,

1665
01:14:48.360 --> 01:14:49.930
in three years,

1666
01:14:50.120 --> 01:14:51.121
that's probably will be
a reasonable time,

1667
01:14:51.320 --> 01:14:53.084
I'd be out of the game.

1668
01:14:53.280 --> 01:14:55.851
But "the Ryan express"
was just getting started.

1669
01:14:57.920 --> 01:15:00.890
This may be m

1670
01:15:01.080 --> 01:15:03.321
no-hitter number five!

1671
01:15:03.560 --> 01:15:06.291
First he pitched
l-lls fifth career no-hitter.

1672
01:15:06.520 --> 01:15:09.046
A new record.

1673
01:15:09.240 --> 01:15:11.208
Then at age 36,

1674
01:15:11.440 --> 01:15:14.444
Ryan broke Walter Johnson's
all time strikeout record.

1675
01:15:14.640 --> 01:15:17.041
A mark that had stood
for 56 years.

1676
01:15:17.280 --> 01:15:19.760
Longer than babe Ruth's
career home run record.

1677
01:15:19.960 --> 01:15:21.689
And there's the record breaker.

1678
01:15:21.880 --> 01:15:25.202
3,509 strikeouts...

1679
01:15:25.400 --> 01:15:26.481
Five years later,

1680
01:15:26.680 --> 01:15:27.960
Ryan became the first
40 year old

1681
01:15:28.080 --> 01:15:30.321
to ever lead the league
in strikeouts.

1682
01:15:30.520 --> 01:15:34.969
And if that wasn't enough, he led the
league in e.R.A. That same season.

1683
01:15:35.160 --> 01:15:38.130
"The Ryan express"
continues to blow people away.

1684
01:15:38.320 --> 01:15:39.446
He went
to the Texas rangers

1685
01:15:39.680 --> 01:15:40.761
and the led the league
in strikeouts

1686
01:15:40.960 --> 01:15:42.405
for four straight years.

1687
01:15:42.640 --> 01:15:45.689
Including over 300
strikeouts at age 43.

1688
01:15:45.880 --> 01:15:47.928
Called strike three.
There's 300.

1689
01:15:48.120 --> 01:15:50.088
And the
no-hitters kept coming.

1690
01:15:50.280 --> 01:15:53.409
Nolan's looking for
a career seventh no-hitter

1691
01:15:53.600 --> 01:15:56.046
at the age of 44.

1692
01:15:56.280 --> 01:15:59.602
Number seven
is in the books.

1693
01:15:59.800 --> 01:16:02.406
The remarkable Ryan
has done it again.

1694
01:16:04.920 --> 01:16:09.244
[Posnanskh I think Nolan
Ryan wanted to be unhittable

1695
01:16:09.440 --> 01:16:10.771
every single day.

1696
01:16:11.000 --> 01:16:12.047
I don't think Nolan Ryan

1697
01:16:12.240 --> 01:16:14.561
ever wanted
to concede anything.

1698
01:16:14.760 --> 01:16:17.127
Every batter he faced,
he wanted to strike out.

1699
01:16:18.960 --> 01:16:20.166
And there it ls, strike three.

1700
01:16:20.360 --> 01:16:22.328
The grunt told you
it was a fastball.

1701
01:16:22.520 --> 01:16:25.683
He put everything he had

1702
01:16:25.880 --> 01:16:27.370
into his fastball.

1703
01:16:27.600 --> 01:16:29.728
Including a grunt.

1704
01:16:33.800 --> 01:16:36.963
Nolan grunted very loud
when he threw a fastball.

1705
01:16:37.160 --> 01:16:38.924
He threw it as hard
as he could throw it.

1706
01:16:39.120 --> 01:16:40.610
And no one else
did that.

1707
01:16:40.800 --> 01:16:42.848
He struck him out swinging.

1708
01:16:43.040 --> 01:16:45.327
Strikeout number 5,000

1709
01:16:45.520 --> 01:16:48.808
is history
for Nolan Ryan.

1710
01:16:49.040 --> 01:16:50.690
He just keeps
going and going and going.

1711
01:16:50.880 --> 01:16:54.601
Until the point where he puts the
record 2,000 strikeouts ahead

1712
01:16:54.800 --> 01:16:58.691
and is so far ahead that nobody's
ever gonna touch that record.

1713
01:16:58.920 --> 01:17:02.049
I mean, it's just...
It's staggering.

1714
01:17:02.240 --> 01:17:05.323
He was still throwing 96
at that age.

1715
01:17:05.520 --> 01:17:07.602
He was
still throwing 95, 96

1716
01:17:07.800 --> 01:17:11.646
and it was always
a tough at-bat.

1717
01:17:11.840 --> 01:17:15.322
M l-lls 27th
season, at age 4e,

1718
01:17:15.560 --> 01:17:19.849
Ryan felt a pain
in the elbow.

1719
01:17:20.040 --> 01:17:23.408
What happened
was I pitched in anaheim

1720
01:17:23.600 --> 01:17:26.729
five days earlier
and my elbow was sore.

1721
01:17:26.920 --> 01:17:30.163
And obviously I didn't
know it at the time,

1722
01:17:30.360 --> 01:17:32.522
I probably had
injured my elbow.

1723
01:17:32.720 --> 01:17:36.122
And so when I warmed up
in Seattle,

1724
01:17:36.320 --> 01:17:37.481
my elbow
was bothering me.

1725
01:17:37.680 --> 01:17:42.925
And as I went out and tried
to pitch in the game,

1726
01:17:43.120 --> 01:17:45.805
I had nothing.
Gave up a grand slam.

1727
01:17:46.000 --> 01:17:49.482
A grand slam
home run for howitt.

1728
01:17:49.720 --> 01:17:52.803
I didn't get anybody out.
It kept getting worse.

1729
01:17:53.000 --> 01:17:54.286
And then it just
finally popped

1730
01:17:54.520 --> 01:17:56.648
like a rubber band.

1731
01:17:56.840 --> 01:17:59.320
Inside 3-1.

1732
01:17:59.520 --> 01:18:01.921
Oh, boy.
That's not good.

1733
01:18:02.120 --> 01:18:05.727
And I knew that lt...
That I'd had torn it.

1734
01:18:05.920 --> 01:18:07.809
He turns to Kevin
Kennedy and that's it.

1735
01:18:08.000 --> 01:18:09.445
Uh-oh, he's finished.

1736
01:18:09.640 --> 01:18:13.281
Oh, boy.

1737
01:18:13.480 --> 01:18:15.926
Boy, you just hope
this lsn't the way it ends.

1738
01:18:18.920 --> 01:18:20.126
The sign says,

1739
01:18:20.320 --> 01:18:21.600
"Nolan, thanks
for the memories."

1740
01:18:21.640 --> 01:18:24.371
And the kingdome fans
are standing.

1741
01:18:24.560 --> 01:18:26.005
It wasn't
exactly the way

1742
01:18:26.200 --> 01:18:28.771
I envisioned
walking off the mound

1743
01:18:28.960 --> 01:18:30.724
for the last time.

1744
01:18:33.520 --> 01:18:35.648
Nolan Ryan's last fastball

1745
01:18:35.840 --> 01:18:38.491
was clocked
at 98 miles per hour.

1746
01:18:46.480 --> 01:18:49.643
To compare pitchers
from different eras,

1747
01:18:49.840 --> 01:18:52.491
fastballs thrown
in different conditions.

1748
01:18:52.680 --> 01:18:53.841
Measured in different ways

1749
01:18:54.080 --> 01:18:56.765
and marveled at
by different generations.

1750
01:18:57.000 --> 01:18:58.047
This is the question

1751
01:18:58.240 --> 01:19:01.164
that every baseball fan
wants to answer.

1752
01:19:01.360 --> 01:19:03.647
Who really threw
the fastest ever?

1753
01:19:12.320 --> 01:19:13.606
Today, all pitches
are clocked

1754
01:19:13.800 --> 01:19:16.167
at 50 feet
from home plate,

1755
01:19:16.360 --> 01:19:18.966
virtually the instant the ball
leaves the pitcher's hand.

1756
01:19:21.440 --> 01:19:22.885
So 50 feet from home

1757
01:19:23.080 --> 01:19:25.367
was the point where
aroldis Chapman's pitch

1758
01:19:25.560 --> 01:19:28.689
officially registered
at 105.1.

1759
01:19:30.840 --> 01:19:32.683
Well, physics tells us

1760
01:19:32.880 --> 01:19:36.009
that a ball traveling at 105.1
miles per hour at this point here

1761
01:19:36.200 --> 01:19:38.282
is going to slow down
considerably

1762
01:19:38.480 --> 01:19:41.529
as it travels
toward the batter.

1763
01:19:41.720 --> 01:19:42.846
As the ball is moving,

1764
01:19:43.040 --> 01:19:45.327
it has to push the air
out of the way

1765
01:19:45.520 --> 01:19:46.885
so it's losing energy
to the air

1766
01:19:47.080 --> 01:19:48.844
and that causes it
to slow down.

1767
01:19:49.040 --> 01:19:50.724
This is called
"drag."

1768
01:19:50.920 --> 01:19:52.922
So what 0f the
methods used m the speed test

1769
01:19:53.120 --> 01:19:54.963
for Walter Johnson,

1770
01:19:55.160 --> 01:19:56.571
Bob feller

1771
01:19:56.760 --> 01:19:57.921
and Nolan Ryan?

1772
01:19:58.120 --> 01:19:59.884
The three pitchers
known in their own eras

1773
01:20:00.080 --> 01:20:03.289
as the fastest
of all time.

1774
01:20:03.520 --> 01:20:06.603
Walter Johnson's reading
of 83.2 miles per hour

1775
01:20:06.800 --> 01:20:08.529
starts to feel different
when we look closer

1776
01:20:08.720 --> 01:20:10.370
at the apparatus used.

1777
01:20:10.560 --> 01:20:12.722
In which the trigger,
a wire target,

1778
01:20:12.920 --> 01:20:15.400
sat 60 feet, 6 inches
from Johnson.

1779
01:20:15.600 --> 01:20:17.284
And the metal plate
that completed the test

1780
01:20:17.480 --> 01:20:20.051
was 15 feet behind that.

1781
01:20:20.240 --> 01:20:22.129
What that means is,
you're actually computing

1782
01:20:22.320 --> 01:20:24.527
the average speed
of the baseball

1783
01:20:24.720 --> 01:20:27.803
as it passes from the
wire frame to the plate.

1784
01:20:28.840 --> 01:20:30.444
So effectively,
you're measuring

1785
01:20:30.640 --> 01:20:33.484
the speed of the baseball
at this point right here,

1786
01:20:33.720 --> 01:20:34.926
which is
about the equivalent

1787
01:20:35.120 --> 01:20:38.124
of seven and half feet
behind home plate.

1788
01:20:38.320 --> 01:20:42.564
But we're interested in the speed
of the baseball at this point here.

1789
01:20:42.760 --> 01:20:45.127
About 50 feet
in front of home plate.

1790
01:20:45.360 --> 01:20:47.886
Because that's our standard
point of comparison.

1791
01:20:48.080 --> 01:20:49.570
So we have
to make a correction

1792
01:20:49.760 --> 01:20:51.444
for the fact
the ball's gone actually

1793
01:20:51.640 --> 01:20:54.007
from this point here
to this point here.

1794
01:20:54.240 --> 01:20:57.926
A total of 50 feet
plus 7 and a half

1795
01:20:58.160 --> 01:21:00.208
at 57 and a half feet.

1796
01:21:00.400 --> 01:21:02.164
At a rate
of one mile per hour

1797
01:21:02.360 --> 01:21:04.362
for every 5.5 feet.

1798
01:21:04.560 --> 01:21:08.451
That makes a correction
of about 10.6 miles per hour.

1799
01:21:08.640 --> 01:21:11.041
So we really should
be saying...

1800
01:21:11.240 --> 01:21:14.369
93.8 miles per hour.

1801
01:21:17.320 --> 01:21:20.051
In 1946,
Bob feller's pitch

1802
01:21:20.240 --> 01:21:22.766
was measured
right at home plate.

1803
01:21:22.960 --> 01:21:24.803
So to compare
to today's pitches.

1804
01:21:25.000 --> 01:21:27.000
We have to estimate what
that pitch would have been

1805
01:21:27.080 --> 01:21:29.048
50 feet in front
of home plate.

1806
01:21:29.280 --> 01:21:30.850
So that means we have
to take the 98.6,

1807
01:21:31.880 --> 01:21:33.609
add 9 miles per hour,

1808
01:21:33.800 --> 01:21:36.406
we can estimate that he
was pitching with a speed

1809
01:21:36.600 --> 01:21:40.844
of 107.6 miles per hour.

1810
01:21:41.080 --> 01:21:44.084
For that pitch.

1811
01:21:44.280 --> 01:21:47.284
Nolan Ryan's
100.9-mile per hour pitch

1812
01:21:47.480 --> 01:21:50.643
requires
a similar adjustment.

1813
01:21:50.880 --> 01:21:53.770
M 1974, the
radar gun ls positioned

1814
01:21:53.960 --> 01:21:55.200
to pick up the speed
of the ball

1815
01:21:55.360 --> 01:21:58.728
about 10 feet
in front of the batter.

1816
01:21:58.920 --> 01:22:00.520
Again, what we would
really like to know,

1817
01:22:00.640 --> 01:22:01.926
what that speed was

1818
01:22:02.120 --> 01:22:04.930
at about 50 feet
in front of home plate.

1819
01:22:05.120 --> 01:22:07.088
To do that,
we add on

1820
01:22:07.280 --> 01:22:09.169
about 7 and a half
miles per hour,

1821
01:22:09.400 --> 01:22:10.811
and we come out
with a number

1822
01:22:11.000 --> 01:22:14.561
of 108.5 miles per hour.

1823
01:22:14.760 --> 01:22:16.922
At the 50 foot mark.

1824
01:22:17.160 --> 01:22:20.562
So we believe that once
we make corrections,

1825
01:22:20.760 --> 01:22:23.127
this is really
the fastest pitch recorded.

1826
01:22:31.080 --> 01:22:35.608
[Posnanskh 60 feet, 6 inches,
it's sucl-| a weird distance.

1827
01:22:35.840 --> 01:22:38.047
I don't know if it was luck

1828
01:22:38.240 --> 01:22:40.766
or if it was
just sort of this...

1829
01:22:40.960 --> 01:22:44.646
This sense of geometry.

1830
01:22:44.840 --> 01:22:46.200
It just sort of felt
right to them.

1831
01:22:46.240 --> 01:22:47.765
That felt like
the right distance,

1832
01:22:47.960 --> 01:22:50.486
60 feet, 6 inches.

1833
01:22:50.680 --> 01:22:52.569
And here it is
all these years later

1834
01:22:52.760 --> 01:22:54.285
and it's perfect.

1835
01:22:54.480 --> 01:22:56.209
It's absolutely perfect.

1836
01:23:02.920 --> 01:23:06.322
The game, its essence
comes down to that.

1837
01:23:06.520 --> 01:23:08.090
It's just
pitcher-hitter.

1838
01:23:08.280 --> 01:23:12.251
"I'm gonna throw the ball
as hard as I can...

1839
01:23:12.440 --> 01:23:14.204
Let's see
if you can hit lt."

1840
01:23:16.560 --> 01:23:18.528
Struck him out!

1841
01:23:18.760 --> 01:23:21.331
[Posnanskh that's what
baseball's been for 12o years.

1842
01:23:21.520 --> 01:23:22.851
Struck him
out with a fastball.

1843
01:23:23.040 --> 01:23:25.520
[Posnanskh that's the
timelessness of the game,

1844
01:23:25.720 --> 01:23:28.291
and I think that's
the fastball at its core.

1845
01:23:30.760 --> 01:23:33.684
It feels like what
was possible in 1936

1846
01:23:33.880 --> 01:23:35.086
is the same thing
that's possible now.

1847
01:23:35.320 --> 01:23:37.084
It feels like
that hasn't changed.

1848
01:23:40.520 --> 01:23:42.682
And that's part
of what's great about it.

1849
01:23:44.400 --> 01:23:47.324
The game changes,
it moves up, it moves down.

1850
01:23:50.960 --> 01:23:53.167
But that one thing...

1851
01:23:56.120 --> 01:23:57.849
Throw the ball
as hard as you can...

1852
01:24:00.080 --> 01:24:01.844
Just stays constant
through all.

1852
01:24:02.305 --> 01:24:08.622
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