How fast did pitchers throw in the 1920s

Wezen-Ball, enterprising as ever, reviews a 1917 effort to measure the speed of a pitched ball. Money quote:

The Popular Science article is called "Two and a Half Miles a Minute: That's the speed at which a pitched ball travels." That's 150 mph. We won't be reaching those speeds any time soon. There might have been significant measurement and calculation error in that study, but it's still fascinating to see what people were doing nearly 100 year ago to better understand the game of baseball. We should just be thankful that we no longer have to resort to such elaborate means to get that kind of data. Instead, we just spend hours and hours analyzing it. Maybe we haven't changed all that much. Not that I'm complaining...

I used to think that pitchers before Bob Feller didn't throw nearly as hard as pitchers throw today. I thought that even the top power pitchers of the 1920s and '30s -- again, before Feller -- topped out around 90 miles an hour. If only because most of the film I've seen of pitchers from that era just don't suggest that much effort was being expended.
Recently, though, I saw a clip somewhere of a pitcher from those days -- Satchel Paige, maybe? -- and his pitching motion was practically indistinguishable from the pitching motions we see today.

No, pitchers didn't throw 150 miles an hour. I don't believe they threw, on average, as hard as pitchers throw today. Because 1) they weren't asked to max out, and 2) everyone in every sport is stronger and faster, more dynamic today than yesterday; why would pitchers be any different?

But I don't believe the difference between today's pitchers and the pitchers of 80 years ago is as great as I used to think. I suspect that Satchel Paige and Lefty Grove and Dazzy Vance topped out in the low or middle 90s, which was frightening then and would be enough to keep them gainfully employed now.

We'll never know since there are no accurate radar records until ~50 years ago, but probably about 5 MPH less than they do now. Bob Feller and Walter Johnson among others could almost definitely hit 98-99, but pitchers were probably about 3 inches shorter on average, there was way less knowledge about kinesiology, etc. There were probably a couple guys on each team who could consistently hit the low 90s, but probably just a handful of guys who could top 94 at any given time.

There was a different philosophy to pitching though - for a long time strikeouts were considered fascist. Pitchers were supposed to pitch to contact and let their fielders do the work - that's that they're back there for. So pitchers weren't up there trying to blow anyone away like they are now.

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We always welcome contributions from our readers. Today, Matt Brown sends us something a little bit different. Matt has written an interesting essay that briefly explores the evolution of “speed measurements.” I think you’ll enjoy it:

A Look At Speed Measurement In Baseball!

In modern baseball, it seems like everyone is obsessed with pitch velocity. Every pitcher is judged on how fast he’s throwing. College players are often drafted based on the speed of their fastballs. In the major leagues, the speed of every pitch is now shown to fans in real-time on the Jumbotron. It’s pretty clear that baseball has become obsessed with pitch velocity.

But where did it all begin? Let’s go back in time and take a look:

1912: The First-Ever Recorded Pitch Velocity

There has always been a desire to measure exactly how fast pitchers are throwing the baseball. The first speed determination was made in 1912 when Baseball Magazine set up a test at a United States military base using a primitive version of a device called a chronograph. The Army developed it to measure bullet speed. Applying the device to baseball, it essentially timed the ball as it flew from one end of a tunnel to another until it hit a steel plate.

Using the device, Walter Johnson and Nap Rucker recorded speeds of 84 and 77 miles per hour respectively. However, it’s unknown how accurate these readings actually were, since the speed was technically measured when the ball had already passed 15 feet from the pitcher’s hand rather than at the point of release. That could make quite a difference. Plus it was obvious to all that Johnson threw much faster than the method recorded.

1914: The Motorbike Speed Test

Hard-throwing Walter Johnson again helped out in 1914 when his pitch velocity was measured against a speeding motorcycle. This time his pitch came in at a more realistic 99.7 miles per hour. Here’s how it worked: The motorbike drove at a constant speed towards a target a fixed distance away. Johnson then threw his fastball at the same target. Based on the speed of the bike, the release of the pitch, and the time the ball reached its target, they were able to record a speed reading.

There were obviously still many variables associated with this test, so the method wasn’t considered especially accurate either. In 1940, Bob Feller tried the same test with his pitch coming in at a whopping 103 miles per hour. Amazingly, there’s video footage available of this event. The limitations of this test are quite obvious when you watch the video.

1946: Chronograph—Round Two

Unsatisfied with the accuracy of his 1940 reading, Bob Feller arranged to measure his speed again, this time with a more advanced army chronograph. On August 20 1946, the test occurred, using a special “Lumiline chronograph machine” which the Army was now using to measure the velocity of artillery shells. This time, Feller’s fastball came in at 98.6 mph. There’s also footage of this event.

1973: Former Ballplayer-Turned-Innovator Danny Litwhiler Develops the First Radar Gun

By the 1970s, baseball finally began using radar guns to measure pitch velocity. There’s an interesting story as to how this developed:

In 1973, Michigan State baseball coach Danny Litwhiler, who had a fine 11-year career in the major leagues, had the idea of using police radar technology as a coaching tool for his pitchers. He paid the local police department for one of their older devices and sent it to a company called JUGS for modifications and possible applications in measuring baseball pitch velocity.

The idea actually occurred to Danny during a visit to the Air Force Academy, where his son, Danny, Jr. was a faculty member in the math department. During the visit a “light bulb” went off in Danny Litwhiler’s head:

“We were driving around the base and I warned him about the Security Police having this new portable radar gun and they would hide behind trees to catch speeders. My father went back to Michigan State where he was coaching at the time and got the local police to bring their radar gun to the field. With a few modifications, it worked great.”

Using the device successfully with his Michigan State team, Litwhiler soon realized he was onto something. He wrote to the commissioner’s office about the concept, and also tried to inform other major league teams as to how the device might be used. At spring training Earl Weaver picked up on the idea and immediately used it to work with Jim Palmer.

A few teams saw its usefulness, but the guns were quite heavy, and very expensive. For the next 10 years, they were used mainly by some pitching coaches to compare different pitchers, or to see the difference between a player’s fastball and their changeup. From this point, the adoption of the radar gun was quite gradual, but eventually it caught on. Danny Litwhiler’s idea of using radar to measure pitch velocity effectively modernized the process of assessing pitchers. His original prototype is on display in the Hall of Fame.

1980s-Today: Radar Guns Go Mainstream

After Danny Litwhiler’s introduction of the primitive “radar gun” in the 1970s, the device as we know it today went through numerous stages of development and refinement. In the 1980s, major league baseball finally began using radar to officially measure pitch velocities; and soon, every team was using radar guns to track pitchers’ performances. Although JUGS was the first on the scene, other companies such as Stalker and Bushnell began to capture market share in the early ‘90s.

With the advances of modern technology, pitching coaches no longer needed to rely on handheld devices (although for many old-school scouts, handheld radar guns are still the most popular option due to their ease of use and relative accuracy). There are now radar guns that attach to the back of catcher’s mitts, handheld devices that send speed readings to a smartphone, and even baseballs with LCD screens that claim to track pitch speed automatically – no radar gun required!

But technology hasn’t stopped evolving. Teams now have even more sophisticated methods available. They can use special imaging technology set up inside a batting cage. These systems, which have only become feasible to use over the last decade, allow teams to track pitch velocity with extreme accuracy (along with many other metrics now commonly employed, e.g., exit velocity and launch angle). As might be expected, these systems are extremely expensive to set up and maintain.

What’s next? It seems that the concept of measuring pitch velocity, which started with the Army’s primitive chronograph back in the early 1900s, has evolved as far as it could possibly go. We can only speculate as to what might lie ahead!

Matt Brown

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