He handled me with tough love. With Weaver in 1962 and 1963 . They soon realized he didnt have much money and was living on the streets. But none of it had the chance to stick, not as long as Dalkowski kept drinking himself to death. His arm still sore, he struggled in spring training the next year and was reassigned to the teams minor league camp, three hours away; it took him seven days to make the trip, to the exasperation of Dalton, who was ready to release him. [24], In 1965, Dalkowski married schoolteacher Linda Moore in Bakersfield, but they divorced two years later. Barring direct evidence of Dalkos pitching mechanics and speed, what can be done to make his claim to being the fastest pitcher ever plausible? Petranoff, in pitching 103 mph, and thus going 6 mph faster than Zelezny, no doubt managed to get his full body into throwing the baseball. To me, everything that happens has a reason. Perhaps he wouldnt have been as fast as before, but he would have had another chance at the big leagues. Javelin throwers call this landing on a straight leg immediately at the point of releasing the javelin hitting the block. This goes to point 3 above. In 2009, he traveled to California for induction into the Baseball Reliquarys Shrine of the Eternals, an offbeat Hall of Fame that recognizes the cultural impact of its honorees, and threw out the first pitch at a Dodgers game, rising from a wheelchair to do so. The fastest unofficial pitch, in the sense that it was unconfirmed by present technology, but still can be reliably attributed, belongs to Nolan Ryan. Steve Dalkowski could never run away from his legend of being the fastest pitcher of them all. His buggy-whip motion produced a fastball that came in so hard that it made a loud buzzing sound, said Vin Cazzetta, his coach at Washington Junior High School in 2003. . Opening day, and I go back to 1962 -- the story of Steve Dalkowski and Earl Weaver. "To understand how Dalkowski, a chunky little man with thick glasses and a perpetually dazed expression, became a 'legend in his own time'." Pat Jordan in The Suitors of Spring (1974). At 5'11" and weighing 170 pounds, he did not exactly fit the stereotype of a power pitcher, especially one. Again, amazing. How could he have reached such incredible speeds? He appeared destined for the Major Leagues as a bullpen specialist for the Orioles when he hurt his elbow in the spring of 1963. The catcher held the ball for a few seconds a few inches under Williams chin. He was cut the following spring. Here is the video: This video actually contains two throws, one just below the then world record and one achieving a new world record. He had a great arm but unfortunately he was never able to harness that great fastball of his. His 1988 film Bull Durham features a character named Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins) who is based loosely on the tales Shelton was told about Dalkowski. He struck out 1,396 and walked 1,354 in 995 innings. Once, when Ripken called for a breaking ball, Dalkowski delivered a fastball that hit the umpire in the mask, which broke in three places and knocked the poor ump unconscious. Dalkowski never made the majors, but the tales of his talent and his downfall could nonetheless fill volumes. Ted Williams faced Dalkowski once in a spring training game. Elizabeth City, NC (27909) Today. Instead, Dalkowski spent his entire professional career in the minor leagues. So speed is not everything. Best Wood Bats. However, he excelled the most in baseball, and still holds a Connecticut state record for striking out 24 batters in a single game. The bottom line is that Zelezny would have thrown either javelin (pre-1986 or current design) much further than Petranoff, and thus would have needed and had the ability to impart considerably more power to it than Petranoff. [2][6] Brendan Fraser's character in the film The Scout is loosely based on him. The thing to watch in this video is how Petranoff holds his javelin in the run up to his throw, and compare it to Zeleznys run up: Indeed, Petranoff holds his javelin pointing directly forward, gaining none of the advantage from torque that Zelezny does. That is what haunts us. Baseball players, coaches, and managers as diverse as Ted Williams, Earl Weaver, Sudden Sam McDowell, Harry Brecheen, Billy De Mars, and Cal Ripken Sr. all witnessed Dalko pitch, and all of them left convinced that no one was faster, not even close. So the hardest throwing pitchers do their best to approximate what javelin throwers do in hitting the block. Petranoffs projected best throw of 80 meters for the current javelin is unimpressive given Zeleznys world record of almost 100 meters, but the projected distance for Petranoff of 80 meters seems entirely appropriate. (See. Steve Dalkowski will forever be remembered for his remarkable arm. The problem was he couldnt process all that information. Soon he reunited with his second wife and they moved to Oklahoma City, trying for a fresh start. Just 5-foot-11 and 175, Dalkowski had a fastball that Cal Ripken Sr., who both caught and managed him, estimated at 110 mph. Then add such contemporary stars as Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman, and youre pretty much there. Steve Dalkowski. For the first time, Dalkowski began to throw strikes. The Gods of Mount Olympus Build the Perfect Pitcher, Steve Dalkowski Was El Velocista in 1960s Mexican Winter League Baseball, Light of the World Scripture Memorization Course. Even then I often had to jump to catch it, Len Pare, one of Dalkowskis high school catchers, once told me. Why was he so wild, allowing few hits but as many walks as strike outs. Thus, after the javelin leaves Zeleznys hand, his momentum is still carrying him violently forward. Fifty-odd years ago, the baseball world was abuzz with stories about Orioles pitching prospect Steve Dalkowski. The problem was that Dalkowski sprayed pitches high, low, inside, and out but not nearly often enough over the plate to be effective. In 1960, when he pitched in Stockton, California, Dalkowski struck out 262 batters in 170 innings. Before getting COVID-19, Dalkowskis condition had declined. Steve Dalkowski will forever be remembered for his remarkable arm. One evening he started to blurt out the answers to a sports trivia game the family was playing. So too, with pitching, the hardest throwers will finish with their landing leg stiffer, i.e., less flexed. Dalkowski picked cotton, oranges, apricots, and lemons. [17], Dalkowski had a lifetime winloss record of 4680 and an ERA of 5.57 in nine minor league seasons, striking out 1,396 and walking 1,354 in 995 innings. How fast was he really? teammates, and professionals who witnessed the game's fastest pitcher in action. When I think about him today, I find myself wondering what could have been. [16], For his contributions to baseball lore, Dalkowski was inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals on July 19, 2009. In an attic, garage, basement, or locker are some silver tins containing old films from long forgotten times. [23], Scientists contend that the theoretical maximum speed that a pitcher can throw is slightly above 100mph (161km/h). Some experts believed it went as fast as 110mph (180km/h), others that his pitches traveled at less than that speed. But was he able consistently to reach 110 mph, as more reasonable estimates suggest? It was good entertainment, she told Amore last year. He was arrested more times for disorderly conduct than anybody can remember. Such an analysis has merit, but its been tried and leaves unexplained how to get to and above 110 mph. But we, too, came up empty-handed. "[18], Estimates of Dalkowski's top pitching speed abound. Dalkowski warmed up and then moved 15 feet (5m) away from the wooden outfield fence. [8] He began playing baseball in high school, and also played football as a quarterback for New Britain High School. Also, when Zelezny is releasing the javelin, watch his left leg (he throws right-handed, and so, as in baseball, its like a right-hander hitting foot-strike as he gets ready to unwind his torque to deliver and release the baseball). He had an unusual buggy-whip style, and his pitches were as wild as they were hard. We see hitting the block in baseball in both batting and pitching. His mind had cleared enough for him to remember he had grown up Catholic. "He had a record 14 feet long inside the Bakersfield, Calif., police station," Shelton wrote, "all barroom brawls, nothing serious, the cops said. Not an easy feat when you try to estimate how Walter Johnson, Smoky Joe Wood, Satchel Paige, or Bob Feller would have done in our world of pitch counts and radar guns. She died of a brain aneurysm in 1994. [citation needed], Dalkowski often had extreme difficulty controlling his pitches. A throw of 99.72 meters with the old pre-1986 javelin (Petranoffs world record) would thus correspond, with this conservative estimate, to about 80 meters with the current post-1991 javelin. Yet it was his old mentor, Earl Weaver, who sort of talked me out of it. He was clocked at 93.5 mph, about five miles an hour slower than Bob Feller, who was measured at the same facility in 1946. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. there is a storage bin at a local television station or a box of stuff that belonged to grandpa. In 1963, the year that this Topps Card came out, many bigwigs in baseball thought Steve Dalkowski was the fastest pitcher in baseballmaybe in the history of the game. The writers immediately asked Williams how fast Steve Dalkowski really was. The old-design javelin was retired in 1986, with a new-design javelin allowing serrated tails from 1986 to 1991, and then a still newer design in 1991 eliminating the serration, which is the current javelin. Koufax was obviously one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history, but his breaking balls were what was so devastating. Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr. (born June 3, 1939), nicknamed Dalko, is an American retired left-handed pitcher. By George Vecsey. Moreover, to achieve 110 mph, especially with his limited frame (511, 175 lbs), he must have pitched with a significant forward body thrust, which then transferred momentum to his arm by solidly hitting the block (no collapsing or shock-absorber leg). Instead Dalkowski almost short-armed the ball with an abbreviated delivery that kept batters all the more off balance and left them shocked at what was too soon coming their way. Ive never seen another one like it. Good . We thought the next wed hear of him was when he turned up dead somewhere. When in 1991, the current post-1991 javelin was introduced (strictly speaking, javelin throwers started using the new design already in 1990), the world record dropped significantly again. If you've never heard of him, it's because he had a career record of 46-80 and a 5.59 ERA - in the minor leagues. Just 5 feet 11 and 175 pounds, Dalkowski had a fastball that Cal Ripken Sr., who both caught and managed him, estimated at 110 mph. Here's Steve Dalkowski. So here are the facts: Steve Dalkowski never played in the majors. Accordingly, we will submit that Dalko took the existing components of throwing a baseball i.e., the kinetic chain (proper motions and forces of all body parts in an optimal sequence), which includes energy flow that is generated through the hips, to the shoulders, to elbow/forearem, and finally to the wrist/hand and the baseball and executed these components extremely well, putting them together seamlessly in line with Sudden Sams assessment above. . During this time, he became hooked on cheap winethe kind of hooch that goes for pocket change and can be spiked with additives and ether. With that, Dalkowski came out of the game and the phenom who had been turning headsso much that Ted Williams said he would never step in the batters box against himwas never the same. His star-crossed career, which spanned the 1957-1965. Pitchers need power, which is not brute strength (such as slowly lifting a heavy weight), but the ability to dispense that strength ever more quickly. Certainly, Dalkowskis career in baseball has grown rife with legend. Pitching can be analyzed in terms of a progressive sequence, such as balance and posture, leg lift and body thrust, stride and momentum, opposite and equal elbows, disassociation front hip and back shoulder, delayed shoulder rotation, the torso tracking to home plate, glove being over the lead leg and stabilized, angle of the forearm, release point, follow through, and dragline of back foot.