Then he gave me the ball and said, Good luck.'. [4] Moving to the Northern League in 195859, he threw a one-hitter but lost 98 on the strength of 17 walks. The reason we think he may be over-rotating is that Nolan Ryan, who seemed to be every bit as fast as Chapman, tended to have a more compact, but at least as effective, torque (see Ryan video at the start of this article). We were telling him to hold runners close, teaching him a changeup, how to throw out of the stretch. Look at the video above where he makes a world record of 95.66 meters, and note how in the run up his body twists clockwise when viewed from the top, with the javelin facing away to his right side (and thus away from the forward direction where he must throw). That meant we were going about it all wrong with him, Weaver told author Tim Wendel for his 2010 book, High Heat. 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. "[18], Estimates of Dalkowski's top pitching speed abound. Unraveling Steve Dalkowski's 110 MPH Fastball: The Making of the His mind had cleared enough for him to remember he had grown up Catholic. Moreover, even if the physics of javelin throwing were entirely straightforward, it would not explain the physics of baseball throwing, which requires correlating a baseballs distance thrown (or batted) versus its flight angle and velocity, an additional complicating factor being rotation of the ball (such rotation being absent from javelin throwing). Somewhere in towns where Dalko pitched and lived (Elmira, Johnson City, Danville, Minot, Dothan, Panama City, etc.) [14] Dalkowski pitched a total of 62 innings in 1957, struck out 121 (averaging 18 strikeouts per game), but won only once because he walked 129 and threw 39 wild pitches. We'll never know for sure, of course, and it's hard to pinpiont exactly what "throwing the hardest pitch" even means. The four features above are all aids to pitching power, and cumulatively could have enabled Dalko to attain the pitching speeds that made him a legend. He was even fitted for a big league uniform. "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). Yet players who did make it to the majors caught him, batted against him, and saw him pitch. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steve_Dalkowski&oldid=1117098020, Career statistics and player information from, Krieger, Kit: Posting on SABR-L mailing list from 2002. This was how he lived for some 25 yearsuntil he finally touched bottom. Slowly, Dalkowski showed signs of turning the corner. Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr. (June 3, 1939[1] April 19, 2020), nicknamed Dalko,[2] was an American left-handed pitcher. The family convinced Dalkowski to come home with them. Steve Dalkowski: Whom the Gods Would Destroy, They First Give a He was back on the pitching mound, Gillick recalls. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. The cruel irony, of course, is that Dalkowski could have been patched up in this day and age. What, if any, physical characteristics did he have that enhanced his pitching? Dalkowski struggled with alcoholism all his life. 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. The caveats for the experiment abound: Dalkowski was throwing off flat ground, had tossed a typical 150-some pitches in a game the night before, and was wild enough that he needed about 40 minutes before he could locate a pitch that passed through the timing device. Davey Johnson, a baseball lifer who played with him in the Orioles system and who saw every flamethrower from Sandy Koufax to Aroldis Chapman, said no one ever threw harder. When he throws, the javelin first needs to rotate counterclockwise (when viewed from the top) and then move straight forward. The straight landing allows the momentum of their body to go into the swing of the bat. July 18, 2009. "[5], With complications from dementia, Steve Dalkowski died from COVID-19 in New Britain, Connecticut, on April 19, 2020. Bill Huber, his old coach, took him to Sunday services at the local Methodist church until Dalkowski refused to go one week. Dalkowski managed to throw just 41 innings that season. Obituary: Steve Dalkowski (1939-2020) - RIP Baseball One evening he started to blurt out the answers to a sports trivia game the family was playing. S teve Dalkowski, a career minor-leaguer who very well could have been the fastest (and wildest) pitcher in baseball history, died in April at the age of 80 from complications from Covid-19. Said Shelton, "In his sport, he had the equivalent of Michaelangelo's gift but could never finish a painting." Dalko is the story of the fastest pitching that baseball has ever seen, an explosive but uncontrolled arm. We have some further indirect evidence of the latter point: apparently Dalkowskis left (throwing) arm would hit his right (landing) leg with such force that he would put a pad on his leg to preserve it from wear and tear. Our hypothesis is that Dalko put these biomechanical features together in a way close to optimal. 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. The old-design javelin was reconfigured in 1986 by moving forward its center of gravity and increasing its surface area behind the new center of gravity, thus taking off about 20 or so percent from how far the new-design javelin could be thrown (actually, there was a new-new design in 1991, which slightly modified the 1986 design; more on this as well later). 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. White port was Dalkowskis favorite. He handled me with tough love. 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. Something was amiss! Ive been playing ball for 10 years, and nobody can throw a baseball harder than that, said Grammas at the time. On Christmas Eve 1992, Dalkowski walked into a laundromat in Los Angeles and began talking to a family there. The Fastest Baseball Pitch Ever Could've Burned a Hole - FanBuzz He struck out 1,396 and walked 1,354 in 995 innings. Dalko explores one man's unmatched talent on the mound and the forces that kept ultimate greatness always just beyond his reach. Oriole Paul Blair stated that "He threw the hardest I ever saw. [20], According to the Guinness Book of Records, a former record holder for fastest pitch is Nolan Ryan, with a pitch clocked at 100.9mph (162.4km/h) in 1974, though several pitchers have recorded faster pitches since then. At SteveDalkowski.com, we want to collect together the evidence and data that will allow us to fill in the details about Dalkos pitching. Opening day, and I go back to 1962 -- the story of Steve Dalkowski and Earl Weaver. Which duo has the most goal contributions in Europe this season? That was because of the tremendous backspin he could put on the ball., That amazing, rising fastball would perplex managers, friends, and catchers from the sandlots back in New Britain, Connecticut where Dalkowski grew up, throughout his roller-coaster ride in the Orioles farm system. I still check out his wikipedia page once a month or so just to marvel at the story. All in the family: how three generations of Jaquezes have ruled West Coast basketball. That lasted two weeks and then he drifted the other way, he later told Jordan. Zelezny, from the Czech Republic, was in Atlanta in 1996 for the Olympics, where he won the gold for the javelin. Former Orioles prospect Steve Dalkowski, model for Nuke LaLoosh in His only appearance at the Orioles' Memorial Stadium was during an exhibition game in 1959, when he struck out the opposing side. He also learned, via a team-administered IQ test, that Dalkowski scored the lowest on the team. Instead, he started the season in Rochester and couldnt win a game. He often walked more batters than he struck out, and many times his pitches would go wild sometimes so wild that they ended up in the stands. Within a few innings, blood from the steak would drip down Baylocks arm, giving batters something else to think about. What is the fastest pitch ever officially recorded? Reporters and players moved quickly closer to see this classic confrontation. Brought into an April 13, 1958 exhibition against the Reds at Memorial Stadium, Dalkowski sailed his first warm-up pitch over the head of the catcher, then struck out Don Hoak, Dee Fondy, and Alex Grammas on 12 pitches. Another story says that in 1960 at Stockton, California, he threw a pitch that broke umpire Doug Harvey's mask in three places, knocking him 18 feet (5m) back and sending him to a hospital for three days with a concussion. Stay tuned! Ripken volunteered to take him on at Tri-Cities, demanding that he be in bed early on the nights before he pitched. We even sought to assemble a collection of still photographs in an effort to ascertain what Steve did to generate his exceptional velocity. Steve Dalkowski Rare Footage of Him Throwing | Fastest Pitcher Ever "[5], Dalkowski was born in New Britain, Connecticut, the son of Adele Zaleski, who worked in a ball bearing factory, and Stephen Dalkowski, a tool and die maker. During his time with the football team, they won the division championship twice, in 1955 and 1956. Because pitching requires a stride, pitchers land with their front leg bent; but for the hardest throwers, the landing leg then reverts to a straight/straighter position. I was 6 feet tall in eighth grade and 175 lbs In high school, I was 80 plus in freshman year and by senior year 88 plus mph, I received a baseball scholarship to Ball State University in 1976. In his sport, he had the equivalent of Michelangelos gift but could never finish a painting.. He was likely well above 100 under game conditions, if not as high as 120, as some of the more far-fetched estimates guessed. Steve Dalkowski, the model for Nuke LaLoosh, dies at 80 Instead, Dalkowski spent his entire professional career in the minor leagues. Dalkowski's pitches, thrown from a 5-foot-11-inch, 175-pound frame, were likely to arrive high or low rather than bearing in on a hitter or straying wide of the plate. McDowell said this about Dalkowskis pitching mechanics: He had the most perfect pitching mechanics I ever saw. The story is fascinating, and Dalko is still alive. Which non-quarterback group will define each top-25 team's season? Koufax was obviously one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history, but his breaking balls were what was so devastating. Extreme estimates place him throwing at 125 mph, which seems somewhere between ludicrous and impossible. Pat Gillick, who would later lead three teams to World Series championships (Toronto in 1992 and 1993, Philadelphia in 2008), was a young pitcher in the Orioles organization when Dalkowski came along. Though radar guns were not in use in the late 1950s, when he was working his way through the minors, his fastball was estimated to travel at 100 mph, with Orioles manager Cal Ripken Sr. putting it at 115 mph, and saying Dalkowski threw harder than Sandy Koufax or Nolan Ryan. But such was the allure of Dalkowski's explosive arm that the Orioles gave him chance after chance to harness his "stuff", knowing that if he ever managed to control it, he would be a great weapon. Our team working on the Dalko Project have come to refer to video of Dalko pitching as the Holy Grail. Like the real Holy Grail, we doubt that such video will ever be found. Best BBCOR Bats Follow him on Twitter @jay_jaffe and Mastodon @jay_jaffe. 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. 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. That seems to be because Ryan's speed was recorded 10 feet (3.0m) from the plate, unlike 10 feet from release as today, costing him up to 10 miles per hour (16km/h). Gripping and tragic, Dalko is the definitive story of Steve "White Lightning" Dalkowski, baseball's fastest pitcher ever. Steve Dalkowski, Immortalized in 'Bull Durham,' Threw 110 mph Fastballs Players seeing Dalkowski pitch and marveling at his speed did not see him as fundamentally changing the art of pitching. But all such appeals to physical characteristics that might have made the difference in Dalkos pitching speed remain for now speculative in the extreme. Major League Baseball Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver called Steve "Dalko" Dalkowski the fastest pitcher he had ever seen with an estimated 110-mph fastball in an era without radar guns. But, no matter how embellished, one fact always remained: Dalkowski struck out more batters and walked more batters per nine-inning game than any professional pitcher in baseball history. For a time I was tempted to rate Dalkowski as the fastest ever. But plenty of players who did make it into the MLB batted against him or saw him pitch. Dalkowski warmed up and then moved 15 feet (5m) away from the wooden outfield fence. Nope. Dalkowski picked cotton, oranges, apricots, and lemons. 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. Therefore, to play it conservatively, lets say the difference is only a 20 percent reduction in distance. Writer-director Ron Shelton, who spent five years in the Orioles farm system, heard about Dalkowski's exploits and based the character Nuke Laloosh in "Bull Durham" on the pitcher. Ive never seen another one like it. Its hard to find, mind you, but I found it and it was amazing how easy it was once you found the throwing zone I threw 103 mph a few times on radar, and many in 97-100 mph range, and did not realize I was throwing it until Padres scout came up with a coach after batting practice and told me. He was 80. Dalkowski signed with the Orioles in 1957 at age 21. Fondy attempted three bunts, fouling one off into a television both on the mezzanine, which must have set a record for [bunting] distance, according to the Baltimore Sun. [9], After graduating from high school in 1957, Dalkowski signed with the Baltimore Orioles for a $4,000 signing bonus, and initially played for their class-D minor league affiliate in Kingsport, Tennessee. Even then I often had to jump to catch it, Len Pare, one of Dalkowskis high school catchers, once told me. If standing on the sidelines, all one had to do was watch closely how his entire body flowed together towards the batter once he began his turn towards the plate Steves mechanics were just like a perfect ballet. Seriously, while I believe Steve Dalkowski could probably hit 103 mph and probably threw . Nine teams eventually reached out. Perhaps he wouldnt have been as fast as before, but he would have had another chance at the big leagues. Dalkowski, who once struck out 24 batters in a minor league game -- and walked 18 -- never made it to the big leagues. 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. in 103 innings), the 23-year-old lefty again wound up under the tutelage of Weaver. Dalkowski was one of the many nursing home victims that succumbed to the virus during the COVID-19 pandemic in Connecticut. 'Dalko' Tells the Story of Orioles Fastballer Steve Dalkowski He also allowed just two homers, and posted a career-best 3.04 ERA. (See. The legend behind 'Bull Durham': Steve Dalkowski's unfathomable gift He signed with the Orioles for a $4,000 bonus, the maximum allowable at the time, but was said to have received another $12,000 and a new car under the table. But how much more velocity might have been imparted to Petranoffs 103 mph baseball pitch if, reasoning counterfactually, Zelezny had been able to pitch it, getting his fully body into throwing the baseball while simultaneously taking full advantage of his phenomenal ability to throw a javelin? I first met him in spring training in 1960, Gillick said. Williams looks at the ball in the catcher's hand, and steps out of the box, telling reporters Dalkowski is the fastest pitcher he ever faced and he'd be damned if he was going to face him. He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1957, right out of high school, and his first season in the Appalachian League. Its possible that Chapman may be over-rotating (its possible to overdo anything). Some put the needle at 110 mph but we'll never know. Its not like what happened in high jumping, where the straddle technique had been the standard way of doing the high jump, and then Dick Fosbury came along and introduced the Fosbury flop, rendering the straddle technique obsolete over the last 40 years because the flop was more effective. Here is a video of Zeleznys throwing a baseball at the Braves practice (reported on Czech TV see the 10 second mark): How fast has a javelin thrower been able to pitch a baseball? It turns out, a lot more than we might expect. But after walking 110 in just 59 innings, he was sent down to Pensacola, where things got worse; in one relief stint, he walked 12 in two innings. The American Tom Petranoff, back in 1983, held the world record for the old-design javelin, with a throw of 99.72 meters (cf. So here are the facts: Steve Dalkowski never played in the majors. He was sentenced to time on a road crew several times and ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous. Both were world-class javelin throwers, but Petranoff was also an amateur baseball pitcher whose javelin-throwing ability enabled him to pitch 103 mph. PRAISE FOR DALKO The Steve Dalkowski Story: The 'fastest pitcher ever' and inspiration In 2009, Shelton called him the hardest thrower who ever lived. Earl Weaver, who saw the likes of Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, and Sam McDowell, concurred, saying, Dalko threw harder than all of em., Its the gift from the gods the arm, the power that this little guy could throw it through a wall, literally, or back Ted Williams out of there, wrote Shelton. Weaver kept things simple for Dalkowski, telling him to only throw the fastball and a slider, and to just aim the fastball down the middle of the plate. 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. "[15] The hardest throwers in baseball currently are recognized as Aroldis Chapman and Jordan Hicks, who have each been clocked with the fastest pitch speed on record at 105.1mph (169km/h). Dalkowski returned to his home in Connecticut in the mid '90s and spent much of the rest of his life in a care facility, suffering from alcohol-induced dementia. With Kevin Costner, Derek Jeter, Denard Span, Craig Kimbrel. During a typical season in 1960, while pitching in the California League, Dalkowski struck out 262 batters and walked 262 in 170 innings. Brian Vikander on Steve Dalkowski and the 110-MPH Fastball They couldnt keep up. the Wikipedia entry on Javelin Throw World Record Progression). He was cut the following spring. Thats where hell always be for me. Because a pitcher is generally considered wild if he averages four walks per nine innings, a pitcher of average repertoire who consistently walked as many as nine men per nine innings would not normally be considered a prospect. On September 8, 2003, Dalkowski threw out the ceremonial first pitch before an Orioles game against the Seattle Mariners while his friends Boog Powell and Pat Gillick watched. Petranoff threw the old-design javelin 99.72 meters for the world record in 1983. I did hear that he was very upset about it, and tried to see me in the hospital, but they wouldnt let him in.. Well, I have. [10] Under Weaver's stewardship, Dalkowski had his best season in 1962, posting personal bests in complete games and earned run average (ERA), and walking less than a batter an inning for the first time in his career. Reported to be baseball's fastest pitcher, Dalkowski pitched in the minor leagues from 1957-65. On May 7, 1966, shortly after his release from baseball, The Sporting News carried a blurred, seven-year-old photograph of one Stephen Louis Dalkowski, along with a brief story that was headlined . Steve Dalkowski, the inspiration for Nuke LaLoosh in 'Bull Durham Just as free flowing as humanly possible. Its comforting to see that the former pitching phenom, now 73, remains a hero in his hometown. This month, a documentary and a book about Dalkowski's life will be released . Though of average size (Baseball-Reference lists him at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds) and with poor eyesight and a short attention span, he starred as a quarterback, running back, and defensive back at New Britain High School, leading his team to back-to-back state titles in 1955 and 56 and earning honorable mention as a high school All-American. So speed is not everything. Cal Ripken Sr. guessed that he threw up to 115 miles per hour (185km/h). It was good entertainment, she told Amore last year. Steve Dalkowski, who entered baseball lore as the hardest-throwing pitcher in history, with a fastball that was as uncontrollable as it was unhittable and who was considered perhaps the game's. I went to try out for the baseball team and on the way back from tryout I saw Luc Laperiere throwing a javelin 75 yards or so and stopped to watch him. fastest pitch recorded - Baseball Fever Can we form reliable estimates of his speed? Unlike Zelezny, who had never thrown a baseball when in 1996 he went to a practice with Braves, Petranoff was an American and had played baseball growing up. After he retired from baseball, he spent many years as an alcoholic, making a meager living as a manual laborer. For the season, at the two stops for which we have data (C-level Aberdeen being the other), he allowed just 46 hits in 104 innings but walked 207 while striking out 203 and posting a 7.01 ERA. Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 9. That fastball? [17] He played for two more seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Angels organizations before returning briefly to the Orioles farm system but was unable to regain his form before retiring in 1966. He set the Guinness World Record for fastest pitch, at 100.9 MPH. Dalkowski experienced problems with alcohol abuse. How do you solve a problem like Dalkowski? - JoeBlogs He struggled in a return to Elmira in 1964, and was demoted to Stockton, where he fared well (2.83 ERA, 141 strikeouts, 62 walks in 108 innings). [27] Sports Illustrated's 1970 profile of Dalkowski concluded, "His failure was not one of deficiency, but rather of excess. Torque refers to the bodys (and especially the hips and shoulders) twisting motion and thereby imparting power to the pitch. Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr. (June 3, 1939 [1] - April 19, 2020), nicknamed Dalko, [2] was an American left-handed pitcher. Over his final 57 frames, he allowed just one earned run while striking out 110 and walking just 21; within that stretch, he enjoyed a 37-inning scoreless streak. When he returned in 1964, Dalkowski's fastball had dropped to 90 miles per hour (140km/h), and midway through the season he was released by the Orioles. editors note]. Said Shelton, "In his sport, he had the equivalent of Michaelangelo's gift but could never finish a painting." Dalko is the story of the fastest pitching that baseball has ever seen, an explosive but uncontrolled arm. Less than a decade after returning home, Dalkowski found himself at a place in life he thought he would never reachthe pitching mound in Baltimore. Dalkowski was fast, probably the fastest ever. Dalkowski drew his release after winding up in a bar that the team had deemed off limits, caught on with the Angels, who sent him to San Jose, and then Mazatlan of the Mexican League.