Other Crap

The 15 Most Intimidating Pitchers Of All Time

Two notes:Steve Dalkowski

The list includes only guys with substantial major league careers, so it does not include Steve Dalkowski. I presume he would be #1 considering (1) he was the fastest pitcher of all time (2) he had absolutely no idea where the ball was going (3) he was drunk a good percentage of the time. Paul Blair said, "He threw the hardest I ever saw. He was the wildest I ever saw." On August 31, 1957, Dalkowski struck out 24 batters in a single nine inning game. He lost. The eighteen walks didn't help.

Dalkowski's overall stats for his rookie season in 1957 are incredible. The whole line looks like typos. He averaged nearly 18 Ks per game, and allowed only three hits per nine innings. Hmm - struck out everyone, never allowed a hit - so you'd think he was a helluva pitcher, right? He actually went 1-8 with an 8.13 ERA!! He averaged MORE than two walks per INNING. He led the league in walks although he pitched only 62 innings!

According to his catchers, Dalkowski's wildness problem was not the typical left-right variance, but the fact that he was always high. He threw the ball so hard and with such unusual backspin that he had to skim the grass to keep his rising fastball from rising right over the strike zone.

I saw Dalkowski pitch in the International League in the early sixties, but it was after his elbow injury, when he was on his way down. By that time he was nothing special, and the Rochester Red Wings were using him as a reliever.

Ryne Duren

The list probably should include Ryne Duren, who was Dalkowski Light. He was a relief pitcher from the same era. Duren had a 95 MPH fastball and wore glasses as thick as the bottom of an old-fashioned Coke bottle. He was also known for some heavy boozing. When he came out of the bullpen he'd just fire his warm-up pitches as fast as he could - into the screen, into the stands, into the backstop - anywhere but the plate, as batters cringed in fear about the prospect of facing a guy that fast who had no idea where the plate was. They had to wonder if he could even see the catcher. Duren actually had moments of brilliance, but in his wildest year (1960) he gave up 9.0 walks and 1.3 hit batsmen per nine innings!