1924 World Series footage

[ChasingPaper]

I very well could be wrong, but whenever I see footage of pitchers pitching in games way back when, Its no wonder some hitters could hit the .400 mark for a season (along with the gloves the fielders used and field conditions) and its very evident why that will never happen again. The pitchers LOOK like they are hitting about 85mph at best. Its almost just all arm without the full body torque and legs like it is with modern day pitchers. Think of Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and the list goes on.
Imagine Mike Trout hitting against any of the top pitchers back then. He would probably hit .500 with 80 HR in a season. Just food for thought.

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by ChasingPaper

I very well could be wrong, but whenever I see footage of pitchers pitching in games way back when, Its no wonder some hitters could hit the .400 mark for a season (along with the gloves the fielders used and field conditions) and its very evident why that will never happen again. The pitchers LOOK like they are hitting about 85mph at best. Its almost just all arm without the full body torque and legs like it is with modern day pitchers. Think of Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and the list goes on.
Imagine Mike Trout hitting against any of the top pitchers back then. He would probably hit .500 with 80 HR in a season. Just food for thought.

-1

[ChasingPaper]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

-1

Well thought out and insightful.

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by ChasingPaper

Well thought out and insightful.

It’s Walter Johnson for crying out loud.

[ChasingPaper]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

It’s Walter Johnson for crying out loud.

3 out of 5 scenes showing pitchers pitching were not WJ. Even still and blasphemous as it may be, even watching WJ pitch, you can see its all arm.
I cant recall where i watched it, but I recently saw a video demonstrating how they calculated his pitch speed and showed that it was 83mph.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by ChasingPaper

3 out of 5 scenes showing pitchers pitching were not WJ. Even still and blasphemous as it may be, even watching WJ pitch, you can see its all arm.
I cant recall where i watched it, but I recently saw a video demonstrating how they calculated his pitch speed and showed that it was 83mph.

As Hank Thomas points out in his biography of Walter Johnson, the apparatus Johnson had to throw through at the Remington Arm's bullet-testing range in Connecticut was at "shoulder height to measure bullets fired from a standing position and Johnson couldn't get his sidearm throws to go straight through the plate. "At length, however" it was reported, "after some effort and with a consequent loss in speed in an attempt to place the ball accurately, "the sphere was successfully hurled in the proper direction, broke one of the fine wires in transit and collided with a heavy thud against the steel plate." Johnson's best throw clocked at 122 feet per second (82 m.p.h), Rucker's at 113, both on their third and last tries. Despite the flawed procedure, it does allow for some comparison. In June 1933, Van Lingle Mungo of the Dodgers and Lefty Gomez of the Yankees, two of the fastest pitchers of their era, were tested at West Point's department of ballistics and mathematics, presumably with more sophisticated equipment. Mungo registered 113 feet per second and Gomez 111 on their best throws."

Given that Walter Johnson was unable to use his natural motion during the speed test in Bridgeport, Connecticut, I don't think it is a reliable gauge of the Big Train's actual speed.

[Hankphenom]

Here we go again! 85 MPH? Where'd you pull that out of? Cobb said the ball "hissed" as it went by, Crawford described it as a "swoosh." Sisler said in 1916 if Walter had been willing to put the first couple pitches under the batter's chin, nobody ever would have gotten close enough to the plate to get a hit off him. But gosh, imagine if today's pitching coaches had only been around to correct the flaws in his delivery, what an eight years he might have had before the TJ surgery failed and he was done! Go look at Johnson's stats and think that these were mostly put up in the small ball era, when giving up even one run might mean the ballgame, and that he never really had an outpitch. Fastballs, just fastballs, one after the other, see if you can hit it. Walter said that early on, a lot of people tried to get him to change his unique motion to a more conventional one, but he was striking out everyone in sight, so why should he?
Here's some torque for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aN0viXDAiU

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

Originally Posted by ChasingPaper

I very well could be wrong, but whenever I see footage of pitchers pitching in games way back when, Its no wonder some hitters could hit the .400 mark for a season (along with the gloves the fielders used and field conditions) and its very evident why that will never happen again. The pitchers LOOK like they are hitting about 85mph at best. Its almost just all arm without the full body torque and legs like it is with modern day pitchers. Think of Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and the list goes on.
Imagine Mike Trout hitting against any of the top pitchers back then. He would probably hit .500 with 80 HR in a season. Just food for thought.

Till they put one in his ear since no helmets or body armor back then or a new ball every pitch.