1919 Ruth vs 2021 Ohtani

packs · #1 08-03-2021, 08:04 AM

There's no reason to believe that the most dominant major league pitchers were only throwing in the low 80s. Rube Waddell was a freight train. I highly doubt he struck out all those guys throwing high school fast balls.

Peter_Spaeth · #2 08-03-2021, 08:22 AM

In 1917, a Bridgeport, Connecticut munitions laboratory recorded Johnson's fastball at 134 feet per second,which is equal to 91 miles per hour (146 km/h), a velocity that may have been unmatched in his day, with the possible exception of Smoky Joe Wood.

And this.
https://theaceofspaeder.com/2019/01/...-threw-88-mph/

packs · #3 08-03-2021, 08:28 AM

Bob Feller debuts 20 years later. Had the arm come that far in that time? I don't think people generally view Feller as throwing in the high 80s.

packs · #4 08-03-2021, 08:28 AM

double post

Ricky · #5 08-03-2021, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

In 1917, a Bridgeport, Connecticut munitions laboratory recorded Johnson's fastball at 134 feet per second,which is equal to 91 miles per hour (146 km/h), a velocity that may have been unmatched in his day, with the possible exception of Smoky Joe Wood.

And this.
https://theaceofspaeder.com/2019/01/...-threw-88-mph/

Very interesting - thanks. Likely that Johnson had lost a few mph off his fastball by 1919, so maybe he threw around 93 at his peak.

Feller was timed at @ 98 mph.

Tabe · #6 08-03-2021, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by packs

There's no reason to believe that the most dominant major league pitchers were only throwing in the low 80s. Rube Waddell was a freight train. I highly doubt he struck out all those guys throwing high school fast balls.

It's not completely crazy - these guys were swinging bats that were extremely heavy. Joe Jackson's weighed 48oz. Ruth used a 42oz model before switching to a 38oz model. Cobb used bats that weighed up to 40oz. Mike Trout, by contrast, uses a bat that weighs 30oz.

Peter_Spaeth · #7 08-03-2021, 11:55 AM

3509K, but it took him 5914 IP. So he was striking out what, 5.3 per 9 innings. Koufax, by contrast, was over 9.

Peter_Spaeth · #8 08-03-2021, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tabe

It's not completely crazy - these guys were swinging bats that were extremely heavy. Joe Jackson's weighed 48oz. Ruth used a 42oz model before switching to a 38oz model. Cobb used bats that weighed up to 40oz. Mike Trout, by contrast, uses a bat that weighs 30oz.

Mike Trout isn't using anything as he sits and sits and sits and sits some more.

He missed 39 games in 2017 with a torn thumb ligament. He missed 19 games in 2018 because of wrist inflammation. He missed 19 more games in 2019 after foot surgery. And now he’s expected to miss six to eight weeks in 2021 with a calf strain, suffered while jogging on the basepaths Monday night.

That six to eight weeks, of course, is now running longer.

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2021/5...aking-pursuits

packs · #9 08-03-2021, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tabe

It's not completely crazy - these guys were swinging bats that were extremely heavy. Joe Jackson's weighed 48oz. Ruth used a 42oz model before switching to a 38oz model. Cobb used bats that weighed up to 40oz. Mike Trout, by contrast, uses a bat that weighs 30oz.

Yeah but it's still a human body. Look at photos of Gehrig. The guy never stepped into a modern gym in his life but he was a brick.

doug.goodman · #10 08-04-2021, 03:30 AM

I believe that this m113 supplement was originally issued in April 1915, the caption has Johnson throwing at 122 feet per second, which equates to 83 mph

mrreality68 · #11 08-04-2021, 07:05 AM

Great information on the pitching speeds of the pictures in those days. I never knew some of them actually had the pitches speed determined in those ways.
Amazing

Peter_Spaeth · #12 08-04-2021, 09:12 AM

Nobody ever claims that Howie Morenz and Eddie Shore were in the same class as Gretzky and Orr, or that Nat Holman and George Mikan were remotely las good as Jordan and Jabbar, or that Red Grange was the equal of Jim Brown. What is it about baseball that makes people so romanticize the ancients and to insist they were better, or equal, in absolute terms?

packs · #13 08-04-2021, 09:32 AM

I think baseball had it's Michael Jordans and Wayne Gretzkys far earlier in its lifespan than basketball and hockey. Nothing could convince me that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig wouldn't have been monsters in any era. Do you think Cobb wouldn't be able to handle a guy like Aroldis Chapman? He'd have to adjust for sure but he hit 366 over three decades of changes to the game in his own time.

doug.goodman · #14 08-04-2021, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

What is it about baseball that makes people so romanticize the ancients and to insist they were better, or equal, in absolute terms?

Because baseball is the only sport that matters.

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