But none of it had the chance to stick, not as long as Dalkowski kept drinking himself to death. Ever heard of Steve "Dalko" Dalkowski (1939 - 2020)? Something was amiss! He was sometimes called the fastest pitcher in baseball history and had a fastball that probably exceeded 100mph (160km/h). His only appearance at the Orioles' Memorial Stadium was during an exhibition game in 1959, when he struck out the opposing side. Dalkowski, arguably fastest pitcher in history, dies in Connecticut This goes to point 2 above. Perhaps Dalkos humerus, radius and ulna were far longer and stronger than average, with muscles trained to be larger and stronger to handle the increased load, and his connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) being exceptionally strong to prevent the arm from coming apart. After all, Uwe Hohn in 1984 beat Petranoffs record by 5 meters, setting a distance 104.80 meters for the old javelin. 2023 Easton Ghost Unlimited Review | Durable or not? Thats why Steve Dalkowski stays in our minds. We see torque working for the fastest pitchers. A Hall of Fame for a Legendary Fastball Pitcher - The New York Times Well, I have. Given that the analogy between throwing a javelin and pitching a baseball is tight, Zelezny would have needed to improve on Petranoffs baseball pitching speed by only 7 percent to reach the magical 110 mph. McDowell said this about Dalkowskis pitching mechanics: He had the most perfect pitching mechanics I ever saw. It is integrative in the sense that these incremental pieces are hypothesized to act cumulatively (rather than counterproductively) in helping Dalko reach otherwise undreamt of pitching speeds. I cant imagine how frustrating it must have been for him to have that gift but not be able to harness it. New Britain, CT: Home of the World's Fastest Fastball If you told him to aim the ball at home plate, that ball would cross the plate at the batters shoulders. Best Softball Bats Barring direct evidence of Dalkos pitching mechanics and speed, what can be done to make his claim to being the fastest pitcher ever plausible? Despite never playing baseball very seriously and certainly not at an elite level, Petranoff, once he became a world-class javelin thrower, managed to pitch at 103 mph. Then he gave me the ball and said, Good luck.'. The Steve Dalkowski Project attempts to uncover the truth about Steve Dalkowskis pitching the whole truth, or as much of it as can be recovered. The legend With his familys help, he moved into the Walnut Hill Care Center in New Britain, near where he used to play high school ball. He founded the Futility Infielder website (2001), was a columnist for Baseball Prospectus (2005-2012) and a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated (2012-2018). 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). 6 Best ASA/USA Slowpitch Softball bats 2022. Additionally, former Dodgers reliever Jonathan Broxton topped out at 102 mph. I remember reading about Dalkowski when I was a kid. He was able to find a job and stay sober for several months but soon went back to drinking. [24], In 1965, Dalkowski married schoolteacher Linda Moore in Bakersfield, but they divorced two years later. He resurfaced on Christmas Eve, 1992, and came under the care of his younger sister, Patricia Cain, returning to her after a brief reunion with his second wife, Virginia Greenwood, ended with her death in 1994. Steve Dalkowski will forever be remembered for his remarkable arm. He was 80. Stay tuned! [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. 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? Orioles' Steve Dalkowski was the original Wild Thing | MiLB.com Now the point to realize is that the change in 1986 lowered the world record javelin throw by more than 18 percent, and the change in 1991 further lowered the world record javelin throw by more than 7 percent (comparing newest world record with the old design against oldest world record with new design). By comparison, Zeleznys 1996 world record throw was 98.48 meters, 20 percent more than Petranoffs projected best javelin throw with the current javelin, i.e., 80 meters. At that point we thought we had no hope of ever finding him again, said his sister, Pat Cain, who still lived in the familys hometown of New Britain. Unlike a baseball, which weighs 5 ounces, javelins in mens track and field competitions weigh 28 ounces (800 g). As it turns out, hed been pitching through discomfort and pain since winter ball, and some had noticed that his velocity was no longer superhuman. The next year at Elmira, Weaver asked Dalkowski to stop throwing so hard and also not to drink the night before he pitched small steps toward two kinds of control. He. He struck out 1,396 and walked 1,354 in 995 innings. 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. 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. So too, with pitching, the hardest throwers will finish with their landing leg stiffer, i.e., less flexed. Dalkowski was measured once at a military base and clocked at 98.6 mph -- although there were some mitigating factors, including no pitcher's mound and an unsophisticated radar gun that could have caused him to lose 5-10 mph. 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. The Wildest Fastball Ever. Brian Vikander on Steve Dalkowski and the 110-MPH Fastball 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. Its like something out of a Greek myth. Gripping and tragic, Dalko is the definitive story of Steve "White Lightning" Dalkowski, baseball's fastest pitcher ever. Our aim is to write a book, establish a prize in his honor, and ultimately film a documentary about him. No high leg kick like Bob Feller or Satchel Paige, for example. The myopic, 23-year-old left-hander with thick glasses was slated to head north as the Baltimore Orioles short-relief man. He spent his entire career in the minor leagues, playing in nine different leagues during his nine-year career. 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. Dalko: The Untold Story of Baseball's Fastest Pitcher - Goodreads Torque refers to the bodys (and especially the hips and shoulders) twisting motion and thereby imparting power to the pitch. [26] In a 2003 interview, Dalkowski said that he was unable to remember life events that occurred from 1964 to 1994. "[18], Estimates of Dalkowski's top pitching speed abound. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Its tough to call him the fastest ever because he never pitched in the majors, Weaver said. Best Youth Baseball Bats We'll never know for sure, of course, and it's hard to pinpiont exactly what "throwing the hardest pitch" even means. Cloudy skies. 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. Steve Dalkowski, the man, is gone. But we have no way of knowing that he did, certainly not from the time he was an active pitcher, and probably not if we could today examine his 80-year old body. 'Dalko' Tells the Story of Orioles Fastballer Steve Dalkowski The outfield throw is a run, jump, and throw motion much like the javelin, and pitching is very stretch reflex orientated, a chain reaction of leg, hips, back, shoulder, elbow, and wrist snap, which is important to finding the whip motion. In an effort to save the prospects career, Weaver told Dalkowski to throw only two pitchesfastball and sliderand simply concentrate on getting the ball over the plate. Dalkowski signed with the Orioles in 1957 at age 21. Steve Dalkowski, who fought alcoholic dementia for decades, died of complications from COVID-19 on April 19 at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain. Yet nobody else in attendance cared. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. This was how he lived for some 25 yearsuntil he finally touched bottom. RIP to Steve Dalkowski, a flame-throwing pitcher who is one of the more famous players to never actually play in the major leagues. And because of the arm stress of throwing a javelin, javelin throwers undergo extensive exercise regimens to get their throwing arms into shape (see for instance this video at the 43 second mark) . Baseball pitching legend from the 1960's, Steve Dalkowski with his sister, Patti Cain, at Walnut Hill Park in New . It was tempting, but I had a family and the number one ranking in the world throwing javelins, and making good money, Baseball throwing is very similar to javelin throwing in many ways, and enables you to throw with whip and zip. Some suggest that he reached 108 MPH at one point in his career, but there is no official reading. He had fallen in with the derelicts, and they stick together.