Quote:
Originally Posted by Kard63
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Zumaya
"The official record according to the Guinness Book of World Records is 100.9 mph by Nolan Ryan in 1974. Ryan's pitch was clocked using coherent infrared radar.
The reliability of radar guns used at MLB games more recently has been questioned. USA Today columnist Mike Lopresti reported that FOX was using radar guns which recorded speeds 3 to 4 miles an hour faster than the readings on the McAfee Coliseum radar guns in Game 1 of the 2006 American League Championship Series."
Those people you listed above Ryan came 21 years or more later when everyone cheated and the radar guns are rigged to be impressive. Guinness doesn't lie.
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From same page.
"Despite the accuracy of radar guns being in question, it is likely that Zumaya throws some of the fastest pitches in baseball. By contrast, other pitchers have reached 100 mph on television radar guns, but do not usually reach 103 mph (this group includes Bobby Jenks, Kyle Farnsworth, and Billy Wagner, among others). If the readings are in fact inflated by 3 to 4 miles per hour, then Zumaya would really feature a 100 mph fastball"
"After the 2006 season, The Bill James Handbook published a list of pitchers and the number of their pitches thrown at 100 mph or more. Zumaya led the Major Leagues with 233, while Kyle Farnsworth was second with 26. The National League leader was Billy Wagner, with 5. Zumaya's average fastball was an astonishing 98.6 mph, with 100+ mph fastballs coming every 1 out of 6 pitches."