The fastest pitcher who ever lived
By Before reading this story I’d heard of Steve Dalkowski, but I didn’t realize his stats were so unique, or that his life story was so grim. Here are his career stats per nine innings (EP = estimated pitches).
Year H BB SO EP
1957 3.2 18.7 17.6 229
1958 4.0 18.7 17.7 232
1959 4.4 20.4 15.2 238
1960 5.6 13.9 13.9 205
1961 6.6 17.1 13.1 225
1962 6.6 6.4 10.8 162
1963 5.9 8.8 7.9 169
1964 8.2 6.1 11.1 166
1965 8.8 6.3 7.0 163
Career 6.2 12.2 12.6 222
Apparently he didn’t hit many batters, which I suppose is a tribute to the speed of human reflexes when survival is at stake.