The fastball is what everyone uses in modern baseball. But what’s the history of the pitch?
It’s easy to take something for granted, even in sports. So commonplace in today’s baseball game, who among us even thinks about the fastball?
Jim Creighton, the fastball inventor, passed away from a medical condition at 21, soon after he innovated the game (photo courtesy The Guardian)
The fastball goes all the way back to the 19th century. Back then, it was all underhand pitches until Jim Creighton began to throw the ball overhand around 1860.
Then the game transitioned to what was known as the Dead Ball Era (1903-1919): Pitchers for the teams favored a hopping fastball because pop-ups in the infield or outfield were definitely an out. In 1920, the game transitioned again, this time to the Lively Ball Era. Hitters could hit more home runs, causing pitchers to rely more on the sinking fastball to keep balls on the ground.
Scientists would have to put their efforts into the fastball pitch. In 1912, we had the Remington Armory Test. Walter Johnson became the first scientifically timed pitcher, clocking 122 feet per second, equal to 83.2 mph. In 1940, Bob Feller raced a motorcycle to test his arm strength.
In the modern era, radar guns were invented in the 1970s and led to tracking, culminating in pitcher Aroldis Chapman’s historic 105.8 mph pitch in 2010.
Want to learn more about the pitch? Watch the documentary Fastball, released in 2016.
