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The bottom line is that Zelezny would have thrown either javelin (pre-1986 or current design) much further than Petranoff, and thus would have needed and had the ability to impart considerably more power to it than Petranoff. What is the fastest pitch ever officially recorded? Yet it was his old mentor, Earl Weaver, who sort of talked me out of it. He did so as well at an Orioles game in 2003, then did it again three years later, joined by Baylock. 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. If the front leg collapses, it has the effect of a shock absorber that deflects valuable momentum away from the bat and into the batters leg, thus reducing the exit velocity of the ball from the bat. Extreme estimates place him throwing at 125 mph, which seems somewhere between ludicrous and impossible. Here is his account: I started throwing and playing baseball from very early age I played little league at 8, 9, and 10 years old I moved on to Pony League for 11, 12, and 13 years olds and got better. Thats why Steve Dalkowski stays in our minds. Instead, we therefore focus on what we regard as four crucial biomechanical features that, to the degree they are optimized, could vastly increase pitching speed. He was 80. That gave him incentive to keep working faster. Unlike some geniuses, whose genius is only appreciated after they pass on, Dalkowski experienced his legendary status at the same time he was performing his legendary feats. After they split up two years later, he met his second wife, Virginia Greenwood, while picking oranges in Bakersfield. Pitching for the Kingsport (Tennessee) Orioles on August 31, 1957, in Bluefield, West Virginia, Dalkowski struck out 24 Bluefield hitters in a single minor league game, yet issued 18 walks, and threw six wild pitches. 2023 Easton Ghost Unlimited Review | Durable or not? At Kingsport, Dalkowski established his career pattern. He was sentenced to time on a road crew several times and ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous. Answer: While it is possible Koufax could hit 100 mph in his younger years, the fastest pitch he ever threw which was recorded was in the low 90s. Best Softball Bats In 62 innings he allowed just 22 hits and struck out 121, but he also walked 129, threw 39 wild pitches and finished 1-8 with an 8.13 ERA.. First off, arm strength/speed. Barring direct evidence of Dalkos pitching mechanics and speed, what can be done to make his claim to being the fastest pitcher ever plausible? Some put the needle at 110 mph but we'll never know. He told me to run a lot and dont drink on the night you pitch, Dalkowski said in 2003. 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. Dalkowski warmed up and then moved 15 feet (5m) away from the wooden outfield fence. Again, amazing. Home for the big league club was no longer cozy Memorial Stadium but the retro red brick of Camden Yards. Its possible that Chapman may be over-rotating (its possible to overdo anything). When he throws, the javelin first needs to rotate counterclockwise (when viewed from the top) and then move straight forward. Said Shelton, "In his sport, he had the equivalent of Michaelangelo's gift but could never finish a painting." Dalko is the story of the fastest pitching that baseball has ever seen, an explosive but uncontrolled arm. On Christmas Eve 1992, Dalkowski walked into a laundromat in Los Angeles and began talking to a family there. Dalkowski, who once struck out 24 batters in a minor league game -- and walked 18 -- never made it to the big leagues. Dalkowski experienced problems with alcohol abuse. [4], Dalkowski's claim to fame was the high velocity of his fastball. Just 5 feet 11 and 175 pounds, Dalkowski had a fastball that Cal Ripken Sr., who both caught and managed him, estimated at 110 mph. His fastball was like nothing Id ever seen before. Its hard to find, mind you, but I found it and it was amazing how easy it was once you found the throwing zone I threw 103 mph a few times on radar, and many in 97-100 mph range, and did not realize I was throwing it until Padres scout came up with a coach after batting practice and told me. Javelin throwers call this landing on a straight leg immediately at the point of releasing the javelin hitting the block. This goes to point 3 above. Consider the following video of Zelezny making a world record throw (95.66 m), though not his current world record throw (98.48 m, made in 1996, see here for that throw). For the first time, Dalkowski began to throw strikes. Its tough to call him the fastest ever because he never pitched in the majors, Weaver said. We see hitting the block in baseball in both batting and pitching. During his time in Pensacola, Dalkowski fell in with two hard-throwing, hard-drinking future major league pitchers, Steve Barber and Bo Belinsky, both a bit older than him. Dalkowski was also famous for his unpredictable performance and inability to control his pitches. In placing the focus on Dalkowskis biomechanics, we want for now to set aside any freakish physical aspects of Dalkowski that might have unduly helped to increase his pitching velocity. Ripken later estimated that Dalkowskis fastballs ranged between 110 and 115 mph, a velocity that may be physically impossible. Ryans 1974 pitch is thus the fastest unofficial, yet reliably measured and recorded, pitch ever. "I hit my left elbow on my right knee so often, they finally made me a pad to wear", recalled Dalkowski. To be sure, a mythology has emerged surrounding Dalkowski, suggesting that he attained speeds of 120 mph or even better. Known for having trouble controlling the strike zone, he was . The difference between hitting the block hard with a straight leg and not hitting the block by letting the front leg collapse seems to be a reliable marker for separating low 90s pitchers from 100s pitchers. His alcoholism and violent behavior off the field caused him problems during his career and after his retirement. Steve Dalkowski . His 1988 film Bull Durham features a character named Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins) who is based loosely on the tales Shelton was told about Dalkowski. By George Vecsey. And . Steve Dalkowski met Roger Maris once. Tommy John surgery undoubtedly would have put him back on the mound. Dalkowski began his senior season with back-to-back no-hitters, and struck out 24 in a game with scouts from all 16 teams in the stands. 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. I ended up over 100 mph on several occasions and had offers to play double A pro baseball for the San Diego Padres 1986. 15 Best BBCOR bats 2023 2022 [Feb. Update], 10 Best Fastpitch Softball Bats 2022-2023 [Feb. Update], 10 Best USA bats 2023 2022 [Feb. Update], 14 Best Youth Baseball Bats 2023 -2022 [Updated Feb.]. "To understand how Dalkowski, a chunky little man with thick glasses and a perpetually dazed expression, became a 'legend in his own time'." Pat Jordan in The Suitors of Spring (1974). Some suggest that he reached 108 MPH at one point in his career, but there is no official reading. From there he was demoted back to Elmira, but by then not even Weaver could help him. Dalkowski may have never thrown a pitch in the major leagues, but, says Cannon, his legacy lives on in the fictional characters he has spawned, and he will be remembered every time a hard-throwing . The two throws are repeated from different angles, in full speed and slow motion. He was demoted down one level, then another. And if Zelezny could have done it, then so too could Dalko. Yet nobody else in attendance cared. Accordingly, we will submit that Dalko took the existing components of throwing a baseball i.e., the kinetic chain (proper motions and forces of all body parts in an optimal sequence), which includes energy flow that is generated through the hips, to the shoulders, to elbow/forearem, and finally to the wrist/hand and the baseball and executed these components extremely well, putting them together seamlessly in line with Sudden Sams assessment above. In 1970, Sports Illustrated's Pat Jordan wrote, "Inevitably, the stories outgrew the man, until it was no longer possible to distinguish fact from fiction. A professional baseball player in the late 50s and early 60s, Steve Dalkowski (19392020) is widely regarded as the fastest pitcher ever to have played the game. Then add such contemporary stars as Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman, and youre pretty much there. His legendary fastball was gone and soon he was out of baseball. He handled me with tough love. "Fastest ever", said Williams. Further, the device measured speed from a few feet away from the plate, instead of 10 feet from release as in modern times. We even sought to assemble a collection of still photographs in an effort to ascertain what Steve did to generate his exceptional velocity. 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. How do we know that Steve Dalkowski is not the Dick Fosbury of pitching, fundamentally changing the art of pitching? [17] He played for two more seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Angels organizations before returning briefly to the Orioles farm system but was unable to regain his form before retiring in 1966. But all such appeals to physical characteristics that might have made the difference in Dalkos pitching speed remain for now speculative in the extreme. The reason we think he may be over-rotating is that Nolan Ryan, who seemed to be every bit as fast as Chapman, tended to have a more compact, but at least as effective, torque (see Ryan video at the start of this article). In line with such an assessment of biomechanical factors of the optimum delivery, improvements in velocity are often ascribed to timing, tempo, stride length, angle of the front hip along with the angle of the throwing shoulder, external rotation, etc. Dalkowski was suffering from alcohol-related dementia, and doctors told her that he might only live a year, but he sobered up, found some measure of peace, and spent the final 26 years of his life there, reconnecting with family and friends, and attending the occasional New Britain Rock Cats game, where he frequently threw out ceremonial first pitches. Our hypothesis is that Dalko put these biomechanical features together in a way close to optimal. Note that we view power (the calculus derivative of work, and thus the velocity with which energy operates over a distance) as the physical measure most relevant and important for assessing pitching speed. Steve Dalkowski will forever be remembered for his remarkable arm. He was 80. Something was amiss! Dalkowski, who once struck out 24 batters in a minor league game -- and walked 18 -- never made it to the big leagues. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Davey Johnson, a baseball lifer who played with him in the. Dalko is the story of the fastest pitching that baseball has ever seen, an explosive but uncontrolled arm. I first met him in spring training in 1960, Gillick said. As a postscript, we consider one final line of indirect evidence to suggest that Dalko could have attained pitching speeds at or in excess of 110 mph. Pat Gillick, who would later lead three teams to World Series championships (Toronto in 1992 and 1993, Philadelphia in 2008), was a young pitcher in the Orioles organization when Dalkowski came along. Organizations like the Association of Professional Ballplayers of America and the Baseball Assistance Team periodically helped, but cut off support when he spent the money on booze. [14] Dalkowski pitched a total of 62 innings in 1957, struck out 121 (averaging 18 strikeouts per game), but won only once because he walked 129 and threw 39 wild pitches. How do you rate somebody like Steve Dalkowski? Dalkowski drew his release after winding up in a bar that the team had deemed off limits, caught on with the Angels, who sent him to San Jose, and then Mazatlan of the Mexican League. Dalkowski, 'fastest pitcher in history,' dies at 80, Smart backs UGA culture after fatal crash, arrests, Scherzer tries to test pitch clock limits, gets balk, UFC's White: Miocic will fight Jones-Gane winner, Wolverines' Turner wows with 4.26 40 at combine, Jones: Not fixated on Cowboys' drought, just '23, Flyers GM: Red Wings nixed van Riemsdyk trade, WR Addison to Steelers' Pickett: 'Come get me', Snowboarding mishap sidelines NASCAR's Elliott, NHL trade tracker: Latest deals and grades, Inside the long-awaited return of Jon Jones and his quest for heavyweight glory. Its comforting to see that the former pitching phenom, now 73, remains a hero in his hometown. Stay tuned! [SOURCE: Reference link; this text has been lightly edited for readability.]. "[5], With complications from dementia, Steve Dalkowski died from COVID-19 in New Britain, Connecticut, on April 19, 2020. . His first pitch went right through the boards. One evening he started to blurt out the answers to a sports trivia game the family was playing. At Aberdeen in 1959, under player-manager Earl Weaver, Dalkowski threw a no-hitter in which he struck out 21 and walked only eight, throwing nothing but fastballs, because the lone breaking ball he threw almost hit a batter. But when he pitched to the next batter, Bobby Richardson, the ball flew to the screen. What set him apart was his pitching velocity. Former Baltimore Orioles minor-leaguer Steve Dalkowski, whose blazing fastball and incurable wildness formed the basis for a main character in the movie "Bull Durham," has died at the age of . This video consists of Dalkowski. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Except for hitting the block, the rest of the features will make sense to those who have analyzed the precisely sequenced muscle recruitment patterns required to propel a 5-ounce baseball 60 6 toward the target. 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. Hes the fireballer who can summon nearly unthinkable velocity, but has no idea where his pitch will go. Oriole Paul Blair stated that "He threw the hardest I ever saw. Major League Baseball Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver called Steve "Dalko" Dalkowski the fastest pitcher he had ever seen with an estimated 110-mph fastball in an era without radar guns. Some experts believed it went as fast as 110mph (180km/h), others that his pitches traveled at less than that speed. In doing so, it puts readers on the fields and at the plate to hear the buzzing fastball of a pitcher fighting to achieve his major league ambitions. He asserted, "Steve Dalkowski was the hardest thrower I ever saw." . Previewing the 2023 college baseball season: Teams and players to watch, key storylines, Road to the men's Frozen Four: Conference tournaments at a glance, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live', Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list. Yet players who did make it to the majors caught him, batted against him, and saw him pitch. Follow him on Twitter @jay_jaffe and Mastodon @jay_jaffe. Just 5-foot-11 and 175, Dalkowski had a fastball that Cal Ripken Sr., who both caught and managed him, estimated at 110 mph. Some advised him to aim below the batters knees, even at home plate, itself. Within a few innings, blood from the steak would drip down Baylocks arm, giving batters something else to think about. Shelton says that Ted Williams once faced Dalkowski and called him "fastest ever." When I think about him today, I find myself wondering what could have been. Dalkowski's greatest legacy may be the number of anecdotes (some more believable than others) surrounding his pitching ability. His arm speed/strength must have been impressive, and it may well be that he was able to achieve a coordinated snap of forearm and wrist that significantly added to his speed. Both straighten out their landing legs, thereby transferring momentum from their lower body to their pitching arms. Perhaps that was the only way to control this kind of high heat and keep it anywhere close to the strike zone. He died on April 19 in New Britain, Conn., at the age of 80 from COVID-19. Just three days after his high school graduation in 1957, Steve Dalkowski signed into the Baltimore Orioles system. That lasted two weeks and then he drifted the other way, he later told Jordan. And he was pitching the next day. 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. It really rose as it left his hand. [16], For his contributions to baseball lore, Dalkowski was inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals on July 19, 2009. 9881048 343 KB 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). But during processing, he ran away and ended up living on the streets of Los Angeles. Said Shelton, In his sport, he had the equivalent of Michaelangelo's gift but could never finish a painting. White port was Dalkowskis favorite. The problem was that Dalkowski sprayed pitches high, low, inside, and out but not nearly often enough over the plate to be effective. 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. Some uncertainty over the cause of his injury exists, however, with other sources contending that he damaged his elbow while throwing to first after fielding a bunt from Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton. Yet as he threw a slider to Phil Linz, he felt something pop in his elbow. He was sometimes called the fastest pitcher in baseball history and had a fastball that probably exceeded 100mph (160km/h). Still, that 93.5 mph measurement was taken at 606 away, which translates to a 99 or 100 mph release velocity. We werent the first in this effort and, likely, will not be the last. Cotton, potatoes, carrots, oranges, lemons, multiple marriages, uncounted arrests for disorderly conduct, community service on road crews with mandatory attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous his downward spiral continued. Some observers believed that this incident made Dalkowski even more nervous and contributed further to his wildness. We give the following world record throw (95.66 m) by Zelezny because it highlights the three other biomechanical features that could have played a crucial role in Dalkowski reaching 110 mph. Brought into an April 13, 1958 exhibition against the Reds at Memorial Stadium, Dalkowski sailed his first warm-up pitch over the head of the catcher, then struck out Don Hoak, Dee Fondy, and Alex Grammas on 12 pitches. "It was truly a magical time back then when Stevie pitched his high school game there," said. Beyond that the pitcher would cause himself a serious injury. The four features above are all aids to pitching power, and cumulatively could have enabled Dalko to attain the pitching speeds that made him a legend. What, if any, physical characteristics did he have that enhanced his pitching? Slowly, Dalkowski showed signs of turning the corner. But within months, Virginia suffered a stroke and died in early 1994. [2][6] Brendan Fraser's character in the film The Scout is loosely based on him. It really rose as it left his hand. He was likely well above 100 under game conditions, if not as high as 120, as some of the more far-fetched estimates guessed. His ball moved too much. Steve Dalkowski was considered to have "the fastest arm alive." Some say his fastball regularly exceeded 100 mph and edged as high as 110 mph. Dalkowski picked cotton, oranges, apricots, and lemons. There in South Dakota, Weaver would first come across the whirlwind that was Steve Dalkowski. On a $5 bet he threw a baseball. In a few days, Cain received word that her big brother was still alive. Andy Etchebarren, a catcher for Dalkowski at Elmira, described his fastball as "light" and fairly easy to catch. He also learned, via a team-administered IQ test, that Dalkowski scored the lowest on the team. Anyone who studies this question comes up with one name, and only one name Steve Dalkowski. He was 80. Steered to a rehab facility in 1991, he escaped, and his family presumed hed wind up dead. During his time with the football team, they won the division championship twice, in 1955 and 1956. On May 7, 1966, shortly after his release from baseball, The Sporting News carried a blurred, seven-year-old photograph of one Stephen Louis Dalkowski, along with a brief story that was headlined . Just 5-foot-11 and 175, Dalkowski had a fastball that Cal Ripken Sr., who both caught and managed him, estimated at 110 mph. Steve Dalkowski, a wild left-hander who was said to have been dubbed "the fastest pitcher in baseball history" by Ted Williams, died this week in New Britain, Connecticut. [28], Kingsport Times News, September 1, 1957, page 9, Association of Professional Ball Players of America, "Steve Dalkowski had the stuff of legends", "Steve Dalkowski, Model for Erratic Pitcher in 'Bull Durham,' Dies at 80", "Connecticut: Two Games, 40 K's For Janinga", "Single-Season Leaders & Records for Strikeouts per 9 IP", "Steve Dalkowski Minor League Statistics & History", "The Fastest Pitcher in Baseball History", "Fastest Pitchers Ever Recorded in the Major Leagues - 2014 post-season UPDATES thru 10/27", "The Fastest Pitch Ever is Quicker Than the Blink of an Eye", "New Britain legend Dalkowski now truly a baseball immortal", The Birdhouse: The Phenom, an interview with Steve Dalkowski in October 2005, "A Hall of Fame for a Legendary Fastball Pitcher", "How do you solve a problem like Dalkowski? He was able to find a job and stay sober for several months but soon went back to drinking. Players who saw Dalkowski pitch did not see a motion completely at odds with what other pitchers were doing. 10. Steve Dalkowski. Steve Dalkowski, a wild left-hander who was said to have been dubbed "the fastest pitcher in baseball history" by Ted Williams, died this week in New Britain, Connecticut. Steve Dalkowski's pitches didn't rip through the air, they appeared under mystified Ted Williams' chin as if by magic. He rode the trucks out at dawn to pick grapes with the migrant farm workers of Kern County -- and finally couldn't even hold that job.". To me, everything that happens has a reason. Well, I have. Bill Huber, his old coach, took him to Sunday services at the local Methodist church until Dalkowski refused to go one week. Ripken volunteered to take him on at Tri-Cities, demanding that he be in bed early on the nights before he pitched. Dalko explores one man's unmatched talent on the mound and the forces that kept ultimate greatness always just beyond his reach.For the first time, Dalko: The Untold Story of Baseball's Fastest Pitcher unites all of the eyewitness accounts from the coaches . He was 80. Additionally, former Dodgers reliever Jonathan Broxton topped out at 102 mph. He was too fast. At 5'11" and weighing 170 pounds, he did not exactly fit the stereotype of a power pitcher, especially one. This was how he lived for some 25 yearsuntil he finally touched bottom. Our content is reader-supported, which means that if you click on some of our links, we may earn a commission. He was cut the following spring. Here are the four features: Our inspiration for these features comes from javelin throwing. Even then I often had to jump to catch it, Len Pare, one of Dalkowskis high school catchers, once told me. On March 23, Dalkowski was used as a relief pitcher during a game against the New York Yankees. Batters will land straight on their front leg as they stride into a pitch. That is what haunts us. Despite the pain, Dalkowski tried to carry on. Dalkowski was invited to major league spring training in 1963, and the Orioles expected to call him up to the majors. Best BBCOR Bats Somewhere in towns where Dalko pitched and lived (Elmira, Johnson City, Danville, Minot, Dothan, Panama City, etc.) That, in a nutshell, was Dalkowski, who spent nine years in the minor leagues (1957-65) putting up astronomical strikeout and walk totals, coming tantalizingly close to pitching in the majors only to get injured, then fading away due to alcoholism and spiraling downward even further. That may be, but for our present purposes, we want simply to make the case that he could have done as good or better than 110 mph. Hed let it go and it would just rise and rise.. In 1960, when he pitched in Stockton, California, Dalkowski struck out 262 batters in 170 innings. "[16] Longtime umpire Doug Harvey also cited Dalkowski as the fastest pitcher he had seen: "Nobody could bring it like he could. A throw of 99.72 meters with the old pre-1986 javelin (Petranoffs world record) would thus correspond, with this conservative estimate, to about 80 meters with the current post-1991 javelin. The fastest pitch ever recorded was thrown by current Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman. The Atlanta Braves, intrigued by his ability to throw a javelin, asked him to come to a practice and pitch a baseball. Gripping and tragic, Dalko is the definitive story of Steve "White Lightning" Dalkowski, baseball's fastest pitcher ever. When he returned in 1964, Dalkowski's fastball had dropped to 90 miles per hour (140km/h), and midway through the season he was released by the Orioles. With his familys help, he moved into the Walnut Hill Care Center in New Britain, near where he used to play high school ball. For a time I was tempted to rate Dalkowski as the fastest ever. Those who found the tins probably wouldnt even bother to look in the cans, as they quickly identify those things that can be thrown away. No one ever threw harder or had more of a star-crossed career than Steve Dalkowski. With that, Dalkowski came out of the game and the phenom who had been turning headsso much that Ted Williams said he would never step in the batters box against himwas never the same. The Steve Dalkowski Project attempts to separate fact from fiction, the truth about his pitching from the legends that have emerged. PRAISE FOR DALKO Here is the video: This video actually contains two throws, one just below the then world record and one achieving a new world record. Consider the following remark about Dalkowski by Sudden Sam McDowell, an outstanding MLB pitcher who was a contemporary of Dalkowskis. In 1974 Ryan was clocked with radar technology available at the time, placing one of his fastballs at over 101 mph at 10 feet from the plate. He recovered in the 1990s, but his alcoholism left him with dementia[citation needed] and he had difficulty remembering his life after the mid-1960s. So speed is not everything. Fifty-odd years ago, the baseball world was abuzz with stories about Orioles pitching prospect Steve Dalkowski. I cant imagine how frustrating it must have been for him to have that gift but not be able to harness it. Just seeing his turn and movement towards the plate, you knew power was coming!. We were telling him to hold runners close, teaching him a changeup, how to throw out of the stretch. What do we mean by these four features? Andy Baylock, who lived next door to Dalkowski in New Britain, caught him in high school, and later coached the University of Connecticut baseball team, said that he would insert a raw steak in his mitt to provide extra padding. Lets flesh this out a bit. If you told him to aim the ball at home plate, that ball would cross the plate at the batters shoulders. In an attic, garage, basement, or locker are some silver tins containing old films from long forgotten times. Dalkowski never made the majors, but the tales of his talent and his downfall could nonetheless fill volumes. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Why was he so wild, allowing few hits but as many walks as strike outs. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Instead Dalkowski almost short-armed the ball with an abbreviated delivery that kept batters all the more off balance and left them shocked at what was too soon coming their way. Read more Print length 304 pages Language English Publisher Seriously, while I believe Steve Dalkowski could probably hit 103 mph and probably threw . Old-timers love to reminisce about this fireballer and wonder what would have happened if he had reached the Major Leagues.