Post by rog on Mar 12, 2019 22:22:15 GMT -5
This is the most definitive thing I've read on Sandy Koufax -- and it even includes video of his fabulously beautiful waterfall delivery, which benefited from the high mound during his career. Intriguing that the fastest Sandy was clocked was 93.2 mph. On the other hand, pitches weren't routinely clocked as they are today:
Was Sandy Koufax' fastball speed ever measured by radar? If so, what was his fastest recorded speed?
Charles Tips
Charles Tips, Co-Founder Star Maker Baseball Academy
Answered Oct 7
Fast, fast, fast… evurbody’s enamored of fast. Fast and effective are not synonyms.
The highest speed Koufax was ever clocked at was 93.2 mph. For comparison purposes, my baseball son was catcher on a high school team with a rotation clocked at 90, 94, 94 and 100. Another thought point is that the pitcher who threw 90 was first starter, the ace of the staff.
Same with Sandy Koufax. He had other things than speed going for him. Watch his release.
Koufax developed a four-seam fastball with a fully-extended release. 93 today is league-average speed, and league-average speed gets tattooed, unless… Here’s what made Koufax the “left arm of God” starting in 1963.
Notice anything about the strike zone in 1963?
Now watch Koufax’s pitching:
The first thing you see is that Koufax owned the top and the bottom of the strike zone with his fastball and with his second pitch, a rolling curve. His third pitch, by the way, was a changeup that he might use a very few times per game.
Those high strikes you are seeing are simply not strikes today. That’s more significant than you might think. Driving balls above the belt is a whole different technique. You can see that most of the Twins’ batters back in that era do a good job of keeping their hands above the ball on Koufax’s high strikes. The last player I remember with the technique to crush the high strike was Tony Armas (though it’s not like that’s a necessary-to-cultivate skill any longer here in the era of the low strike).
With two differing techniques involved, going from high strike to low strike represented a serious challenge to the batters of the era. This was made more challenging by Koufax’s high release point—if he aimed his fastball at the back of the plate, he could “ding the front bumper” of the strike zone. It was even more ridiculous with his curveball—a legit strike might bounce off the plate.
Both his fastball and curveball are four-seam pitches, both with the spin axis at either end of the ball, making his fastball and curveball indistinguishable on a brief glimpse. But, of course the curveball has a different up-out-of-the-hand trajectory. Except, he occasionally threw it with a flatter trajectory, more like a hammer curve. Then the batter’s brain freezes for a fatal instant wondering what pitch is on the way. Bottom line, the identical spin demanded each batter’s total concentration.
Finally, it’s been alleged (and I think it abundantly evident) that Koufax threw a high-rotation fastball. Driving a four-seam fastball is a power-hitter’s dream. The bat goes “click,” not “thunk” like a 2-seamer, and it feels like you hit a ping-pong ball rather than the rock-like two-seamer. The ball is over the fence in a flash. Only Koufax’s four-seamer was coming in spinning faster and thus arriving as much as three-quarters of an inch higher than a hitters’ trained eye would lead him to believe, which explains the high number of balls popped up on the infield.
And so,
Mastery of the two toughest parts of the zone, up and down, together with ability to move the ball in and out on hitters
Similarity in spin between his two main pitches that demanded batters’ total concentration
The fact that 93 mph was pretty potent during the 60s
A change in the rules that played right to his skill set
Believe me, I am not attempting to disparage Koufax’s talent by emphasizing the rules change… more at pointing out why no one is trying to imitate his technique these days.
Was Sandy Koufax' fastball speed ever measured by radar? If so, what was his fastest recorded speed?
Charles Tips
Charles Tips, Co-Founder Star Maker Baseball Academy
Answered Oct 7
Fast, fast, fast… evurbody’s enamored of fast. Fast and effective are not synonyms.
The highest speed Koufax was ever clocked at was 93.2 mph. For comparison purposes, my baseball son was catcher on a high school team with a rotation clocked at 90, 94, 94 and 100. Another thought point is that the pitcher who threw 90 was first starter, the ace of the staff.
Same with Sandy Koufax. He had other things than speed going for him. Watch his release.
Koufax developed a four-seam fastball with a fully-extended release. 93 today is league-average speed, and league-average speed gets tattooed, unless… Here’s what made Koufax the “left arm of God” starting in 1963.
Notice anything about the strike zone in 1963?
Now watch Koufax’s pitching:
The first thing you see is that Koufax owned the top and the bottom of the strike zone with his fastball and with his second pitch, a rolling curve. His third pitch, by the way, was a changeup that he might use a very few times per game.
Those high strikes you are seeing are simply not strikes today. That’s more significant than you might think. Driving balls above the belt is a whole different technique. You can see that most of the Twins’ batters back in that era do a good job of keeping their hands above the ball on Koufax’s high strikes. The last player I remember with the technique to crush the high strike was Tony Armas (though it’s not like that’s a necessary-to-cultivate skill any longer here in the era of the low strike).
With two differing techniques involved, going from high strike to low strike represented a serious challenge to the batters of the era. This was made more challenging by Koufax’s high release point—if he aimed his fastball at the back of the plate, he could “ding the front bumper” of the strike zone. It was even more ridiculous with his curveball—a legit strike might bounce off the plate.
Both his fastball and curveball are four-seam pitches, both with the spin axis at either end of the ball, making his fastball and curveball indistinguishable on a brief glimpse. But, of course the curveball has a different up-out-of-the-hand trajectory. Except, he occasionally threw it with a flatter trajectory, more like a hammer curve. Then the batter’s brain freezes for a fatal instant wondering what pitch is on the way. Bottom line, the identical spin demanded each batter’s total concentration.
Finally, it’s been alleged (and I think it abundantly evident) that Koufax threw a high-rotation fastball. Driving a four-seam fastball is a power-hitter’s dream. The bat goes “click,” not “thunk” like a 2-seamer, and it feels like you hit a ping-pong ball rather than the rock-like two-seamer. The ball is over the fence in a flash. Only Koufax’s four-seamer was coming in spinning faster and thus arriving as much as three-quarters of an inch higher than a hitters’ trained eye would lead him to believe, which explains the high number of balls popped up on the infield.
And so,
Mastery of the two toughest parts of the zone, up and down, together with ability to move the ball in and out on hitters
Similarity in spin between his two main pitches that demanded batters’ total concentration
The fact that 93 mph was pretty potent during the 60s
A change in the rules that played right to his skill set
Believe me, I am not attempting to disparage Koufax’s talent by emphasizing the rules change… more at pointing out why no one is trying to imitate his technique these days.