Story about Chapman's 105 mph heater and the evolution of pitching

Are the Reds seriously, or have they in the past, talked about making him a starter? I thought that was the plan for him. That would be insane.

 

I've always wondered about pitch speeds for guys in the past. Did they have radar guns in the 50s? How do they know Feller could top 100?

 

They had primitive military speed devices, and that's how they clocked guys like Feller. There was a famous publicity stunt in 1940 where Feller "raced" his fastball against a speeding police motorcycle.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-wendel/bob-fellers-famous-motorc_b_797564.html

The modern hand-held radar gun was first introduced in the mid-1950s, I believe.

 

There aren't too many power pitchers who's arms don't fall off at some point. Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson are incredible exceptions.

Ask Joel Zumaya how healthy he's been with a 102 mph fastball. Didn't his elbow break just throwing a pitch? 2 years after his finger broke throwing a pitch?

Kerry Wood was dominant when he was younger His arm is pretty much mush now.

Strasburg is the nastiest pitcher I've seen in a long time. He lasted, what, 9 major league starts?

Chapman will have TJ surgery before 2014, unless he's very, very lucky.

It's an unnatural motion that puts a lot of stress on your arm. Just because you can throw it 103 mph doesn't mean you should.