Best arms (non pitchers/cathers) in baseball, 1970 to present

[93Devil]

OK, just off the top of my head...

Clemente
Ichiro
Dunston
Templeton
Parker
Evans
Jose Gullien
Bo Jackson
Whiten


I know I have left many off...

Have at it.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Alex Ochoa had one of the best outfield arms I ever saw. I saw him make throws from right field to third base that were incredible. Scotty couldn't teleport the ball there faster. Too bad the dude couldn't hit much when he got his chance in the bigs.

 

[OnTheRiver]

Dwight Evans
Ichiro
Delmon Young
Jesse Barfield
Vlad

 

[Huggy]

Jesse Barfield could really throw from right. Saw him do it plenty of times in his Toronto days.

Schmidt had the big cannon from third too.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Hard think to quantify.

But if you are starting at 1970, I'd argue for Dave Winfield, Larry Walker, Jesse Barfield and Ellis Valentine on the list somewhere.

The more interesting list to me would be the "worst outfield" arm. I'll start by throwing out Johnny Damon and Al Bumbry.

 

[Huggy]

Forgot about Valentine. Know a guy who was at a game in Montreal one night and saw Valentine and another guy - might have been Dawson or Cromartie - kill time during a rain delay by seeing how could throw the most balls into the left field stands from right field.

 

[RickStain]

Hard think to quantify.

But if you are starting at 1970, I'd argue for Dave Winfield, Larry Walker, Jesse Barfield and Ellis Valentine on the list somewhere.

The more interesting list to me would be the "worst outfield" arm. I'll start by throwing out Johnny Damon and Al Bumbry.

Moises Alou

 

[Wendell Gee]

Dunston would get my vote for best.

Furcal would be up there too.

 

[YankeeFan]

Former third baseman Aurelio Rodríguez had a cannon.

Here's a couple quotes that were on his wikipedia page:

Sparky Anderson was Rodriguez's manager in 1979, the player's last year in Detroit. "He probably had as good a pair of hands on him as anybody, and a great arm -- the only two arms I've ever seen like that, Travis Fryman and him. This guy was a great third baseman", Anderson said. WJR Broadcaster Paul Carey, who at that time was alternating with Hall Of Famer Ernie Harwell, used to refer to Rodriguez' arm as a Howitzer.(JRR)

In an appearance on the Yes network by several great third basemen, George Brett once commented on Rodríguez's arm, saying to all (but particularly to the Phillie Great Mike Schmidt) "You remember that guy? He would toy with you and pound the ball in his glove and you were still out by 10 feet!"

Every time the Tigers would play the Yankees, the late Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto would eventually get a chance to see a Rodriguez throw a "rising" fastball across the infield. "There's that arm," Scooter would say. "If I had an arm like that . . .!"

 

[cyclingwriter]

A lot of great names so far.

I'll throw in Andy Van Slyke.

 

[Crash]

He's an otherwise ****ty ballplayer, but Jeff Francouer has an absolute cannon in RF.

 

[93Devil]

He never made the bigs, but couldn't Elway throw a baseball over the outfield wall from homeplate?

 

[Fly]

His best days were behind him by '70 but Al Kaline was a master in RF and could really throw it. Textbook technique, always in good position when fielding to get rid of it quickly and accurately.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Dunston, Furcal and Garry Templeton are the three that come to mind, infield division. Probably Scott Rolen, as well.

Worst outfield arm: Juan Pierre?

 

[93Devil]

Any 1B worthy of mentioning?

What about Texiera?

 

[Wendell Gee]

Now that he's no longer pitching, does Ankiel count?

 

[cranberry]

Adding to the list: Celerino Sanchez, a Mexican third baseman who played third base for the Yankees in '72 and '73 before Nettles took over, had a rocket. Karim Garcia and Tim Foli also come to mind. Raul Mondesi, Rick Ankiel, Rocky Colavito ...

 

[joe_schmoe]

Hard think to quantify.

But if you are starting at 1970, I'd argue for Dave Winfield, Larry Walker, Jesse Barfield and Ellis Valentine on the list somewhere.

The more interesting list to me would be the "worst outfield" arm. I'll start by throwing out Johnny Damon and Al Bumbry.

Moises Alou

Well, it is hard to get a good grip on the ball when you have **** on your hands.

Dunston had a cannon...and if you sat in the front few rows along the first base line, you better be on your toes.

Ichiro comes to mind.
Josh Hamilton is also pretty stellar.

By the time 1970 hit a lot of his greatness had already been seen, but Yaz was still pretty good in the 70s.
EDIT: I should add, I would have loved to see how good his arm if he had played outside of Boston.

 

[Scouter]

Now that he's no longer pitching, does Ankiel count?

Ankiel was the one that immediately came to my mind. He made two incredible throws from center field in a game at Colorado a couple of years ago.

 

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

I still remember Dave Parker throwing an absolute laser beam from right field to gun down Brian Downing in an All-Star game (I think it was 1979?).

Still, even though I never saw him except on tape (or film), I think this conversation begins and ends with Roberto Clemente (as our thread starter noted).