I’m not sure what took me so long, but…I finally watched the documentary “Fastball” this evening. This nearly one and 1/2 hour baseball movie shines the spotlight on the old #1, the hammer, the heater, the pitch that many can throw yet few can confidently control (well, it seems like the 2023 version of professional baseball, most can throw the baseball very hard and a very high percentage cannot control it enough to throw strikes). I’m talking about the fastball. So, what intrigued me about this documentary? First, let’s check out the trailer…

Not bad, huh? The movie is chock full of MLB stars – Bob Gibson, Henry Aaron, George Brett, Goose Gossage, Mike Schmidt, Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Joe Morgan – are all featured multiple times in this film. For my entertainment, that was pretty awesome. To hear their stories, how they perceived facing a fastballer like Bob Gibson or the actual Bob Gibson explaining his role on the mound as an intimidator. Nolan Ryan explaining the physics of the rising fastball, while physics experts from Carnegie Melon disputing it, then Bryce Harper disputing the physics experts. There was a cool round table discussion at the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame featuring Brett, Morgan, Al Kaline, Tony Gwynn, and Johnny Bench – that was a really cool feature of the film. As was the black and white footage of Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, and Sandy Koufax.

During the film, the aforementioned physics experts discussed how a fastball’s speed was recorded over the history of baseball. From crude copper wiring to Army inspired speed traps to motorcycle cops to the more modern ways of detecting speed, the physics experts laid it out in layman’s terms very nicely. Those radar guns you see at games nowadays are another modern convenience that scouts and organizations did not have when signing a guy like Walter Johnson or Bob Feller from their farmland area high school teams. If you like science or even like how things work at the most basic levels, this film is definitely for you.

The footage of baseball yesteryear, the 1960s featuring the Cardinals vs Red Sox games, the Goose Gossage vs Red Sox footage featuring Goose vs Yaz, and into the modern game with players like Harper, Aroldis Chapman, Verlander, Jeter, and others is just incredible. The filmmakers did a nice job of blending the past into the present as they spotlighted the fastball theme and its place in baseball history. 

I won’t spoil the answer to who is the fastest pitcher of all-time, but…I will give you the 4 candidates for that honor. Aroldis Chapman, Nolan Ryan, Walter Johnson, and Bob Feller. Each has recorded a number of eye-popping number on their respective miles per hour test. Each pitcher has struck absolute fear into the hitter in the batter’s box. With less than a second to react, could you get out of the way of a 100 mph fastball? I doubt most could, I know I would be lying face down in the dirt if one ever came towards me. In my experience the fastball, if controlled, is a pitcher’s ticket from Little League to Middle and High School teams, and on and on. For the baseball fan, the science geek, the baseball historian, check out “Fastball.” I highly recommend it!