So the average pitching velocity in the MLB at the beginning of the 2017 season is 88 MPH, which is why we added that particular number to the speed gun in the header image above. Even the MLB only managed to pick up fairly accurate technology for measuring pitching speeds about 15-years ago. 1920. By June 14, 2022 cold waters weapons guide June 14, 2022 cold waters weapons guide Escape Velocity Escape Velocity takes the average of a player's batted ball velocities . Negro League data is not complete. Four-seam averages (2018-2021): 2385, 2482, 2492, 2450 Lynn is using his cut fastball (31%) more this season than he has since he started throwing it in 2017. This isnt an injury. Though some historians dispute his reputation as a hothead, Luque was equally remembered for engaging in a vicious sequence in an early 1920s game against the New York Giants after Casey Stengel (allegedly) baited him into a fury. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE. in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second Hitter's Parks - Parks with Most Home Runs, Average Speed by Pitch Type in the Majors, 1/20/2011 - Added Steven Ellis HS averages, 8/14/2008 - Corrected title "Pro avg" to "MLB avg", 8/10/2008 - Added average speed in major leagues based on August 2008 actual stats. Bob Feller was measured at 98.6 MPH. However, there is one thing that I want to point out first. A child will not have the muscle strength to pitch balls at a huge velocity. 4.89. That's very interesting and well written, thank you, Consider that Lincecum could touch 100 at 5'10".
Legend; Stats; Positions * Non-scoring stats. I am going to wrap up by talking a little bit about how pitching velocity can be improved in youth players. In fact, the MLB suggests that peak pitching velocity doesn't occur until 26-years-old. He bounced around the minors for a whole decade. Major League Baseball implemented the PITCH/FX system in 2006, allowing it to more accurately track the movement and speed of pitches, and the software kept improving over the years. Free shipping for many products!
How fast did pitchers throw in the early years of baseball? Negro League team records include only league games. Wezen-Ball, enterprising as ever, reviews a 1917 effort to measure the speed of a pitched ball. 1993; however, it should be known that Wakefield's primary pitch was the knuckleball, an off-speed pitch. Much of his success could be attributed to playing at the Reds home park of Redland (Crosley) Field, a future hitters paradise which, for the time being, was very spacious and quite polite to pitchers. If a pitcher can throw that pitch to the . However, these are incredibly expensive, and I doubt that there are many youth baseball teams that have one available. Ben Joyce threw the fastest pitch in baseball in 2022, factoring in both the MLB and collegiate level. Hit By Pitch per Game. I suggest that you watch some slow-motion pitching videos from the MLB. Major League Baseball implemented a . The average fastball is between 50-60 mph.
All you need to do is follow this method. A lot of the reason why younger people pitch slower is because of muscle growth. We just set the record Mar 2, 2023, 9:49 PM . Out of those two transitionary years, 1961-62, Sandy Koufax the master-of-all-time, baseball's Leonardo, arrived. With that said, there will still be plenty of arms who will blow past 100 mph. (The MLB average is 9% this season). This is the score is high enough in the baseball competition. Subscribe to Made The Cut for more mlb content! Aroldis Chapmans fastball is widely regarded as the fastest pitch in MLB today. All except below are based on radar readings by the editor. The average fastball of a Major League Baseball pitcher reaches a speed of 91 mph. We love sports and love to share information and experiences and address some of the common questions any athlete raises when pursuing these types of sports. The stock market crashed at the end of 1929sending stocks on a downward spiral that . Joost's worst season came in 1943 when he hit just .185 in 421 at-bats including 80 strikeouts. I remember reading that 90MPH was rare back in the day and 98-99 was unheard of.
5 early observations of MLB's new pitch clock - Gophnx.com Remember; improving pitching velocity isnt a sprint, it is a marathon. All statistics used in this article were accurate as of 5-24-2017. But, since 2016: nothing. The One Pitch You Should Avoid at All Costs: The Surprising Truth About Baseballs Worst Pitch, Find out if youre too old to play baseball and get back in the game! Top 5% quiz! 1920, Boston Red Sox; 1921-29, New York Yankees. 28. Last updated: 5 years ago The goal for a pitcher is to strike out the batter. The timer should be started when the ball leaves the pitchers hand, and it should be stopped as soon as it hits the area where the hitter should be. Jews playing in Major League Baseball? (It was 94.9 this season) pic.twitter.com/eXBoR5PFxP. So when you compare pitchers across eras, you're chasing an elusive standard. Stats. a batted-ball event with a launch angle between eight All this, and his best stuff still lay ahead of him in the 1930s. Current: MLB has added a pitch clock, limited infield shifts and made other changes to quicken the pace of play. Speed is the most essential when it comes to pitching. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was All rights reserved. His career K-BB% rate was 19.4% in Japan and is 16.6% in the majors . This will reduce pitching velocity over time due to arm injuries, some of which may not heal. The bigger the bend, the more velocity behind the shot. 105.1 mph fastball against the Baltimore Orioles. Closing the game in the 9th inning, Chapman unleashed a 105.1 mph fastball against the Baltimore Orioles. But any full-time pitcher who managed to keep his ERA below 3.00 in four separate seasons during an offensively mad time deserves a spot at the top of this collection. Now, according to the MLB, an average fastball pitch is 92.3 mph. Before the decade was out, he won 20 games three times, won a pair of ERA titles with 2.16 and 2.09 figures (in 1924 and 1928, respectively) that looked awfully remarkable in a time of hitting dominance, and led the NL in strikeouts in each of his first seven years with Brooklynincluding an impressive 262 in 1924 that was double the total of the leagues #2, teammate Burleigh Grimes. The average pitch speed among 14-year-olds would be about 65 mph, according to Steven Ellis, a former pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.
'Every number is good': Analytics helping speed up baseball Out of the morass of uneven win-loss numbers came a spectacular effort in 1923 when he won 27 games, which still ranks as the most ever by a Reds pitcherand the most by a Latin-born player. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, The subreddit for the bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players. You should only be considering weight gain as a way to increase pitching velocity if the child is below the average weight for a person their age. Slow and steady will win the race here. The "Ruthian Era" (1920 to 1941) witnessed a change in style for the game of baseball as runs started to pile up and pitcher ERA's began to rise. What device? Sometimes whether a ball used by kids or adults can also have an impact on its weight. Matt Anderson, has thrown the fastest pitched baseball which measured 103 miles per hour (166 km/h or 46.0 m/s). The answer to that question is "both," though past players tend to have used heavier bats than do today's players. In Japan, Ohtani posted a walk rate of 9.1%, and he's at 14.8% for his major-league career. Eppa Rixey. We'll assume this pitch speed in our calculation.
Why Is The 1920s Stake A Claim For Baseball's Golden Age This site is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. there were, on average, 1.6 . The combined amount for the least accurate pitches were 30, 31, and 31 centimeters. 1. One of the perks of living in the modern age is the fact that we have access to YouTube. As of today, there are about 274 NCAA Division II baseball teams. . Jonathan Papelbon. It also just surpassed Helsleys teammate for the title of fastest MLB pitch in 2022. It is 9 to 9 14 inches in circumference and 2 78-3 inches in diameter. The average fastball velocity for pitchers 10 years old and younger is between 40-50 mph. The figure declined from a record 3:10:07 last year and was the lowest since 3:00:44 in 2018. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the Easily the best player in Cuba in the 1980s and 1990s, Omar Linares still holds records for the highest career average (.368), highest OBP (.487), highest slugging percentage (.644) and most runs . Baseball Savant Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA), In order to qualify at all, a pitcher must have 3 #2. Some of the fastest pitchers in 2022 clocked over 103 mph, with multiple relievers and even a few starters hitting 102 mph with relative ease. Best Year: 1925 (2.88 ERA, 21 wins, 11 losses, 22 complete games, 287.1 innings). The Remarkable Time: When Baseball Became the Top Sport in America? In baseball statistics, pitch count is the number of pitches thrown by a pitcher in a game. Game 3 of the NLCS took 4 hours, 14 minutes to play 8 1/2 innings, while Game 4 of the ALCS lasted 4 hours, 4 minutes as the two teams combined to use 12 pitchers. You can always aim for that, but do not expect to reach it.
The Velocity Surge Has Plateaued | FanGraphs Baseball In 2022, there were 164 pitchers hitting triple digits with their fastball. The home for both the New York Yankees and Giants becomes the exclusive host to the first Subway Series. In fact, a lot of ballplayers choose to live just outside the city limits in the suburbs that surround the city their home park [], Are you a newbie interested in baseball, but dont know when it was considered popular or if its even popular any more? . Baseball is entering a new era, and we have answers to all of your questions. As an interesting point of note, youth players, once they hit the age of 16 are not that far behind MLB pitchers in terms of pitching velocity. Mike Trout Sadly, most youth set-ups will not have any way to determine pitching velocity. An accomplished football and baseball player at Bartow High in the early 1920s, Burnett graduated in 1923 and enrolled at the University of Florida, where he joined the Gators' football and baseball teams. St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Hicks, the only other active player to hit 105 with his fastball, is on the injured list. Document Creator: Sean Holtz of Baseball Almanac, Inc. 2003-2005. " Qualifier In order to qualify at all, a pitcher must have 3 pitches thrown per team game A 91-mph fastball will not get major league hitters out if it is thrown over the middle of the plate. This can be shown by looking at the average fastball velocity in the major leagues as time progresses. 0. 2.
Jews playing in Major League Baseball? We just set the record Baseball Pitching Velocity Chart from Youth to Professional 10 Eddie Joost -- Career Batting Average: .239. On August 25, 1922, the Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies played the game with the most runs in MLB history, scoring 49 runs in total. News. This means that the final step is to multiply the figure by 0.682. Here are the 30 most unsung, under-the-radar, underrated pitchers in major league history. A couple of hours work on each of these days should go a long way towards helping to determine pitching velocity. Multiply this by 0.682, and you have 55 miles per hour. The surge has flattened out. The average Earned Run Average for pitchers . Of course, you want that number in MPH. window.". Pitching velocity training will also have a major impact on the speed of the pitch. Another is due out in August. Cincinnati Reds prospect Hunter Greene, one of the top pitching prospects in MLB, regularly throws triple-digits and has even hit 105 mph. This page includes pitch speed tests in 1912, 1913, 1917, 1930, 1933, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1954, 1958, 1960, and 1974, with pictures, articles, sources, etc. He lived and played in a time when instruments for measuring a baseball's speed didn't exist. However, a small strength gain wouldnt go amiss. 2022 Regular Season Stats 2022 . Its all part of the revolution, movement and spin is paramount for off-speed pitches and velocity is treasured on fastballs. He would win 23 more the next yearthe fourth straight year he surpassed 20but he didnt win his first ERA title until 1923 when, ironically, his 2.76 figure was coupled with his first career losing mark (13-14). World Series underdogs, a beat-up New York Yankee squad comes alive behind Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. And, finally, here's a league-wide stat from this year that does stand out as historically weird. Faber ultimately became concerned with other issues regarding his teammates, most notoriously in 1927 when he discovered that Johnny Mostil was sleeping with his wife. Via Baseball Prospectus' park-corrected PITCHf/x data, Chapman's average fastball velocity of 98.8 mph is third among all relievers with at least 1,000 pitches thrown since 2007, when the.
Speed of the Fastest Pitched Baseball - The Physics Factbook I've never heard that said of him. Division II Following Division I, we have Division II baseball. However, "Mr. Among a select group of the hardest throwing starting pitchers, Syndergaard is near the bottom in FD, which . "This is Phase . The Fastest Pitch In MLB This Season. As detailed by Jeff Passan of ESPN, pitchers delivered blistering heat on the mound this season. Bob Feller was measured at 98.6 MPH. Its bad enough being a sound pitcher getting your name lost in an era of gratuitous offense, but Donohue doesnt seem to get much love even when the topic is narrowed to just the pitchers themselves. Pitch Type report shows Average Speed by Pitch Type in the Majors Sources All except below are based on radar readings by the editor. Although, it is always worth developing the game a little bit. denver school of nursing lawsuit average mlb pitch speed in 1920. This clearly gave the advantage to the hitters, who fattened up their numbers; pitchers also saw their stats rise as well, but not in the categories (earned run average, hits and runs allowed) they would have liked. At 6-foot-7, 270 pounds, it's a big, burly, intimidating body with the stuff to back it up. So, take your time and work on it slowly. Average Velocity Difference: 7.7 mph Standard Deviation: 2.2 mph Maximum: 15.6 mph - Chris Sale Minimum: 3.2 mph - Yovani Gallardo Range: 12.4 mph The slider features the largest range between. In fact, it is likely that the only youth clubs that have radar guns are those that act as feeders for the college and MLB baseball teams. Torriente took black baseball by storm upon reaching the Negro Leagues, starring for Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants and making them a dominant force of the mid-1920s. Copyright 1999-2021. Walter Johnson was reportedly measured at 99.7 MPH at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they could measure the speed of bullets. pic.twitter.com/ZVrdw7acnp. This would give you 80 feet per second.
Running Down the Velocity Upswing - Redleg Nation There was really no hurler anyone wanted to face less, and not just because of the results; Grimes was a mean, aggressive thrower who constantly knocked batters down, more than occasionally hit them, and always unnerved them with his growling disposition complete with roughened two-day beard which earned him the nickname Ol Stubblebeard. etc. Pitchers are throwing harder than ever. Speeding things up . They help a child to grow. For non-pitchers, a batting average below .230 is often considered poor, and one below .200 is usually unacceptable. The decade featured the best pitching since the introduction of the lively ball in the 1920s, and saw many strikeout records made and broken. Now that I have talked a little bit about average pitching velocities, it is now time for me to give some tips on improving pitching velocity. Unsurprisingly, MLB set a record for the highest average fastball velocity ever in 2022. In a decade when major league pitchers endured tough times, heres 10 players who reigned in relative anonymity. The regular four-man starting rotation didn't really take hold until the 1920s/1930s (now we have the five-man rotation), and at the start of the 1950s starting pitchers still completed 40% of their starts (vs. 3% today). According to the official MLB rules, a baseball used in the Major Leagues needs to weigh from 5 to 5 14 ounces (142 and 149 g). Remember; youth players are only going to have a pitching velocity maximum only a little above the averages that I listed previously. Torriente won two . They need to be exceedingly quick because it is going to take under 1-second for the ball to leave the pitchers hand. This is the most common grip in baseball, so it is probably one that you are using already. Discover: Where Baseball Players Live During the Season?
Average Pitching Speeds of Every MLB Team - ClickitTicket Off-speed pitches are less strenuous on a pitcher's arm compared to a fastball. The average fastball speed is 92. Baseball stormed into the 1930s on a voracious high, riding high-speed momentum on the field and on the bottom line; as the fans were thrilled by the boom in offense, the front office was similarly elated by the explosion in profits. In an ideal world, somebody should be practicing their pitching skills at least 3-4 days per week. There were 575 pitchers who met this criterion with the average ranging from 15.3 to 28.4 seconds between pitches. Product Description : Lower Price! Payrolls, a more complete reflection on spending, rose 12.6% to $4.56 billion . organization although he never reached the majors.
Pitching technology changed career of Yankees' Carlos Rodon The average fastball is between 50-60 mph. MLB pitchers do not have a set limit of innings they can pitch in one game, but most MLB pitchers will pitch seven to eight innings on average. I would say that the fastest pitchers would probably throw around 85 to 88 MPH with the elite pitchers occasionally hitting 90 MPH. Privacy | Website Accessibility Statement | Disclaimer. A refugee of two dynasty dumpsthe As of the early 1910s and the Red Sox of the late 1910sPennock was relieved to finally find a home with the Yankees, the evolving superpower that did not know the meaning of the words fire sale. Pennock began the decade doing the best he could for a rapidly devolving Red Sox franchise that was giving away its top players to the rival Yankees; after a 10-17 mark in 1922, he was happy to know hed be the latest New York-bound, traded for three players and $50,000 for Boston owner Harry Frazee to invest toward his latest Broadway flop. On Sept. 24, 2010, Chapman made MLB history. Best Year: 1923 (1.93 ERA, 27 wins, 8 losses, .771 win percentage, 28 complete games, 6 shutouts, 322 innings). MLB's seasonal record for hit-by-pitch rate has long been held by 1899a year when pitchers were. He . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qem3mypA2JI&feature=emb_title, Longest home run ever: Farthest home run in MLB history, longest home runs in 2022. Left On Base per Game. 1.28. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. After all, proteins are the building blocks of muscles. Of course, that is on the professional side of things. The Washington Post / Getty Images. 10-10-2008, 12:22 PM. Not all of baseball history is available on Retrosheet yet. The Cardinals closer threw an immaculate inning striking out the side on nine pitches on Sep. 16.
1920-24, Cleveland Indians; 1925-27, Washington Senators; 1928, New York Yankees. The leaguewide batting average of .245 in 2019 is the lowest since 1972 and a drop of 26 points from 1999, at the height of the steroids era. That was 9 inches more drop - or 17% more drop -- than similar MLB curveballs at his velocity, which was the most added drop of any qualified pitcher. However, if you can hit 80-90% of your stride length, then you will likely see a massive improvement when it comes to pitching velocity. [1] Ty Cobb and Joe Di Maggio both played with 42oz bats and Rogers Hornsby used a 50oz piece . During the 1910 Fall Classic, the league then officially introduced a new ball with a cork core instead of a rubber. Download a Baseball Pitch Speed Conversion Chart or Softball Pitch Speed Conversion Chart. A grandfather spitball artist whose wet pitch is ranked by Rob Neyer and Bill James as baseballs all-time second best (Ed Walsh topped at #1), Coveleski personally saw the decade get off to a tragic start with the loss of both his wife and, later, Indians teammate Ray Chapman after being fatally beaned by the Yankees Carl Mays. Ideally, the length of a pitchers stride should be close to their height. The rear shoulder should not rotate beyond (behind) the rear hip. As the graph below shows from Jeff Leach, the average fastball speed in MLB has skyrocketed since 2002 and it will likely exceed 95 mph next season. Some guns and devices (like radar balls and glove radar), while "accurate", measure speeds closer to the plate (which is slower). But Pitching Ninja later broke down why its difficult to determine the accuracy of that suggestion and he compared Ryans fastest recorded pitch to Hicks and Chapman frame-by-frame. All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc. Privacy Policy. [6] A player increases his chance of hitting a home run if he hits the baseball at the bat's "sweet spot.". They reached a record average of 93.1 mph in 2019, including 92.6 mph for starters, according to Statcast. 10-10-2008, 11:22 AM. While you will not be able to pitch as fast as them, you can look at their technique and try to emulate it a little bit. Through it all Coveleski remained resilient, won 24 games for the pennant-winning Indians and then three more with a 0.67 ERA in the World Series to follow. In 1940, the Hall of Fame right-hander threw the only Opening Day no-hitter in MLB history. One of them was a knuckleballer (R.A. Dickey). The move comes two years after the MLB introduced the pitch clock in a trial run in the minor leagues, which the league said decreased the time of an average game by 26 minutes. pitch. Incredibly, Joyce is doing this after missing the 2021 season following Tommy John surgery. But that type of cheating is already old news. Rescued from Philadelphia before the live ball really turned Baker Bowl into a bandboxRixey was 33-55 over his last three years with the Phillies and twice led the NL in losseshe joined the Reds and led a far more peaceful and agreeable existence throughout the decade, winning 20-plus games three times while twice finishing just short with 19. Fastballs (specifically, four-seamers and two-seamers/sinkers) continue to get faster across the sport. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Film Room Search Watch Live Games MLB Network Podcasts. Often, they guessed wrong. These are all concepts that players at the absolute top levels of the game will already know. No wonder he knows so much about the game. We present them here for purely educational purposes. The Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers offered $100,000, but the As ponied up $600 moreso the Orioles took it. It also ensures that the ball will be leaving your hands quickly which, of course, is going to be vital when it comes to pitching velocity. Like any quality pitcher, he took advantage where it came the easiest: At home, where like Luque and Rixey he mastered the art of using a pitcher-friendly park (Redland Field) to his gaingoing 56-22 at home with a 2.61 ERA and just six home runs allowed during those five years of brillianceand by beating up on the weaker clubs, as when he defeated the woeful Philadelphia Phillies 20 straight times. When MLB implemented the pitch clock, it did so on the basis of two findings from fan surveys: (1) Fans want a faster pace of play and (2) fans want more action in the game. While Luques numbers benefitted from his home parks expansive field dimensions, Hoyt benefitted in a totally different way as he garnered enormous run support from the Bronx Bombin Yankees.
Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in raw numbers and as a measurement against average. Do you have a blog? But he remained sharp on the mound through it all, saving his best campaign for, naturally, the fabled 1927 campaign in which the Yankees put together what many still believe is the greatest single campaign ever by a major league ballclub. The ball is just too slow. Nolan Ryan earned his nickname "The Ryan Express.". The tech continued to improve. Weight, of course, will translate to power behind the pitch. **For the best user experience, we recommend disabling the Reddit redesign. What was the average speed of a fastball in the 1920's? The MLB brings in billions of revenue to the economy every year. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? The highest pitch count since 2005 in a Major League Baseball game was 149, by Edwin Jackson (pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks) on June 25, 2010. Efastball.com studies pitch velocity at all levels and collects data at all major-league games to reach that conclusion. Best Year: 1925 (3.08 ERA, 21 wins, 14 losses, 27 complete games, 301 innings). At one time or another during his career, he led the League in wins, ERA, Ks, ERA+, WHIP, H/9 . Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. It's confirmed. Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.
The pitch clock will speed up games in 2023, but the average MLB game Ellis stated that the average pitching speed required for a 14- to 15-year-old to make a good prospect for a junior varsity-level high school baseball team would be about 75 mph. They are on course to being a decent pitcher. The average pitching speed for an MLB player is about 93 miles per hour. came the "Expansion Era" which began in 1961 and is still present today.
Dynasty Year 3 - I Have the Runs | Fantasy Baseball | Yahoo! Sports The case of Dazzy Vance was a curious one, to say the least. Thankfully, you can still get a rough estimate of pitching speed. Does anyone have any details on Jim Maloney's 1965 'clocking' of 99.5 mph? If a child is too light, then they will not be able to get a lot of power behind their pitch. Fastpitch Pitch Speed Conversion Chart: PDF. When the topic of the speed of the fastest pitched baseball arises, fans and historians alike begin to dispute the recorded measurement and who was the pitcher who threw it. Then a rookie relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, the fireballer unleashed a fastball clocked at 105.1 mph by PITCH/fx. The leaguewide strikeout rate of 8.78 per nine innings,. Over the course of the twentieth century, major league players played for 33,272 career years (T 0 ). Shoulders and hips should rotate around the spine (do not take a slower 'gate swing' around the back hip) MLB hitters turn their shoulder inward from 10-40 degrees - typically around 30 degrees. This means that you do not want to be pushing them too far. The 104 mph pitch struck out Bell looking, sealing the final out of the eighth inning. Do you have a sports website? . The test satisfied multiple pre-set standards and MLB announced Feller's fastball had been clocked at 104 miles per hour. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. In 2008 the average fastball thrown in the MLB was 90.9 mph. 55: Above-average Cole's FD of 1.4 mph is three and a half times greater than Syndergaard's FD of 0.4. 92.9, 92.8, 92.8. The sessions should be short too. No one-year wonders or self-promoters here. The New York Yankees become one of baseballs great dynasties at the willful expense of the Boston Red Sox and their Broadway-obsessed owner, Harry Frazee. His statistics lacked flamboyancehe was not a perennial league leader in any categorybut he always managed to hang among the NLs Top Five, and his par excellence was built on a consistent level of bending yet not breaking, walking few batters and using strong glovework to keep other runners from reaching.