"Gentlemen, I've found the greatest young pitcher I ever saw. I suppose this sounds like the same old stuff to you, but I want you to believe me. This boy I found out in Iowa will be the greatest pitcher the world has ever known"---Cleveland Indians scout Cy Slapnicka, speaking to the Cleveland Indians Board of Directors, spring 1936
One more thought on Bob Feller.
The newsreel footage I posted below shows him throwing an estimated 98.6 MPH, which would be well over 100 MPH on a modern gun that measures the pitch at release and not at home plate. That measurement was done in 1946. His contemporaries felt that Feller threw harder when he was younger, and that his peak velocities were when he first reached the majors in 1936 and 1937. If he was throwing, say, 102 MPH in 1946..what was he throwing in 1936?
Bob Feller's signing bonus was $1.
If there was a high school kid available for the 2011 draft who was throwing consistent 100-104 MPH fastballs, who also had a good curveball, who had an incredible work ethic, and was a fine overall athlete to boot, how much money would he make on draft day?
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