Steve Dalkowski is the only player to make this list who never actually pitched in the majors. But we could not have put together a list of the fastest pitchers of all time without including Dalkowski, even if his top miles per hour on a pitch is largely anecdotal.
Dalkowski was the inspiration for the character Ebby Calvin “Nuke” Laloosh in Ron Shelton’s 1988 baseball film “Bull Durham” and was played by a young Tim Robbins.
Dalkowski, who died in 2020 at 80 years old, was written about perfectly by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Jordan in an story titled “The Wildest Fastball Ever“: “Inevitably, the stories outgrew the man, until it was no longer possible to distinguish fact from fiction. But, no matter how embellished, one fact always remained: Dalkowski struck out more batters and walked more batters per nine-inning game than any professional pitcher in baseball history.”
In nine full minor league seasons, Dalkowski registered 1,396 strikeouts and 1,354 walks in 995 innings.
