quote:I think it would be interesting to measure both release speed and speed at the plate. I would guess (I'm no physicist) that even though two pitchers had the same release speed, one of them might be able to have the ball sustain more speed at the plate.
But losing a lot of speed may be better. For a ball to sustain high speed it would have to have almost no movement.
A 90mph fastball that hits the plate at 89 would be neat, but one that reached the batter at 40 would be devastating!
The earliest speed measurements, around 1918, probably computed average speed. Determining peak speed requires radar... or a tiny midget inside the ball reading a microscopic speedometer
