When a gifted fireballer like Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard stares down a batter just before unleashing a 98 mile-per-hour fastball, fans can almost feel the hurler’s intensity and the batter’s fear. Even when the hitter knows what’s coming, connecting with a great fastball is one of the most difficult feats in sports. In “High Heat,’’ sportswriter Tim Wendel explores the fastball’s history and powerful mystique, from the beginnings of baseball to the present.
Pure velocity is no guarantee of success. Wendel highlights the promising career of 1950s phenom Steve Dalkowski, a New Britain, Conn., high school star who could throw 105 miles per hour, even faster than flamethrowing legend Nolan Ryan. Dalkowski would later become the model for the fictional pitcher in “Bull Durham,’’ “Nuke’’ LaLoosh. Like LaLoosh (played by actor Tim Robbins), Dalkowski was wild both on and off the field. Wendel describes how Dalkowski, as a minor league pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles’ system, once threw a wild pitch completely through the metal screen behind home plate: the pitch was so wild and fast-moving that it also knocked down a hot dog vendor and terrified the fans sitting nearby.
