RIP Steve Dalkowski

[DrungoHazewood]

I was looking at Dalkowski's minor league stats, and they let people do some crazy stuff back in the day.

In 1957 in the Appy League Dalkowski pitched 15 games, 10 starts, 62 innings, 129 walks, 121 strikeouts and 39 wild pitches. On top of that Kingsport's catchers had 50 passed balls in 71 games, and you can bet the majority of them were with Dalkowski on the mound.  There was another guy on the team, Harold Edwards, who walked a batter an inning.  Dalkowski doubled his mark.

So he did lead the league with 17.6 K/9, but there were others at 14.4, 14.2, 13.1.  He kind of lapped the field with 18.7 walks per nine, but there were others like Andrew Rodriguez who walked 60 in 39 innings.

In the '58 Sally League he had 17.6 strikeouts per nine, and the next guy on the list was at 9.8.  He walked 20.4 per nine, trailing the league by 10.5 per nine.

'60 was the year he threw 170 innings, 262 walks, 262 Ks.  Didn't lead the league in Ks... Gary Kroll had 309, but in 257 innings.  Kroll was 18, and I estimate he threw over 4500 pitches in 34 starts, which works out to 135 pitches/start.  By the same estimating method, Dalkowski threw about 125 pitches per start, but he only threw 5.5 innings/start.  Which make for a pace of over 200 pitches per nine.  Last year John Means averaged 155 pitches per nine.

[Redskins Rick]

On 4/24/2020 at 4:02 PM, Can_of_corn said:

I'm with Drungo, I figured he had passed some years ago.

John Wayne Chisum movie, he kept running into people, who thought he was dead.

[LA2]

Poignant obituary in the NY Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/obituaries/steve-dalkowski-dead.html?searchResultPosition=1

Quote

Shelton reflected on Dalkowski’s life in an article for The Los Angeles Times in 2009.

“It’s the gift from the gods — the arm, the power,” he wrote. “That is what haunts us. He had it all and didn’t know it. That’s why Steve Dalkowski stays in our minds. He had the equivalent of Michelangelo’s gift but could never finish a painting.”

 

[Frobby]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/remembering-steve-dalkowski-perhaps-the-fastest-pitcher-ever/

[LA2]

On 4/28/2020 at 3:04 PM, Frobby said:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/remembering-steve-dalkowski-perhaps-the-fastest-pitcher-ever/

What a fine remembrance chock full of illuminating anecdotes. It also shows in passing the type of coaches and management the Orioles had deep in their farm system that helped build the great American League team.

[Frobby]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/04/29/dont-buy-steve-dalkowski-stories-davey-johnson-will-make-you-believer/%3foutputType=amp