Now hear this: Fastball (baseball in podcasts)

Been a bit remiss in my own Bookshelf Conversations lately. But always happy to pass along what I’ve come across.

Jonathan Hock’s new documentary Fastball recently hit the screens. I had the opportunity to watch a screener. Fascinating stuff. There’s a “Zelig moment” with Justin Verlander “visiting” Bob Feller during his famous “motorcycle showdown.” That alone is worth the price of admission. (Although how do we really know that motorcycle was trying is best? Just sayin’. And this is in no way to be confused with Knuckleball.)

It’s quite thought-provoking as it profiles several preeminent hurlers such as Feller, Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, Randy Johnson, Verlander, David Price, Nolan Ryan, Aroldis Chapman, and Steve Dalkowski, as well as how the process of measuring speed has evolved since the days of Walter J. and adequately comparing fireballers across the eras.

So Hock, whose previous baseball work includes The Lost Son of Havana a documentary about Luis Tiant, is making the rounds. He was a guest on All Things Considered last week and was a guest host on the most recent edition of Slate’s Hang Up and Listen. I found his comments on just how much of a freak of nature Nolan Ryan was. Granted he was one of a kind, pitching well into his 40s, but it makes you wonder why today’s pitchers get injured so often, especially given their relatively light workload and taking into account modern technology, training methods, etc. The old-timers like Feller and Ryan will tell you how hard they worked and how these young whippersnappers, well, don’t, again relatively speaking.

Another well-thought point: it’s hard to compare a starter like Ryan against a one-inning reliever like Chapman, who can let it all hang out, knowing his time on the mound will normally be quite brief. Also the difference in facing someone like a 6’10” Randy Johnson, who release the ball so much closer to the plate — thereby cutting down reaction time — to someone like Dalkowski, almost a foot shorter but by anecdotal accounts even more powerful.

Don’t forget top scroll down to the HUAL show notes for bonus links. Very cool.