Are today’s baseball pitchers faster than a few years ago, or is it that radar guns have improved and get the pitch speed as it is released rather than as it reaches the plate?

Ray registered faster. Jugs slower - maybe by 4 mph. It was not uncommon that we missed a pitch to write in the chart. Distracted by girls, hot dogs whatever. So we asked each other the speed of the pitch they got, curve, change, fastball, whatever. The gun was then used as a tool for basically two things. One, as the game went on, was the pitcher losing velocity - he was getting tired. Pitch counts meant little then, though were always considered after a 100 pitches or the Mississippi heat and humidity. Two, we all got a chance to measure who really threw HARD. I threw maybe 86 on the Jugs for a fastball, Ray gun 90 mph. I was average. The top guys threw 92 on the Jugs, up to 96 (highest I ever saw) on the Ray gun. Those were the top prospects, without name dropping. So for perspective, that was my experience probably 1985–1987 AA, Texas League. I do know that then, basically the gun registered near home plate. Why do I know that - I was just a guy filing in a pitching chart, I really didnt care. I knew that because pitches low in the strike zone or below it registered consistently higher than pitches high in the stike zone or above it. I assume, today as I did then, the gun liked low pitches better than high pitches in terms of velocity. But heck, what do I know about the physics of it all? That was just what the gun told me. We really didnt measure velocity like today. The batters told everyone how hard a pitcher threw, and we could see amazing velocity. No one needed a gun for that. The gun was used to judge velocity to understand how a pitcher was doing. It was particularly important when a guy was coming off rehab.

Today, different story. I see a guy throwing a 90mph fastball on the gun and while I respect the velocity, that is simply a nice fastball. That speed is hittable. Same with 93–94 mph. Back in the day, there might have been a handful of us who could hit 90mph in a college league, more in the Cape Cod league, and a majority of the guys in pro ball. Today, 90 mph on the current guns get one a look and trip to independent ball if they are lucky.

The point. Do guys throw harder today than in my day. Definitely. I believe each generation is better than the last. Pitchers today throw, overall, harder than in my day. BUT - not that much harder. The gun is the difference. It registers a higher speed than yesteryear. Tom Seaver or Nolan Ryan - likely threw as hard as anyone who pitches today. Only difference is, today they care about the gun and spin rotation, for whatever reasons, and back in the day they cared about OUTS. The radar gun is a measurable statistic, as is spin rotation, etc. The intangible statistic, meaning OUTS, is less of a consideration of MLB scouts and brass. Maybe they are correct, I dont know and the game passed me by long ago, but for anyone interested, the gun didnt matter back in the day, today it does. But todays’s gun is juice compared to the days when Nolan Ryan pitched, or Tom Seaver (my favorites) who I saw pitch close up. Dwight Gooden, I could actually hear his spin rotation watching him warm up. You could hear his pitch - mine was dead silent. No one needed a gun for those folks. So, radar guns ….. nice for stats but batters dont care that much. LOL

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This is what I recall. In the 80s I charted pitches with the radar gun (jugs gun) which was the obligation of a minor league player (AA) before a start the next day. Next to me, often, was the opposing pitcher doing the same thing, likely with a Ray Gun. Then there were two types of guns, Ray and Jugs.