RIP Steve Dalkowski
 

Just heard that he passed away at age 80.

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The best to have never played :(

RIP to the ultimate enigma:

https://live.staticflickr.com/4534/3...a6cbef7c55.jpg

When I read about Koufax working with those Dodger coaches to master control of his lively fastball, I often wonder what might've been if Dalkowski had landed in the Dodgers organization

From what I've read of him, Dalkowski probably had the fastest fastball ever. It probably isn't an exaggeration to estimate his top speed at 110+ mph in the pre-radar gun era. He could throw a baseball clear over a 400' center-field fence from home plate. He even through a baseball right through that wooden fence!

Ted Williams himself stood in for batting practice against Dalkowski at the tail end of Ted's career. He took one pitch - a fastball that popped into the catcher's mitt right under his chin . . . and promptly left. "I never want to face him again," is the quote I recall Williams saying, followed by, "I never even saw the ball."

I once read an account from Earl Weaver that said the Orioles felt he had improved his control issues and were bringing him to Baltimore. Right as that happened, his arm was injured.

dalkowski
 

If I remember right, Norm Sherry, the catcher, was more help to Koufax than anyone....Got him to back off a little bit, although I'm sure there was more to it than that.

Dalkowski... boy, Paul Richards, who had been in baseball since the 1920s and was one of the smartest guys in baseball, was in Baltimore when they signed all those talented, young pitchers, Estrada, Jerry Walker, Steve Barber, Fisher and Pappas. The newspapers called them the Kiddie Korps. With the exception of Pappas, every one of them burned out fast.

It never made any sense why Richards, an ex catcher, and Harry Brecheen, who was no fool, worked those guys like rented mules. Somebody, somebody should have taken more time with Dalkowski and the rest of them.
lumberjack

I doubt a different pitching coach would’ve mattered. He was also a pretty bad alcoholic. Would have never succeeded until he got his problem under control, which didn’t happen until the 1990s.

RIP.....The photo brought back a personal memory, as well, having grown up in South Florida. You can tell from the background the photo was taken at the old Miami Stadium, where the Orioles held spring training for 30+ years, and before them the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. A grand ballpark it was, in its heyday, with amazing political history. "Built by former Cuban Minister of Education José Aleman, with money funneled from the Cuban Treasury, the stadium was a half-million-dollar monument to Miami’s big-league dreams," as the Miami Herald once put it. Read more at the link below, which has photos, too, including shots from the inside of the stadium showing the cantilevered roof over the grandstand that's in the photo above.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/loc...233583532.html

dalkowski
 

Perhaps Ryne Duren is the one guy from that period who comes closets to Dalkowski. Duran, who also started in the Baltimore farm system, managed to get a grip on his control (I remember how he would come into a game and throw his first warm up pitch five feet over the catcher's head just to freak everyone out), but he always had a drinking problem that only accelerated once his ability to pitch was problematic (he once got into a fist fight with Ralph Houk, how dumb was that).

Maybe drinking led to his decline, maybe he just lost his swift.
lumberjack

Dalkowski
 

There is a great HBO documentary called Fastball which actually spends a little bit of time talking about him. Great movie. May he rest in peace.

Steve Dalkowski
 

Here's a few Steve Dalkowski items from my collection that you don't see that often. RIP Steve.

1961 and 1963 Baltimore News-Post Scrapbook Cards

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1963 Orioles Team Issued 8x10 Photo and Postcard

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"A ripe Strawberry through a locomotive." Nice.

Those Orioles issues show that he sure had some serious chest hair.

I know that one of the stories about him is that he took off part of somebody's ear with a pitch. I always thought that it would be interesting for someone to go around and interview batters who faced him. I'm sure that would be an interesting read.

[QUOTE=BaltOrioles;1974750]Here's a few Steve Dalkowski items from my collection that you don't see that often. RIP Steve.

Awesome stuff.

New Britain High School
 

If you do a little more research Steve Dalkowski also played in the mythical high school football championship game played in the orange bowl in 1955
. he was a rotating quarterback in that game. He was coached by John Toner who later went on to hire Jim Clahoun and Geno Auriemma for UCONN.

john

Thanks for sharing. I saw many Orioles Spring Training games at Miami Stadium in the 1970'S. And picked up a few autographs at those games. Also saw a Pink Floyd concert there :-) As for Dalkowski, I agree with someone else's comment here that interviewing batters that faced Dalkowski would make a great read!

Thought this video was good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQsDzE7jtek&t=292s

Nice thread. As we get older (and older) 80 doesn't' sound like such an old age. May he RIP....

If anyone else would like to read more about Steve, just Google new britain herald and click on sports, nice article.
John

RIP another one gone.