I've thought long and hard about what I wanted to ask here, and I came up with the adjective "imtimidating" ... I'm not going to ask who was the most imtimidating pitcher of all time, because there are many we have never seen. So, I ask you, who is the most intimidating pitcher you've ever seen? I'm going to have to go with Bob Gibson.

Randy Johnson scared the crap outta me and I wasn't even facing him in the batter's box. Easy choice for me.

Randy Johnson scared the crap outta me and I wasn't even facing him in the batter's box. Easy choice for me.

 

Johnson was very high on my list. Probably number 2 ... but I was focused on number 1.

Not most intimidating... but one of the cooler pitches. Most would have shat themselves upon the arrival of this pitch.

 

 

Tons of history about the eephus/folly floater... and so few have actually thrown it.

Roided-up-Eric-Gagne during his saves streak, Dave Stewart come to mind immediately.

The Big Unit would be high on my list from a pure intimidation standpoint. If I were a lefty, no one I'd least like to face than Randy. Another guy on my list is Troy Percival and that is only because he would squint like he couldn't see and throw consistent upper 90's gas with little control early on his career (and very effective I might add).

 

So for me, those would be two of my most intimidating. Not saying the two best pitchers cause neither would be near the tops of my list.

 

Maddux was nasty, but not intimidating and I never thought of Pedro as intimidating, just awesome.

"El Guapo" Rich Garces

Not most intimidating... but one of the cooler pitches. Most would have shat themselves upon the arrival of this pitch.

 

 

Tons of history about the eephus/folly floater... and so few have actually thrown it.

That was cool to see. Hamilton also pitched for the White Sox that same year. I remember seeing him throw the eephus and with good results.

 

Ryne Duren was one of the most intimidating pitchers ever. He threw near 100 mph, wore shades and would intentionally throw a warmup pitch very wild to scare the better. Charlie Sheen's Wild Thing character was certainly modeled after Ryne Duren.

Edited April 11, 201115 yr by BigEdWalsh

Pedro

Randy Johnson

Intimidating?

 

Al Hrabosky

 

 

Randy, especially with the mullet. They scare me anyway.

OK, I'm going to throw some names out there. I got Gibson as one and Johnson as number two. Marichal ... that leg kick was awesome. Drysdale was damn near as mean as Gibson. I'll follow them up with Clemens and Gossage. And Tiant would just befuddle you.

A ptcher that I wish that I could see (but there is no video footage of that I know) is the guiy that Hawk occassionally brings up,

Steve Dalkowski. He never made it to the big leagues but He and Earl Weaver said that in the history of the game, that no one came close to throwing as hard as that guy I believe there was one game where Hawk said he struck ourt 18 and walked the rest.

He said that his control was atrocious, but had one of the most once in a lifetime gifted arm. Can you imagine a guy throwing that hard and being that wild with the batter having no other protective gear on except for an old fashioned batting helmet? That's intimidation!

Roger Clemens, dude was a headhunter.

I imagine if you ask this question to a room full of birds, they'd immediately answer Randy Johnson. http://bit.ly/hicsEw

 

But, I also agree. He scared me just watching him on TV. Something about him just gave me chills. Dude threw some HEAT.

I'd go with pre-control Nolan Ryan. Batter had no idea where his pitches were going, and neither did he. Besides if you charged the mound, he'd just kick your ass.

I'd go with pre-control Nolan Ryan. Batter had no idea where his pitches were going, and neither did he. Besides if you charged the mound, he'd just kick your ass.

 

The Big Unit, because of his unrivaled combination of gas, nastiness, height, and ugly. It was probably Gibson until he came along.

 

Don Drysdale needs to be at least part of this conversation.

Edited April 13, 201115 yr by PlaySumFnJurny