Fastball Fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thrown fastballs at speeds of (officially) and up to (unofficially). Pitchers who throw more slowly can put movement on the ball, or throw it on the outside of home plate where batters can't easily reach it. The appearance of a faster pitch can sometimes be achieved by minimizing the batter's vision of the ball before its release. The
Hour record record set in 1942, during the Second World War, despite Milan being bombed nightly by Allied forces, was eventually broken in 1956 by Jacques Anquetil on his third attempt. In 1967, 11 years later, Anquetil again broke the hour record, with , but the record was disallowed because he refused to take the newly introduced post-race doping test. He had objected to what he saw as the indignity of having to urinate in a tent in front of a crowded velodrome and said he would take the test later at his hotel. The international judge ruled against the idea, and