MiLB: Could Richmond's Rookie Pitcher Earn a Spot in Baseball Lore?

The most fascinating things about baseball can occur far away from your local ballpark’s bright lights.

They happen in the cold of winter, when grown men reminisce about America’s Pastime. Stories are told about the greatest players of yesteryear. Either they heard about Ty Cobb from their grandfather, or they were old enough to see him play.

Some of us were too young to see the great Joe DiMaggio set his 56-game hitting streak. I was lucky enough to see Bob Gibson pitch in a World Series game, just a few weeks after watching Denny McLain win his 31st game from the cheap seats in Tiger Stadium’s upper deck.

Baseball has also been known as a game fueled by statistics. Most of us were handed a “scorecard” when we attended our first big league game.

In practically no time, we were hooked. A neighbor taught me the basics, including the backwards K (which is the symbol for a called strike three).

Technology, too, has crept into the game.

Pitches are now timed by a radar gun. Just this past Monday, Cincinnati Reds left-hander Aroldis Chapman threw an inside pitch over 105 mph, supposedly breaking the record set by Detroit Tiger closer Joel Zumaya.

Unfortunately, throwing a baseball that hard may not be good for your arm. Zumaya has suffered a string of injuries and may miss the rest of the season.

One of the more compelling stories about the radar gun was written for Sports Illustrated back in 1985. The popular novelist George Plimpton happened to be at the Mets training camp in St. Petersburg, when he stumbled upon an unusual pitching phenomenon.

His name was Sidd Finch, and he threw very, very hard. So hard in fact, that the Mets tried to hide the 116 showing on the gun.

Plimpton’s story was published on April 1 and the rest is history.

Another hard thrower was career minor leaguer Steve Dalkowski, who some believe threw well over 100 in the early 60s, but Dalkowski’s problem was his control. He walked just as many as he struck out. In fact, the character “Nuke” LaLoosh played by Tim Robbins in the 1988 film Bull Durham was based on Dalkowski’s personality, which was as wild off the field as on.

Another interesting pitching statistic is K/9, or strikeouts per nine innings.

For his career, Billy Wagner’s 11.84 is the best in baseball. Randy Johnson (10.78), Pedro Martinez (10.20), Nolan Ryan (9.55) and Sandy Koufax (9.25) are also impressive.

Randy Johnson’s 13.41 is the best for a single season.

There just happens to be a young pitcher in Richmond who’s beginning to carve out a decent K/9.

Eric Surkamp, who’s in his first season of Double-A ball, was impressive in his debut for the Richmond Flying Squirrels striking out 10 in four innings.

After taking the loss in Trenton’s 6-3 win over Richmond Wednesday (April 21), Surkamp’s minor league strikeout total is 321 in 263 innings.

Of course, we’re kidding ourselves even beginning to think about comparing his 10.98 K/9 statistic to the likes of Wagner, Johnson and Koufax.

But there’s no question he has a fairly live arm and the San Francisco brass are keeping a close eye on him.