Steve Dalkowski, Date of Birth, Place of Birth
TweetSteve Dalkowski
American baseball player
Date of Birth: 03-Jun-1939
Place of Birth: New Britain, Connecticut, United States
Profession: baseball player
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Gemini 
About Steve Dalkowski
- Stephen Louis Dalkowski Jr.
- (born June 3, 1939), nicknamed Dalko, is an American retired left-handed pitcher.
- He is sometimes called the fastest pitcher in baseball history and had a fastball that probably exceeded 100 mph (160 km/h).
- Some experts believed it went as fast as 110 mph (180 km/h), others that his pitches traveled at less than that speed.
- As no radar gun or other device was available at games to measure the speed of his pitches precisely, the actual top speed of his pitches remains unknown.
- Regardless of its actual speed, his fastball earned him the nickname "White Lightning".
- Such was his reputation that despite never reaching the major leagues, and finishing his minor league years in class-B ball, the 1966 Sporting News item about the end of his career was headlined "Living Legend Released."Dalkowski was also famous for his unpredictable performance and inability to control his pitches.
- His alcoholism and violent behavior off the field caused him problems during his career and after his retirement.
- After he retired from baseball, he spent many years as an alcoholic, making a meager living as a manual laborer.
- He recovered in the 1990s, but his alcoholism has left him with dementia and he has difficulty remembering his life after the mid-1960s. Screenwriter and film director Ron Shelton played in the Baltimore Orioles minor league organization soon after Dalkowski.
- His 1988 film Bull Durham features a character named "Nuke" LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins) who is based loosely on the tales Shelton was told about Dalkowski.
- Brendan Fraser's character in the film The Scout is loosely based on him.
- In 1970, Sports Illustrated's Pat Jordan wrote, "Inevitably, the stories outgrew the man, until it was no longer possible to distinguish fact from fiction.
- But, no matter how embellished, one fact always remained: Dalkowski struck out more batters and walked more batters per nine-inning game than any professional pitcher in baseball history."
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