 There is footage of a Feller fastball being clocked by Army ordnance equipment ( used to measure artillery shell velocity ) and registering at 98 @.@ 6 mph ( 158 @.@ 7 km / h ) . However , this took place in the later years of his career and the speed of the ball was measured as it crossed the plate ( whereas later methods measure the speed as it leaves the pitcher 's hand ) . With primitive equipment Feller was at one point measured at 105 mph ( 169 km / h ) . Feller once mentioned that he was clocked at 104 mph ( 167 km / h ) at Lincoln Park in Chicago . He also threw the second fastest pitch ever officially recorded , at 107 @.@ 6 mph ( 173 @.@ 2 km / h ) , in a game in 1946 at Griffith Stadium . Feller said a 1974 test involving Nolan Ryan would be evaluated when he threw the ball rather than when it reached home plate , and as columnist Milton Richman wrote , Feller said " Sandy Koufax had the best live fast ball he ever saw . " Ted Williams said , " Three days before he pitched I would start thinking about Robert Feller , Bob Feller . I 'd sit in my room thinking about him all the time . God I loved it ... Allie Reynolds of the Yankees was tough , and I might think about him for 24 hours before a game , but Robert Feller : I 'd think about him for three days . " Feller was ranked 36th on Sporting News 's list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and also the publication 's " greatest pitcher of his time " as well as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All @-@ Century Team in 1999 . Each year , American Legion Baseball presents the " Bob Feller Pitching Award " to the pitcher " with the most strikeouts in regional and national competition . " 
