Mariano Rivera throws a pitch against the Minnesota Twins FABULOUS FIREBALLERS On September 19 2011 the New York Yankees were playing the Minnesota Twins Mariano Rivera stepped onto the pitching mound The count was no balls and two strikes Rivera wound up for the pitch He unleashed his famous cut fastball It swept across the corner of the plate for a called strike three The batter was out and the game was over Rivera became the all-time leader in saves in Major League Baseball MLB 4
WITH 511 FACTS AT A GLANCE CY YOUNG HOLDS THE MLB RECORD FOR CAREER WINS NOLAN RYAN OFTEN THREW THE BALL MORE THAN 100 SATCHEL PAIGE THREW AS MANY AS 50 no hitters IN RANDY JOHNSON HOLDS THE RECORD FOR CAREER STRIKEOUTS BY A left handed PITCHER WITH 4,875 MILES 161 KM PER HOUR HIS CAREER MLB started in 1903 The game has changed in many ways since then One of the biggest changes came in 1947 That year Jackie Robinson right of the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first Black player to take the field in the league Before then no Black players were allowed to play Black players played in the Negro Leagues before Robinson made history Many of the greatest Black players didn’t have the opportunity to play in MLB 5
In baseball every play begins when the pitcher throws the ball The pitcher controls the speed of the game The best pitchers can keep hitters from making solid contact with the ball They can help their defense by keeping runners off base But a bad game from a pitcher can also make it nearly impossible to win That’s why great pitchers are so valuable Randy Johnson pitched in six seasons for the Arizona Diamondbacks Johnson is one of the tallest pitchers in MLB history 6
Satchel Paige played his first MLB game with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 He became the first former Negro Leagues pitcher to pitch in the World Series when Cleveland won the 1948 title It can be hard to rank the best pitchers in baseball history Many great athletes have played the position Every baseball fan has an opinion on the greatest of all time g.o.a.t. 7
