If Gavin Floyd of Mount St. Joseph were a senior, scouts say he would be a lock as a first- or second-round choice in the upcoming major-league free-agent draft, with big bonus bucks waiting.
Floyd has all the tools -- size, loose arm action, fluid delivery and a natural release point that allows him to get maximum velocity -- but he's only a 16-year-old sophomore.
Who knows where the 6-foot-4, 185-pounder will be in terms of pro potential two years from now? When you are just a 10th-grader and throwing 90 mph, what do you do for an encore?
Floyd is just the latest area pitcher to face that question. What he does in the next two years will go a long way toward determining if he follows the path of a hard thrower like Moose Haas to the majors or ends up a case of unrealized potential.
"It's my goal in the next two years to hit 100 mph on the [radar] gun," said Floyd, a Severna Park resident who is 10-1 for the Gaels this season, with the distinction of posting a win over each of eight foes in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference.
"Like every kid, my goal is to make it to the majors. The attention is great, but I won't let it go to my head."
It was in Euclid, Ohio, last summer at the Continental Amateur Baseball Association High School Eligible World Series that Floyd was first clocked by a herd of scouts while pitching for the Maryland Orioles.
"Everybody was impressed with his velocity for a 15-year-old and how poised he is beyond his age," said coach Dean Albany.
Floyd is focused on throwing harder and getting better while comparisons with other hard throwers will intensify.
"I know I need to build up my legs and will do some weightlifting this fall and do a lot of running year around," said Floyd, who takes two months off throwing in the winter.
Most flamethrowers in the big leagues have extremely strong or thick legs. Examples: Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.
Realizing potential
There are a lot of reasons pitchers with Floyd's potential make it and a lot of reasons why they don't.
Greg Arnold and Haas, the two Baltimore-area high school right-handed pitchers who came the closest to throwing 100 mph, offer a comparison.
Haas, an All-Metro pitcher at Franklin, made it to the majors and Arnold didn't.
Arnold signed with the Orioles right out of Baltimore's Southern High in 1966.
"Arnold's ball hissed and had a lift to it," said Jim Foit Sr., who coached Arnold on the Dewey Lowman American Legion team.
Veteran umpire Frank "Jocko" Svoboda, who just turned 73 and has seen, coached or umpired practically everybody on this article's accompanying list of hard throwers, said that Arnold was the fastest. Arnold "scared" Svoboda when he was behind the plate because his ball had so much velocity and movement.
During Arnold's minor-league career, his off-the-field antics included performing as an Elvis and Tom Jones impersonator. Arnold was so talented that Baltimore promoter Lou Grasmick booked him for a gig in Las Vegas.
Jim Palmer was coming up in the Orioles organization at the same time and once said, "I wish I had Arnold's arm."
Arnold's minor-league career ended with arm problems at Triple-A Rochester. He is currently living in Severna Park and producing cable TV shows.
Nearly 10 years later, Haas exploded onto the scene at Franklin, thanks to the tutelage of his late summer coach, Sheriff Fowble.
At Franklin, Haas was 7-0 his senior year with a perfect 0.00 ERA. Drafted and signed by the Brewers in '74, Haas made it to the majors in 1976 and went on to a 12-year career record of 100-83 and pitched in the 1982 World Series.
Losing the heat
Arnold, Haas and others on the flamethrowers list could bring it in high school and beyond, but there have been those who lost their heat during or after high school.
A prime example outside the metro area is Wootton's Joey Popovich, who beat Arundel, 2-1, in the 1996 Class 4A State final before an overflow crowd at Cannon Stadium in Harmans.
Popovich also was a 16-year-old sophomore throwing 90, but he never pitched consistently at that rate again. His velocity fell off, and he has been relegated to short relief at the University of North Carolina.
Some scouts say that he simply pitched too much over his final two years, particularly in the fall, when he was basically working out on weekends only.
"I think a lot of young pitchers throw too many breaking pitches, cut fastball, cut this, cut that, and are not as concerned today with changing speeds," says Frenchy Letan, one of the hardest throwers of the 1950s while at City, according to veteran umpire Jerry Komin.
Letan, who coached and scouted for several pro clubs, says he's "not convinced that weight training is conducive to pitching and that there is a lot of over-coaching."
Things that come naturally should be left alone, he says.
Careful handling
Floyd pitched twice in three days last spring in the JV playoffs for St. Joe, but has been handled differently -- most of the time pitching on four or five days' rest -- this spring by coach Dave Norton. Floyd, who ices his arm for 15 to 20 minutes after each game, has had several 130-plus pitch-count games this season.
That's an area where young pitchers have to be particularly careful. Many old-timers will agree with the proven practice of former Orioles pitching coach George Bamberger: pitch one day, throw the next or play long toss and rest the third day. There is a risk when a young pitcher throws a game, rests the next day and then throws the third day.
"Young pitchers have to be willing to work hard to improve their arm strength," says Arundel coach Bernie Walter.
Left-hander Denny Neagle, a Walter protege who reached the majors and currently pitches for the Cincinnati Reds, is among several who threw harder as they matured after high school.
Jeff Nelson (New York Yankees, 1980s, Catonsville), Tony Saunders (Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 1990s, Glen Burnie) and Rick Steirer (formerly with the California Angels, 1970s, Poly) also threw harder as they got older and made it to the majors.
"There are a lot of athletes who quit too soon, before they mature," said Walter.
Floyd does not intend to be one of them. He's shooting high, and the parade of scouts starts next spring.
Throwing heat
A look at 50 of the hardest throwers from Baltimore-area high schools during the past 50 years. The list was compiled by staff writer Pat O'Malley after interviews with old-timers, coaches, umpires and players who saw them. O'Malley saw every one of them from 1960 on.
Name School T Sr. Yr.
1950s (late '40s into '50s)
Tom Bailey Mount St. Joseph RHP 1949
Vernon Bender Patterson RHP 1948
Dick Carr Mount St. Joseph RHP 1950
Ed Gunning Southern RHP 1953
Frenchy Letan City RHP 1951
John Miller City RHP 1950
Fred Oster Southern RHP 1952
George Thomas Calvert Hall RHP 1947
Rich Walega Southern RHP 1953
Danny Welsh Calvert Hall LHP 1950
1960s
Greg Arnold Southern RHP 1966
Dave Boswell Calvert Hall RHP 1963
Don Gallon Forest Park RHP 1961
Bill Kelley Curley RHP 1967
John Miller Edmondson RHP 1960
Rick Pecore Mount St. Joseph RHP 1967
Tom Phoebus Mount St. Joseph RHP 1960
1970s
Mike Bielecki Dundalk RHP 1978
Butch Brooks Gibbons RHP 1975
Bobby Boyd Brooklyn Park RHP 1975
Tim Florey Brooklyn Park RHP 1978
Dave Grier Severna Park RHP 1976
Moose Haas Franklin RHP 1974
Steve Hanson Andover RHP 1974
Neal Herrick Arundel RHP 1977
Mike Kavanaugh Patterson RHP 1970
Kevin McCoy Perry Hall RHP 1975
Larry Meekins Franklin RHP 1970
Tim Norris Curley RHP 1978
Chuck Porter Perry Hall RHP 1973
Phil Pundt Mount St. Joseph RHP 1975
Cal Ripken Aberdeen RHP 1978
Weldon Swift-Lester Southern RHP 1976
1980s
Joe Andrzejewski Chesapeake-AA RHP 1988
Dean Albany Brookyn Park RHP 1981
Bobby Alexander Gibbons RHP 1981
Kevin Brown Overlea LHP 1981
Mark Carper Atholton RHP 1986
Steve Monson Chesapeake-AA RHP 1983
Dave Tripp Mount St. Joseph RHP 1987
1990s
Andy Bair Calvert Hall LHP 1995
Denny Chapman Centennial RHP 1997
Ken Cloude McDonogh RHP 1993
Gavin Floyd Mount St. Joseph RHP So. '99
Mike Goldberg Glenelg RHP 1994
Kurt Light Arundel RHP 1997
Ken Pumphrey Old Mill RHP 1994
Brian Rolocut Arundel RHP 1992
Sean Ryan Broadneck RHP 1994
Jason Tourangeau South Carroll RHP 1999