Obviously Russell Wilson has a live arm out on the gridiron, but according to Safeco Field’s (possibly faulty) radar gun, the Seahawks quarterback throws fire from the mound, as well.
Wilson threw out the first pitch at the Mariners game on Friday night. After the strike went across the plate, Safeco Field’s scoreboard flashed that the pitch went 98 mph.
Now, no offense to Wilson, but I have my doubts. It’s certainly an impressive first pitch (possibly the best ever), but that doesn’t look like Randy Johnson-type heat (though it does look faster than the average pitch thrown by Jamie Moyer during his time in Seattle). In doing a quick search on Twitter, it looks like the announcers on Root Sports, the station that broadcasts Mariners games, said the pitch traveled 75 mph, which is still very impressive.
It’s worth mentioning that Wilson spent some time in the Colorado Rockies’ minor league system as a second baseman. He made it up to Single-A Asheville, where he batted .228 with a .708 OPS, three home runs and 15 stolen bases in 61 games. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2010 MLB draft.
Check out Wilson’s pitch in the video below.
