- A 90 mph pitch only takes 0.4 seconds to reach home plate, while batters need .25 seconds to see and react to the pitch, according to KQED News.
- Since 1903, the World Series has been played every year except on two occasions: in 1904 and 1994. The 1994-1995 Major League Baseball Strike cut the ’94 season short in August over a month before the postseason began.
- In a Tommy John surgery, a procedure many professional pitchers ultimately undergo, a healthy tendon from the leg is sometimes used to replace the arm’s torn ligament.
- The most expensive baseball card is the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner, which is currently worth $3.12 million. Wagner, who played shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was named to baseball’s first Hall of Fame class in 1936.
- The average lifespan of a baseball is seven pitches. Major League Baseball has been known to go through 160,000 baseballs each season.
- The term “a can of corn”, which means an easy-to-catch fly ball, originally came from old-time grocers who used their aprons to catch cans knocked off high shelves.
- New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman currently holds the record for the fastest pitch thrown in baseball at 105.1 mph. The southpaw was pitching for the Cincinnati Reds in 2010 when he set the record.
- Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton currently has the largest contract in sports. Stanton signed a $325 million, 13-year contract with the Miami Marlins in 2014. He has since been traded to the New York Yankees.