Top Ten Most Intimidating Pitchers of All Time

Fastball pitchers are intimidating but some pitchers would just as soon put one in a hitters ear as strike them out. When players would see one of these pitchers they entered the box light on their feet and prepared to bail out the second a pitch was headed in their direction.

No. 10 Ferguson Jenkins

Ferguson Jenkins was a big menacing hurler for the Chicago Cubs in his prime. When he walked to the mound he demanded respect and when he felt he was not given his due a hitter may have felt the breeze of one of his sizzling fastballs whizzing by his ear.

No.9 Juan Marichal

The famous story of Juan Marichal attacking Johnny Roseboro with a bat is legendary but it should not define his career. Marichal unusual wind up and style of rearing back and firing made many hitters light on their feet as they waited for the pitch.

No.8 Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera has lost some of his tenacity over the last few years but he still has that special aura when he steps on the mound and stares down the batter. Rivera was one of the most dominating relievers of his time when he was in his prime and now he is still a legitimate stopper.

No.7 Bob Feller

The recent passing of Bob Feller was one of the reasons for writing this list. The over powering right hander Bob Feller had a slew of nicknames including, "The Heater from Van Meter," "Rapid Robert" and "Bullet Bob." Feller was the original power fastball pitcher and was feared through the league. Feller was one of the last links to the old school Major League Players and his sense of history will be missed.

No.6 Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson's arm was a cannon and his intimidating stare would make grown men shake in the batters box. Johnson once faced John Kruk in an All Star game and sailed one over his head when he saw how scared Kruk looked. Kruk struck out with a wild swing later after bailing out another Johnson heater.

No. 5 Roger Clemons

Roger Clemens was an intimidating fireballer in his day. Later in his career he did not lose much velocity on his fastball. An issue that raises questions about his methods of maintaining his powerful throwing arm over the course of an unusually long career.

No. 4 JR Richards

JR Richards was a heavy handed hard throwing pitcher on the Houston Astros that suffered a stroke at the peak of his career. The hard throwing right handed pitcher dominated his opponents and made them look foolish after setting them up with his wicked fast ball. Richards was the pitching definition of filthy and he was destined for the Hall of Fame until his untimely stroke in 1980.

No.3 Don Drysdale

Before Dale Earnhardt there was another athlete nicknamed "The Intimidator." Don Drysdale was the nicest man off the field and the meanest man on the field once he climbed onto the mound and stared in for the sign from his catcher.

Drysdale was not a pitcher that took kindly to any batter moving close to "his home plate." Drysdale was never shy to plant a batter on their back side if they ventured to close to the inside portion of the batters box. Drysdale's scowl was enough to intimidate even the most hardened veterans.

No.2 Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan now finds it much tougher to intimidate fellow baseball general managers as he once intimidated batters in his hey day. Ryan's best years were with the California Angels in the '70s. Ryan was already a dominant and intimidating pitcher when on his home field in Anaheim.

When Ryan pitched during the summer there was a shadow between home plate and the pitchers mound. The shadow made his fast ball almost impossible to hit and Ryan used the hour to an hour and a half advantage to intimidate batters by buzzing them under the chin with a ball they never saw until it popped in the catchers glove.

Ryan hit a total of 158 batters in his career and in 1971-1972 he hit 25 batters. Ryan lived on his reputation and preferred to brush back batters over drilling them. Ryan's speed and aura created fear and hopelessness in the batters he faced throughout his career and no batter ever dug their feet in against Ryan.

No.1 Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson's wild throwing motion and attitude on the mound struck fear in every batter he faced. He was not only intimidating the batters when he was on top of his game. St Louis Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver loves to tell the story of one of his rare trips to the mound. McCarver reached halfway to mound before he was ordered to return to home plate by Gibson with these biting words, "The only thing you know about pitching is you can't hit it."
Gibson's reputation was legendary. The best players in the league and the veterans schooled the rookies on the finer points of facing Gibson. Get in the box fast. Don't dig in and if you happen to get hold of one run around the bases quick and don't look in his direction. The intimidation factor led to an extra 10-15% more strikeouts for scowling Gibson.

Statistical sources:

www.mlb.com

www.yahoosports.com

www.espn.go.com