Brian Wilson, the Giants' closer, throws hard. I've never watched him before tonight, but I saw 18 pitches against the Cubs in the 9th.
Of those 18 pitches, he threw one 84 mph slider, one 96 mph fastball and one 97 mph fastball. Everything else was 98 and above, and he hit 100 five times.
He doesn't have particularly good control, but I haven't seen a pitcher in awhile who is consistently 98, 99, 100.
Matt Cain, the starting pitcher in this game, was still throwing 96 mph in the 8th inning, so maybe there was something magical in San Francisco tonight.
