The prize Red Sox pitchers get for hitting 100 mph
David Sandlin thought he had it, but had to wait for confirmation. The radar gun reading was telling the public that his pitch was 98 mph, but the righty knew better.
"Sometimes the velos round down the next day, and it rounded down to 100.1. (mph)," he remembered. "So I just crept in there."
Once he got the word, he knew the message was coming.
"T-shirt time!"
The proclamation is the one sent on one of the Red Sox's Teamworks group messaging accounts, signaling that a pitcher has hit 100 mph. Included is a video of the pitch that broke the century mark. And then comes the t-shirt.
Starting last season, every pitcher in the Red Sox organization who throws a pitch 100 mph gets a t-shirt to commemorate the moment.
Sandlin got his t-shirt, and then this year - piggybacking for starter Payton Tolle - he got another thanks to one 100 mph pitch in Binghamton.
The shirt now sits in his locker at Polar Park, with teammate Alex Hoppe the only Worcester Red Sox current teammate boasting such attire. (Although Hoppe is still awaiting the delivery of his.)
According Baseball Savant - which only measures minor league metrics for Triple-A players - other players to have hit 100 mph in a Worcester Red Sox uniform this season have been Jordan Hicks and Tanner Houck.
On the major league team, the list of players who have gotten their t-shirts from the creators of the garments - Primo Products (Paul Procopio) - includes Garrett Crochet, Aroldis Chapman and Jorge Alcala.
"It's a good time," Sandlin said with a smile.
Hitting 100 mph always is.
