San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove made baseball history earlier this month in about the most unique way you could imagine.
Musgrove traveled all the way to Antarctica to set the record for fastest pitch on the coldest continent. He threw an 86 mph fastball there on Dec. 4, according to MLB.com.
“This trip exceeded every expectation I had, man,” the pitcher told MLB.com about his journey. “There’s so many moments throughout this trip that I’ll never forget, and the group of people that we came with couldn’t have been a better collection of people.”
The Antarctica trip was part of Musgrove’s ongoing effort to help the Challenged Athletes Foundation, an organization that helps people with physical disabilities participate in sports. After raising $100,000 for the cause in September, Musgrove worked to keep the spotlight on the foundation as he prepped for his trip.
“Ultimately, enough money was raised for Musgrove to invite Landis Sims, a 16-year-old who was born without arms and lower legs,” MLB.com reported. “Musgrove also invited two Paralympic athletes — Roderick Sewell, a double above-knee amputee who became the first to finish the Ironman world championship, and Justin Phongsavanh, who was paralyzed after he was shot in an unprovoked assault.”
In addition to raising money to fund the trip, Musgrove and his team had to clear a variety of logistical hurdles in order to make a world record attempt.
“Musgrove and polar exploration guide Neill Drake spent five months simply applying for permits to throw a pitch on Antarctica — a process to ensure that nothing they did would damage the environment or local wildlife. (Musgrove was required to submit numerous bits of information, including his average release point and his career stats),” MLB.com reported.
They persevered, paving the way for this month’s big event.
“By the time we got down to throwing the baseball, I felt pretty good, I felt warm,” Musgrove said.
Although 86 mph is close to the average speed of professional fastballs, it’s nearly 20 mph off from the overall fastest pitch recorded in the past two decades, according to Sportscasting.
Pitcher Aroldis Chapman set the current Guinness World Records mark for fastest pitch on Sept. 24, 2010, when he threw a 105.1 mph stunner.
That pitch is actually 3 mph slower than one credited to Nolan Ryan in the 1970s, but some baseball historians are skeptical that the technology back then was accurate enough to be trusted.