On September 26, 1981, millions of viewers watched on NBC television as Nolan Ryan pitched his fifth no-hitter. Late in the game, commentator Tony Kubek asked Joe Garagiola, “Did you ever see anybody throw faster than Nolan Ryan?”
Without hesitating, Joe replied, “Sure. Rex Barney.”
This is the story of Rex Barney, the man who threw faster than Feller and Ryan; and whose pitching career sped by quicker than his fastball because he could not control it. Barney became a legend as part of the most exciting era of the Brooklyn Dodgers—1943 to 1951. In his own inimitable style, Rex tells the story of his battle to control his fastball and his own life, including his struggles to overcome illness and a near-fatal stroke. Along the way, Rex takes the reader into dugouts, clubhouses, and broadcast booths to meet many of the managers, stars, and scrubinis he has known during his fifty years in baseball.