Foster clocks 100-mph heat

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, June 20, 2001 | 10:08 a.m.

Fewer than 1,000 people were in the stands on Tuesday night at Cashman Field when Kris Foster took the mound to pitch the ninth inning of the Las Vegas 51s' 11-5 victory over the Salt Lake Stingers.

But those in the announced crowd of 2,248 who stayed until the end got to witness a piece of Las Vegas triple-A baseball history. Foster, a 26-year-old right-hander from Riverdale, N.J., hit triple digits on the radar gun with a 100 mph fastball.

"I don't remember anybody ever doing that here before," 51s president Don Logan said.

And Foster didn't just turn the trick on the 51s' radar gun. Scouts from several major league teams also clocked the 100 mph pitch.

Foster, who started the season at double-A Jacksonville but was promoted to Las Vegas on May 18, threw 17 pitches in working a 1-2-3 ninth. He threw 15 fastballs, four of which hit 99 mph and one that was 97. The other nine were all clocked at 98 mph.

Talk about consistency. Even Foster's two sliders came in at 88 and 86 mph.

But it was Foster's 100 mph strike that was the buzz of the locker room afterward.

"It's nice to hear," Foster, who has seven saves in 13 appearances, said of his milestone pitch. "It's nice to hear that it was for a strike, too. That's the main part."

Foster, who missed most of the 2000 campaign after undergoing minor shoulder surgery, spent most of the last week working in the bullpen with 51s pitching coach Dean Treanor to improve his mechanics and try to cut down on the stress he has put on that shoulder in the past.

"We needed to make sure his mechanics were going to prevent any more shoulder stuff," Treanor said. "Tonight when I walked down (to the bullpen) when he was getting ready to go into the game he said it was the first time he didn't feel anything in his shoulder while warming up. Normally he always felt something there but not tonight."

"(The shoulder) really felt good tonight," Foster said. "We had been working on mechanics all week. I didn't really overthrow before, I just had bad mechanics and didn't use my legs at all in my windup. I was real erratic and throwing all with my upper body. I needed to calm it down and protect the arm better."

Foster now joins an elite club which includes Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Cubs reliever Kyle Farnsworth as pitchers who hit 100 mph on the radar gun.

"It's good to hear," Foster said. "It's not my main concern, but it helps. (Treanor) has really helped me a lot. Hopefully I can continue to throw hard and throw for strikes. That's the best thing that could happen."

"One hundred miles per hour is pretty impressive," Treanor said. "I've never had anybody do that before. I guarantee the pitch he hit it tonight was with the one he gave the least amount of effort. The thing I'm happiest about is he didn't feel any stress on his shoulder. I knew eventually this guy was going to get there."

Ryan, who was put on the disabled list on June 8 with a sore shoulder, didn't allow a hit and struck out two. He was limited to just 25 pitches before giving way to Mark Kiefer.