The Strange Connection Between ORFE and 95 MPH Fastballs

Princeton grad Ross Ohlendorf makes us feel bad about ourselves. A recent ESPN profile by Tim Kurkjian described Ohlendorf's superhuman ability to combine a 95 mile per hour sinking fastball with an Operations Research and Financial Engineering degree that produced, in Kurkjian's words, "a 126-page thesis [...] brilliantly written and so complex, only a mathematician would be able to completely comprehend its meaning." Kurkjian then went on to call Ohlendorf "the smartest player in baseball."But Ohlendorf is just a fluke, right? Another ORFE major could never throw 95! That's what we thought, too, until we saw this article in Bloomberg about Princeton pitcher David Hale, who, depending on who you believe, throws between 94 (espn.com's Keith Law) and 98 (Nassau Weekly's Raymond Zhong.) And... he's also an ORFE major, although he's expected to leave school this summer to join the ranks of professional baseball, meaning there would only be one Princeton ORFE graduate in the MLB.Consolation 1: Kurkjian reveals in his article that Ohlendorf got a B+ in Writing Seminar!Consolation 2: Arguably the most successful Princeton pitcher to turn pro, Chris Young, was in the much more human Politics department.Also, the MLB draft is from today until June 11th - if (or more likely when) Hale gets picked we'll have to full story.