As the Yankees place the 3rd of their starting five on the DL I got to thinking, just what are pitchers made of anymore? You can't keep these guys on the field. No matter how much you do to protect them with pitch count limits, scripted bullpen roles, five and six man rotations, etc. you can't keep these guys out of the infirmary. Here is a link to a short essay on the subject: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...ball-breaks-young-arms-who-break-rules-051314 But what do you guys think?
George, I did not read the essay, but I have an opinion. I believe that many MLB pitchers of today, most of whom showed exceptional talent when very young with bodies not yet developed to maturity, were permitted - even encouraged - as young boys to throw curve balls and sliders. This misguided conduct of their elders eventually led to breakdowns of muscles and tendons following many years of twisting and contorting. The elders, coaches and parents, likely are ignorant of their roles in these individual tragedies. The kids grew up thinking it was OK to have a four-pitch repertoire as LL and HS athletes, when in fact they were headed for eventual destruction of their once-golden arms. I see it today. If anything it's even more prevalent among today's parents and coaches, as the pressure to excel gets greater. Very sad but plenty of blame to go around.
I think you make a good point. I get infuriated every year watching the LLWS and hearing former ML players extolling the cutters, curves and sinkers of 12 year old kids.
What gets me is that starters today go 6 or 7 innings. A complete game is a rarity. Also pitchers today go with 4 days rest while pitchers in the 50's, 60's and 70's used to pitch many complete games with 3 days rest. They're pitching many innings less and breaking down more.
My wife's paternal grandfather, Ambrose "Ad" Atkinson, pitched for the Durham Bulls many years ago. He once pitched all 22 innings of a marathon game. I know it happened because I've seen the newspaper clipping. I was told it was a record, but I haven't tried to verify it.
OK, for all you guys curious about the career of Ambrose Atkinson, here is an excerpt from the written account of my now-deceased father-in-law: There's more, but the above is the significant part. I looked him up in the minor league archives. He played professional ball for 3 years, one with Durham (D-level) and two with Columbia (C-level). Overall he pitched 576 innings in 77 starts, an average of 7.48 innings per game. I find it interesting that in he early to mid 1900s there were B, C, and D-level teams, a far cry from the A and above levels of today. I wonder if any players back then ever made it to the majors from the B-C-D levels.
From wikipedia. Defunct levels[edit] Open[edit] The Pacific Coast League, from 1952–1957, was the only minor league to obtain this classification. At this time, the major leagues only extended as far west as St. Louis and as far south as Washington, DC. This classification severely restricted the rights of the major leagues to draft players out of the PCL, and at the time it seemed like the PCL would eventually become a third major league. The PCL would revert to Triple-A classification in 1958 due to increasing television coverage of major league games and in light of the Dodgers and Giants moving to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively. The open classification no longer exists in the major league rules. Class A1[edit] The forerunner to the modern Double-A classification, the A1 level existed from 1936 through 1945. In 1936, two Class A circuits, the Texas League and the Southern Association, were upgraded to Class A1 to signify their continued status as one step below the highest classification, then Double-A, yet a notch above their former Class A peers, the New York–Pennsylvania League and Western League. Ten years later, after World War II, with the minor leagues poised for unprecedented growth, classification terminology was changed. Beginning in 1946, the three Double-A leagues (the American Association and International and Pacific Coast leagues) joined a new classification, Triple-A, and the Class A1 level became known as Double-A. Class B, C and D[edit] Until 1963, there were also Class B, C, and D leagues (and, for half a season, one E league). The Class D of that day would be equivalent to the Rookie level today. The other class designations disappeared because leagues of that level could not sustain operation during a large downturn in the financial fortunes of minor league baseball in the 1950s and 1960s caused by the rise of television broadcasts of major league sports across broad regions of the country. The impact of the Korean War in 1950 caused a player shortage in most cities in class D and C. The Class E level existed briefly in 1943 in the form of the Twin Ports League. It folded July 13 after six weeks of operation.
Here's an article backing up what Sid posted above. Troubling Rise In Tommy John Surgeries Partway down the article there is this from Dr. James Andrews.
You guys are on the right track. Corey and I have talked about this many times. When I coached, it was not unusual to see players playing year-round as well as playing on three teams at the same time in the summer and winter. Many of these kids played in more than 200 games per year, with pitchers pitching as many as 4-5 times per week before they were 19. Another major factor was pitch selection. The slider is an elbow eater. The Dodgers didn't allow ANY of their pitchers to throw it for more than 40 years. The other dangerous pitch was the "split-fingered" fastball, which used to be called the forkball. That pitch eats up shoulders, especially the rotator cuff. I only saw one or two guys who threw it in the old days, now every high school kid tries to throw one and I've caught Little League coaches trying to teach it. It's crazy and dangerous and I'm not sure how to stop it...