Randy Smith
I have been a proponent of travel/select baseball for several years now. Even though travel teams still get a bad rap, there are still good things going on in the sport, which continues to grow in popularity and size. However...every now and then I observe something that absolutely turns my stomach. I refuse to name team names or even the location of the tournament I'm talking about and I'm doing that for obvious reasons.
In my youngest grandson's first game on Sunday morning, his team faced a very talented team that handed them a tough 6-5 loss.
The pitcher they faced was very effective but his coaches allowed him to pitch the entire game, throwing well over 100 pitches. An 11-year-old arm throwing 100 or more pitches in an hour and a half time frame is simply child abuse. And this is not sour grapes because my grandson's team lost. They didn't hit the ball well at all and they deserved to lose. The youngster stood out on the mound looking exhausted but a pitching change was never made. He even shook his arm a few times as if it might have been hurting. My question to the coaches of this team is...were you out of pitchers just three games into the tournament? Did you feel you needed to abuse this kid just to get a win? If you did, shame on you! There is no plausible explanation for this...it's simply wrong.
This situation is not isolated but it's few and far between. Usually a pitcher is limited to 75 pitches or less in one day. Some tournament organizations have pitch limits but some do not. Years ago when I coached Dixie Youth Baseball, if a youngster pitched two innings in one game, he could pitch again the same day but only for six innings total. He got six innings per week and no more. Fast forward thirty years or so and innings are no longer the measuring stick. It's pitch count and as the weather gets warmer, pitch counts go up but not to 100 or more for eleven year old pitchers. Thirteen and fourteen year old pitchers may come close to 100 pitches in the summer but not often. It is never okay for eleven year old pitchers to throw 100 or more pitches in one day...period.
There used to be a theory that youngsters should never throw a curve ball until they were at least 16 or even 17 years old. If they did, it could result in blowing his arm out or "Tommy John" surgery. That theory has been debunked because throwing too many pitches is the real culprit. Ask any pitching coach worth his salt and he will tell you pitch limits are critically important when it comes to young arm safety and throwing 100 or more pitches in one game totally violates that protocol.
Parents, educate yourselves regarding arm safety for your young pitchers. If your child is being abused by coaches who put too much emphasis on winning and not following pitch count limits, find another team to play on. Getting one win on Sunday morning isn't worth the risk of serious injury.
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com.