Little league coaches have had to adjust their strategy this year because of a major change in the pitching rules. A much-needed change, in my opinion.
Formerly the rules specified how many innings a kid could pitch. But that’s tricky, because an inning could involve three pitches or it could involve forty-plus pitches.
The problem is showing up in sore arms and damaged arms with younger and younger kids. Just this morning I heard a report on middle school kids having to have “Tommy John surgery” because of too much pitching at too early an age.
The new rules don’t specify innings; rather, they limit the actual number of pitches. It’s inconvenient at times, of course. E.g., in my last game, I needed to limit both my first two pitchers to forty pitches, so they’d be available to play the top team two days later. In the last inning, we were leading 10-5 with two outs and one strike on the last batter. But that’s when my pitcher hit the magical forty. So, we had to stop the game to bring in pitcher #3. We all waited while he warmed up and delivered three more pitches to end the game.
Inconvenient, yes. But still the right thing to do.
And much of the reason this is necessary is that too many adults get too carried away and will do nearly anything — including taking a chance on a kid’s arm — just to win.
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“Here is my theory: I am all the ages I’ve ever been. You realize this at some point about your child — even when your kid is sixteen, you can see all the ages in him, the baby wrapped up like a burrito, the one-year-old about to walk, the four-year-old napping, the ten-year-old on a trampoline. . . . So how can I be represented by a snapshot, or any one specific aging age? Isn’t the truth that this me is subsumed into all the me’s I already have been, and will be?” - Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually)
Yep, that’s the problem with most sports leagues for kids: “too many adults” and not nearly enough grown-ups.
Amen! We are (correction, WERE) not a baseball family. Basketball runs deep through the generations of my husband’s family. Baseball? There’s just no interest, it seemed so slow, so boring (I can sense your cringing, sorry!) Of course, our oldest son, now 8 years old, has been begging to play BASEBALL. WHAT? Okay, fine we’ll try it. *sigh* We very honestly missed the “Fall Ball” registration, but were sure to sign up for Spring. Our last game was last night and it was such a great season. The improvement from the first game to the last was just tremendous and the joy you can see on a boy’s face when he WHACKS (or tinks) the ball is priceless. Our division was coach pitch this year. And although our coaches were not, there were many I noticed get a little too excited about 8 year old baseball. Immediately, I began to dread the live pitch division. This new rule is good news to me!
My (then 12 year old)nephew (pitcher) broke the growth plate in his elbow last spring and has not been released to play baseball again. He’s back to golf but I miss the baseball.
I was a track coach in the 60’s and was always telling them to drink water, let me know what aches and pains you have. Now this was high school. We use to see other teams with the players all wrapped up. I knew how to do the wrappings, but I always told them “If your really injured, don’t run today.” Always checked them out, made them buy the right shoes, even if I bought them. I am talking for long jump, shot, discus, sprints. But at the end of the season when regionals and State were up, my girls were always up for it and took home sackfuls of medals. The mean old coach that sometimes made you sit out wasn’t so bad then.
whoops, make that the “80’s”
It’s a good rule. When I coached middle school ball, we played some teams whose coaches wanted to teach the game, and some team whose coaches wanted to WIN, and win at any cost. I think it’s even worse in school sports than in little league.
I really like that quote from Ann Lamott, Mike. That is profound. Really profound.
I was just visiting my older son, David, in Virginia a couple of weeks ago and had not seen him (or the kids) for more than a year and a half ago, but when I’m with him, it’s as if in some moments that I’m the mother of my small son, still, even though he has two small sons. And I even see him in them, since he’s a good dad raising his sons well.
I feel the same way about myself and in talking with my mom, who’s 85, she does, too. All that we were, we still are. I “feel” the same as I did years ago as far as how I “view” the world. It’s just that layers and layers more have been added to my thinking to make it much richer and fuller. But I cannot subdivide any of those things out.
Thanks for that quote. That’s made my morning better.
Dee
I’ve also heard of high school and college kids going to extra measures to try and throw out their arms. Many believe that Tommy John surgery helps the arm come back stronger - which in some cases it does. Hard to believe the lengths we go to for sport.
Thanks for sharing the new little league pitching rule with us, Mike. I have lamented the changes that are continuing to place in organized sports for kids, in which they seem to be driven harder and harder by parents and adult pressures to competition. I do think healthy competition in sports provides great learning and training opportunities for kids, and I also get sick of the other extreme which leads parents, coaches, or organizations to offer false praise to kids who really haven’t earned it. Encouragement - yes, but false praise - please skip it. Anyway, I agree this rule change is the right thing to do, and I find it very encouraging. Reading “Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers” by Chap Clark really convicted and saddened me about the many ways our adult culture seems to be abandoning our youth. (This is a must-read for parents, teachers, youth-workers, and others with a heart for teens and preteens, by the way!) I found this post a balm to the sadness I felt after reading the last one about the preacher search.
It does add a new element of strategy when working the schedule but I like where they’re headed with it. An interview with one of the Little League Board Members during the LLWS in Williamsport last year seemed to suggest that the next step might be the prohibition of curve balls. Frankly, anything that protects the kids is a step in the right direction. Then again, am I being consistent in saying that when the game itself is inherently dangerous by virtue of hard-thrown spheres with rock-like consistency and waving around big clubs? I’m not sure where that line is drawn…
I am just enjoying right now my son’s t-ball games.
Next year can’t wait for Machine pitch.
Right now for him it is all about the love of the game.
Man Mike I sure do miss you!
I’ve seen a lot of guys’ arms get hurt playing baseball growing up cause their dad made them start throwing curveballs at age 6 and pitched them every inning of every game. It’s just sad! I was lucky to have a dad that knew how to take care of my arm and I’m sure glad you’re looking after your players too.
Life lessons at the ballpark…balls get called strikes sometimes and strikes get called balls. That is like the greatest lesson a kid can learn but man, I sat in awe of parents who would get so angry where they had to be thrown out of the park because of what they saw was a bad call. I have seen good men I respect yelling at their boys..very strange..I guess those are life lessons too. Good rules to protect our little ones..I’m all for it and props to you for championing this effort.
“Isn’t the truth that this me is subsumed into all the me’s I already have been, and will be?â€
It gives me hope that God sees me this way and not one moment at a time, especially during bad moments.
Why not cut back on some of the games? It seems absurd to me that you have limit pitch counts for little kids. Many kids are playing 3 games a week. That’s physically too many, not to mention detrimental to the life of the family/church/kids. I love baseball. I watch way too much. I already am anticipating the temptation of having my kids overinvolved. But, the “best” families in our church right now are unavailable because they are being dragged to baseball games/choir competitions/dance competitions/homework. What does it tell our kids?
Mike,
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What if they had this sort of rule for preachers? He/She would have a specific allotment each month of jokes, stories, cute anecdotes, etc., and if they reach their limit before the month is out they have to sit down immediately and are forced to listen to someone else preach for the rest of the month. I don’t know, it might make for better preaching…then again, I would probably be in serious trouble. Or maybe we could have a word limit on communion meditations. Perhaps little league has something to teach the church.
Whew! You had me worried. I saw “New Pitching Rules” and I thought I was going to have to learn how to use some new fangled pitch pipe. “Master-Key” will be glad to know that we haven’t outlawed them…yet.
It’s a great idea to limit pitches. This is coming from someone who threw too many and damaged his arm years ago. Limited rules along with some coaches that dont know what they are doing and you end up with damaged arms and kids!