Great read;

[yankeesince59]

...Verducci does a great job here of exploring the rash of TJ surgeries on younger pitchers...and part of the solution "makes sense".

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20140513/jose-fernandez-miami-marlins-injury/

"What used to be an injury of attrition (Tommy John was 32 and had thrown more than 2,000 major league innings before his groundbreaking surgery) has become an injury of too much too soon -- too much velocity and too much stress. The average age of the 22 major league pitchers to need Tommy John surgery this year is just 23.4 years old.
Wait, it gets worse: A study out just this month in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons found that year-round play in the amateur market has contributed to a 10-fold increase in Tommy John surgeries for youth pitchers.
What can be done? It's time for Major League Baseball to lower the mound -- and for the entire amateur market to follow its lead. When I took part in an MLB Network roundtable discussion last week on the epidemic of Tommy John surgeries, what struck me as most profound was the statement of fact by both Mets team physician Dr. David Altchek and biomechanics expert and former pitcher Tom House that the greater the slope of the mound the greater the forces that are applied to the arm. Reduce the height of the mound and you reduce the forces upon the arm.
It makes perfect sense. What makes no sense is that 13-year-old kids are pitching off the same size mound as major league pitchers. Little Leaguers should be throwing off flat ground. (What's the first step for pitchers as they come back from injury? They throw off flat ground. Why? It's less strenuous.)
There happens to be another compelling reason to lower the mound besides saving the elbows of pitchers: the game needs offense. People, especially inside the game, are not paying nearly enough attention to how the game has been bastardized in just the past five years by the increase in velocity and the specialization of bullpens. Games are getting longer and longer with less and less action -- a terrible combination in any era, but especially this one in which commerce and culture move at a quickened pace. The proliferation of pitching changes (men standing around killing time, pitchers warming up after they just spent the past 15 minutes warming up) and strikeouts are harming the pace of action more than anything else.
Strikeouts are up for a ninth straight year. Singles have reached an all-time low. But what is happening in the late innings of games is a particularly insidious problem. Offense dries up to absurdly low levels and the ball doesn't even get put into play enough. The long endgame is about managers bringing in one hard-throwing specialist after another in the eternal quest to gain the platoon advantage and keep the ball out of play. Some teams are using eight-man bullpens and clamoring for a 26-man roster so they can add yet another arm. This trend must stop.
Most every sport increases action and drama as the game draws near to its end; football teams can go to a hurry-up offense, hockey teams can pull their goalie, basketball teams can shoot more three-pointers . . . but the closer baseball games get to their conclusion the more they slow down and the less likely teams are to get a hit, which makes the excitement of the comeback less likely.
Let's use the National League as an example. From the seventh through ninth innings, nearly one out of every four at-bats ends in a strikeout (24.1%). In those innings, batters are hitting .232.
Now here's the context you need to know about that batting average. The worst hitting in the league's history occurred in 1908, when batters hit .239 for the season. So what is happening in today's game is that the late innings have turned into a brand of offensive baseball that is worse than the deadest of the Deadball Era years.
The overall MLB average in innings 7-9 is .240; only three full seasons ever have been worse: 1888, 1908 and 1968 -- the year hitting was so bad it prompted MLB to lower the mound. Scoring immediately shot up 19 percent.
It's time to act again. We have reached a convergence of the biggest on-field problems affecting baseball: the increase in strikeouts, the drag on offense and pace of play caused by increased bullpen usage and the epidemic of Tommy John surgeries on young pitchers. All of those problems can be addressed by lowering the mound. Baseball shouldn't wait for more young stars to blow out their elbows before deciding to do something about it."

 

[Rick2583]

Very good read indeed & makes perfect sense. But will it be done? not likely.

 

[yankeesince59]

...ya never know, rick. MLB already lowered the mound once back in '69 because like today, pitchers were dominating and offense was down.
...an elevated mound clearly makes a difference in both pitching dominance and pitching injuries. And offense is what brings fans to the park.

 

[totus44]

Mr. Selig....tear down that wall...ummm mound.

 

[Rick2583]

...ya never know, rick. MLB already lowered the mound once back in '69 because like today, pitchers were dominating and offense was down.
...an elevated mound clearly makes a difference in both pitching dominance and pitching injuries. And offense is what brings fans to the park.

It does make you wonder though why they're weren't more arm problems prior to the mound being lowered in 69. (Koufax being the exception).

 

[totus44]

It does make you wonder though why they're weren't more arm problems prior to the mound being lowered in 69. (Koufax being the exception).

Mostly fastballs and curves, the latter being lower velocity. The pitches with the most dramatic movement tend to be the ones that mess with biomechanics the most, with the elbow being the weakest link.

The other part is frequency. Baseball was a part time job up until 68. Actually, it wasn't until FA that round the year play became a huge factor.

 

[Mattingly23NY]

...Verducci does a great job here of exploring the rash of TJ surgeries on younger pitchers...and part of the solution "makes sense".

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20140513/jose-fernandez-miami-marlins-injury/

"What used to be an injury of attrition (Tommy John was 32 and had thrown more than 2,000 major league innings before his groundbreaking surgery) has become an injury of too much too soon -- too much velocity and too much stress. The average age of the 22 major league pitchers to need Tommy John surgery this year is just 23.4 years old.
Wait, it gets worse: A study out just this month in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons found that year-round play in the amateur market has contributed to a 10-fold increase in Tommy John surgeries for youth pitchers.
What can be done? It's time for Major League Baseball to lower the mound -- and for the entire amateur market to follow its lead. When I took part in an MLB Network roundtable discussion last week on the epidemic of Tommy John surgeries, what struck me as most profound was the statement of fact by both Mets team physician Dr. David Altchek and biomechanics expert and former pitcher Tom House that the greater the slope of the mound the greater the forces that are applied to the arm. Reduce the height of the mound and you reduce the forces upon the arm.
It makes perfect sense. What makes no sense is that 13-year-old kids are pitching off the same size mound as major league pitchers. Little Leaguers should be throwing off flat ground. (What's the first step for pitchers as they come back from injury? They throw off flat ground. Why? It's less strenuous.)
There happens to be another compelling reason to lower the mound besides saving the elbows of pitchers: the game needs offense. People, especially inside the game, are not paying nearly enough attention to how the game has been bastardized in just the past five years by the increase in velocity and the specialization of bullpens. Games are getting longer and longer with less and less action -- a terrible combination in any era, but especially this one in which commerce and culture move at a quickened pace. The proliferation of pitching changes (men standing around killing time, pitchers warming up after they just spent the past 15 minutes warming up) and strikeouts are harming the pace of action more than anything else.
Strikeouts are up for a ninth straight year. Singles have reached an all-time low. But what is happening in the late innings of games is a particularly insidious problem. Offense dries up to absurdly low levels and the ball doesn't even get put into play enough. The long endgame is about managers bringing in one hard-throwing specialist after another in the eternal quest to gain the platoon advantage and keep the ball out of play. Some teams are using eight-man bullpens and clamoring for a 26-man roster so they can add yet another arm. This trend must stop.
Most every sport increases action and drama as the game draws near to its end; football teams can go to a hurry-up offense, hockey teams can pull their goalie, basketball teams can shoot more three-pointers . . . but the closer baseball games get to their conclusion the more they slow down and the less likely teams are to get a hit, which makes the excitement of the comeback less likely.
Let's use the National League as an example. From the seventh through ninth innings, nearly one out of every four at-bats ends in a strikeout (24.1%). In those innings, batters are hitting .232.
Now here's the context you need to know about that batting average. The worst hitting in the league's history occurred in 1908, when batters hit .239 for the season. So what is happening in today's game is that the late innings have turned into a brand of offensive baseball that is worse than the deadest of the Deadball Era years.
The overall MLB average in innings 7-9 is .240; only three full seasons ever have been worse: 1888, 1908 and 1968 -- the year hitting was so bad it prompted MLB to lower the mound. Scoring immediately shot up 19 percent.
It's time to act again. We have reached a convergence of the biggest on-field problems affecting baseball: the increase in strikeouts, the drag on offense and pace of play caused by increased bullpen usage and the epidemic of Tommy John surgeries on young pitchers. All of those problems can be addressed by lowering the mound. Baseball shouldn't wait for more young stars to blow out their elbows before deciding to do something about it."

Outstanding-EXCELLENT Post Ron, Thanks....!

I saw quit a bit on this issue last night on ESPN. Dr. Andrews was asked how many YOUNG Baseball patients come to him with "sore arms" asking for TJ Surgery. He stated it grew to 50 percent recently, BUT has increased to 70 percent of late.

YOUNG KIDS, asking for TJ surgery, when they don't even know if their tendons/ligaments are damaged...! Their arms are only sore-inflamed, yet everyone thinks TJ surgery is the answer to all elbow ailments....Sad state of affairs.

As well: this topic seemed to be the talk Du Jour of the Sports News last night.

5 conditions were all suspect:

1-Mound Heights: Pics were shown of Ruth in Boston pitching on what, NO MOUND.

2-Kids being taught and throwing breaking curve pitches, sliders, screwballs, et al. Kid's should NEVER throw a breaking pitch, and any Coach showing a pre-18 yr. old how to throw one, deserves to be hung on the flag pole, then buried under home plate. End of Story, well....it continues.....

3-Improper teaching of Fundamentals for young pitchers. Kid's aren't taught to wind up, twist, show the batter the "back pocket", step into the pitch, using the lower body, where more ball velocity is generated from the bull-whip arms.

4-Coaches and Pitcher's not heeding the warning signs of a tired, worn out elbow. What once was considered "Tennis Elbow" or Bursitis, is now TJ surgery. Tho' kids in most leagues have maximum amounts of innings they can pitch in. Alot of Travel leagues (after LL is over), often have max innings a kid can throw, tho' many travel leagues adopt "house rules" (which deviate from LL rules) simply so kids can throw up to 2 complete games per week. Increased games are scheduled, and adds to this dilemna. As much: kids are put on the mound,j who cannot pitch, have never pitched, and have not been taught how to pitch. Travel leagues, also give a kid up to 4 times the games, they would normally play in LL. The increase in games, pitches, improper technique, et al. is wearing kids arms out at an alarming rate.

5-The advent of weight lifting and training in baseball. In the old days, one rarely if ever bench pressed, or lifted for mass. Weight lifting was minor excercises to strengthen joints, tone muscles, not build muscle mass. Muscle mass works against those very tendons/ligaments which DO NOT get stronger by lifting weights. On the contrary, the surrounding muscle groups become to strong for those small thin tendons/ligaments.

6-Lack of PROPER warming up, before throwing as hard as one can. Today's kids are NOT being shown the proper warm up techniques, a Fundamental missing in the majority of todays baseball regimens, less pro-sports, and even pro-sports falls short.

I don't like to generalize, tho' I have been involved in some capacity in Little League for 50 years. I have seen a deterioration in the lack of "quality coaching"; not even knowing what the Fundamentals of playing baseball are, let alone they can't teach what they don't know. Yet, they expect competitive results out of kids, whom have not been taught diddly squat, about the proper techniques, to hold a ball, use the body in motion, to deliver and throw it proper either.

My own observations include the above, as well as:
Today Coaches and parents are as big a part of the problem as any.

Parents want their kids to play Little League, as much to appease their own desires, some to have a weekly baby sitter, others want their kids to fulfill the parents dreams, the parents either, never fulfilled, or want to re-live thru their kids....
To many kids are told by their parents, "you should become a pitcher". Every kid has a natural position or two, they generally can play, with little influence. A pitcher is not born, he/she is taught delicately to pitch.

Pitching is an Art and Science. If a parent/coach does not know that science, they have NO business trying to teach what they will only f-k up. In many decades, the coaches I have met, who know the proper technique of pitching, step by step, turn by turn, breathe by breathe, are maybe 1 out of 1,000.

Parents, is you have a child seriously involved in youth baseball, it is worth the money to send them to Baseball Summer Camp, where the proper technique, methods, will be taught to your ball player, without compromising their health. Where curve ball is as much a forbidden curse word, never taught to a kid.

Jim Slaton, the ex-Seattle Pilot, Brewer, and Tiger, became a pitcher at 18 in his Senior Year, at my alma mater in high school. Jim was NOT taught a curve ball until he was 18. 18 years of age, is the usual age, in most high schools; when a kid is taught a curveball, when their muscles, bones, tendons, et al are fully grown. Not a year sooner...!

Overall, this issue is a travesty of many many errors. A beacon of concern for this generation.

Ok, I'm off my soap box now....! :MARIS61:

 

[Mattingly23NY]

I forgot to add the over use, and abuse of Cortisone injections for sore tired, inflamed arms. Cortisone can and will soften tendons, ligaments, and muscle, to a point they will detach from the joint.....that much I was told by Dr. Lewis Yocum, the arm specialist who took over at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic (inventors of the TJ surgery).

Also failed to mention, this generation is showing us a new phenom, the large quantity of atheletes, more baseball players, who are under going, their SECOND Tommy John Surgeries.

Hell, when I was a kid, we played 14 Little League games. Travel leagues followed, bringing on a minimum of 28 more games. If a team made it to City Champioship play, and or State Finals, one could play an additional dozen more games. Baseball in Shreveport, began March 1st, and ended October 1st. 7 long months in the humid HOT Southern muggy ass climate, and on top of that, WE ALL WORE WOOL UNIFORMS. only cotton or polyester was the stirrups. Wool Hats too. When I got a sore arm after a game pitching, (even practicing throwing balls home to the catcher with no hop or one hop, from the OF walls), my Mom, would soak my arm on ice, then soak it in a tub of Vinegar, then wrap it up with brown paper bags. It helped, not cuz we didn't have Ben-Gay, that was just the common thing to do in the day. DMSO I recall its short lived era. That is forbidden, and can strip the paint off a car, let alone eat yer liver.......

This story of serious injury can go on forever....so be it...let's keep this one alive....

 

[totus44]

Great stuff as usual Rob.

 

[Mattingly23NY]

Great stuff as usual Rob.

Thanks Tom,

I hope those fires down there continue to be held at bay. I think of you every single time I look at these extremely dry San Gabriels. These So. Cal hills are a wildfire waiting to happen.

So dry, they look like they want to spontaneously combust, from the current heat, alone. It's going to be a long hot, wildfire filled Summer, I got a feeling, here in So-Cal.
Stay cool, Tom, have a cold beverage for me while your at it. Enjoy the air show.

I heard, some 30,000 evacuation notices have been handed out as of last night. That's a lot of displaced persons, and as many very nice homes too.

 

[Mattingly23NY]

BTW-we're going to have the only flying B-29 here on display Monday thru Wednesday. A 30 minute joy ride, costs $750, now that can buy alot of Simulator time.

The Pilot/Engineer, told me, "the flying fortresses are like driving a heavy semi-truck with no power breaks or steering. I have to take a full week off work, after flying one for a couple of days, to recuperate. Every muscle in my body will ache, after flying one, with its all fly by wire controls. I fly C-130s and C-141s for the National Guard, and they are like driving Cadillacs in comparison"....his words-verbatim.

I'm pumped to inspect every detail of the B-29, pumped I tell ya'.