High School Baseball Fans- your opinion please

[VWG]

In Texas there isn't any rule on limiting innings pitched except for doubleheaders. Then a pitcher can only pitch 10 innings that day.
In other states they have rulings such as:
California- 10 innings per week
Florida- 14 innings per week
Pennsylvania- Minimum 3 days rest after pitching complete 6 innings
Thoughts on this subject? I know I have heard stories about kids pitching way too much, and even recall a story about one kid from either Grapevine or Southlake Carroll a couple of years ago that quit his team. His Dad let the coach know that he thought his son was pitching way too much, and quit after the coach left the kid in after 130 pitches one game. Kid was the #1 starter on the staff.

Athletes want to stay in the game, but at what cost? How many coaches leave kids in longer than they should? How many pitchers really know when to shut it down and tell the coach, "I'm done"?

[injuredinmelee]

Do not sissify sports. Almost as gay as the 50 point blow out rule.

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by injuredinmelee
Do not sissify sports. Almost as gay as the 50 point blow out rule.

this isnt doing anything liek that... its preserving the kids for college and maybe the pro's... i think most coaches SHOULD know when to pull a kid

[VWG]

Originally posted by injuredinmelee
Do not sissify sports. Almost as gay as the 50 point blow out rule.

So it's ok for a kid to throw 130 to 150 pitches then come back on one to two days rest and throw some more?

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by injuredinmelee
Do not sissify sports. Almost as gay as the 50 point blow out rule.

softball girls pitch like 2 games a week, hell, some teams have like 30-10 records, and their pitches are something rediculous like 29-9, and hteir second pitcher is 1-1...

[VWG]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
softball girls pitch like 2 games a week, hell, some teams have like 30-10 records, and their pitches are something rediculous like 29-9, and hteir second pitcher is 1-1...

Very little stress on the arm, due to the underhand throwing motion. The first thing to tire on a fastpitch softball pitcher is their legs.
The overhand throwing motion is more stressfull on the shoulder and elbow. That is why you see "pitch counts" on baseball pitchers and you never see one on a softball pitcher.

[SintonFan_inAustin]

This is why in the majors pitchers cant pitch more than 100 pitches without tiring. complete games are almost as rare as a no hitter. From early age they are being told u cant pitch more than a certain number of pitches. What makes the players from before the 90's more durable in pitching where they would throw more than 140 pitches and have like 10 complete games?

[pirate4state]

Originally posted by VWG
Very little stress on the arm, due to the underhand throwing motion. The first thing to tire on a fastpitch softball pitcher is their legs.
The overhand throwing motion is more stressfull on the shoulder and elbow. That is why you see "pitch counts" on baseball pitchers and you never see one on a softball pitcher. :clap: Exactly. Girls rule! :p J/K :D or am I? ;)

[Phil C]

I know of one year in state that one girl pitched 7 innings in one game and then pitched 17 innings in the state championship game that her team won 2 to 0. :eek:

[Buccaneer]

Many think Kerry Wood's "arm problems" date back to being overworked in high school. Adrian Alaniz threw 160 pitches in the last high school game he pitched!

[3ABirdMan]

Originally posted by Phil C
I know of one year in state that one girl pitched 7 innings in one game and then pitched 17 innings in the state championship game that her team won 2 to 0. :eek:

Last Friday and Saturday, Orange Tx's 4A Little Cypress-Mauriceville's pitcher and 2006 4A State Tournament MVP , Cody Trahan, pitched a 12 inning game on Friday and another 12 inning game Saturday while capturing the 4A State Championship. That would be 24 innings in 2 days.

VWG is perfectly correct - A softball pitcher's legs SHOULD be the first thing that tires, with correct form. The underhand motion is "natural", with no torque on the shoulder or elbow. The spins put on the ball to create the curve, screw, rise, and drop balls come from hand placement and wrist rotation at release. Most softball pitchers who DO get injured have back problems, and that is typically a sign of a flaw in the pitching motion that over-develops and stresses the muscles on one side more so than the other.

Little League still imposes an inning restriction on softball pitchers, but I'm not sure what it is (4 years ago it WAS 6 innings per week). They are the only softball organization (to my knowledge, including ASA, AFA, USSSA, NSFA, and USFA) that imposes limits.


AND BTW - All of this knowledge comes from the fact that my daughter pitches.

[GreenMonster]

I say let the kid and the coach decide. Kid has to speak up when asked. Catchers should also play a role in this decision. All catchers out there know when their pitcher is done and when he has gas left in the tank. The ball stops moving and the fastball loses that last little pop. If mechanics are sound then the legs will be the driving force of a pitcher. When the legs go the arm picks up more of the load. Pro pitchers are on a limit because they are needed to pitch again 4 days later. Notice that the later in the season it gets the longer a manager will allow a pro pitcher to go so long as he's effective. It's due to the marathon style season pro's play. Pitch counts are bogus unless undergoing rehab or trying to save something for later on. The more pitches a kid throws the longer his recovery time will be. Now, with all of that having been said I would still err on the side of safety and never push a kid to his limits. I would let a kid go all 7 innings if he was throwing a ton of strikes but if he's going deep into the count a lot he's done in about 5 IF he's still effective by then. 7 innings is about the most I'd let a kid go.

[neck_06]

Originally posted by injuredinmelee
Do not sissify sports. Almost as gay as the 50 point blow out rule.

ditto

[RiverRat19]

I think the inning rule is not needed. Most baseball coaches know that starting a pitcher Tuesday then Friday week after week will wear most of them out by the end of the year. As 3ABird already stated, SB pitchers do not have the same stress on their shoulders and elbows that baseball pitchers do and can basically throw as much as their conditioning will allow. Unless the baseball pitcher is just a completely unusual example, even the best athletes cannot pitch 30-40 complete games a year. They'll be ragged out by the end of the season.

Its about like regulating how many carries a running back can have a game. Can you give the ball to a RB 50 times a game? Why not? Because somewhere around carry 30 he'll start to lose steam and by carry 40 he probably won'' be worth a darn.

We don't need to regulate sense and natural tendencies. Plus it does sissify things.