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Posts Tagged ‘Pitcher’s’

Product Description
Leo Mazzone is pro baseball’s premier pitching coach. In his years with the Atlanta Braves, he has trained several Cy Young Award winners and helped lead his team to the World Series. In Pitch like a Pro, Mazzone and coauthor Jim Rosenthal offer step-by-step instructions for players and coaches in Little League through high school. They teach all of the pitching basics and give athletes advice on how they can use the right training techniques to grow stronger and stay healthier. Contents include: Mazzone’s between-starts throwing program How to grip different pitches Proper mechanics and delivery technique Pitching strategies and tactics Field the position Pitch like a Pro offers contributions … More >>

Pitch Like a Pro: A guide for Young Pitchers and their Coaches, Little League through High School

Product Description
Good softball pitchers aren’t born, they are developed. A young player can become a good pitcher, and have a lot of fun along the way. Good pitchers have a couple of things in common. First, they really want to pitch. Second, they are willing to spend the considerable time and effort tocondition, train, and develop their skills.

There are several attributes that most really good pitchers possess. They can control their pitches, throw strikes, and throw them with speed. They also have good self-control. The best pitchers know how to win; they have their head in the game and use their
abilities to contribute to a successful team effort.

This book will get young pitchers started on the right tr… More >>

A Guide for Young Softball Pitchers

Mom Accused Of Hitting Adult Son With Baseball Bat
Pa. Mom Accused Of Hitting Adult Son With Baseball Bat After Allegedly Coming Home Drunk

Read more on CBS News

Salisbury Baseball Drops Season Opener
VIRGINIA BEACH , Va. – The Salisbury University baseball team opened up its season Wednesday afternoon, traveling to Virginia Wesleyan College, and found itself on the short end of a 6-5 decision to begin the 2010 season.

Read more on WBOC Salisbury

Kenny Richey pleads not guilty to hitting son with baseball bat
KENNY Richey, the Scot who spent two decades on death row in the United States, has denied hitting his son with a baseball bat during an alleged assault.

Read more on The Scotsman

Baseball: SEC coaches anticipating the Tigers as season champs
By: Johanathan Brooks LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri spent the early part of this week hoisting the Lombardi Trophy with Saints coach Sean Payton. It was perhaps one of the last chances the coach will have to party, because he knows it’s now time to get to business. &l…

Read more on The Daily Reveille

Baseball: Pitchers try to replace Coleman
By: Johanathan Brooks Most baseball teams would have a tall order in replacing a pitcher like former LSU standout Louis Coleman. Coleman started 16 games, earned 14 wins, pitched two complete games and had a 2.93 ERA in his final season at LSU. He might not be “replaced&…

Read more on The Daily Reveille

How hard to most little league pitchers throw (11, 12, and 13 years old) how many mph? Also do they usually throw breaking balls like curve balls and sliders? What types of pitches do they mostly throw? I want to know because my brother is going to play next year and he wants to know what kind of pitching he will be facing. Also what are the dimentions of a little league field?

Thanks

The time has come for the Governing bodies of adult softball and youth fastpitch softball to require all softball pitchers and 3rd basemen to wear a protective softball face mask. While the actual risk of being hit in the face with a line drive is slight, the severity of the injury can be blindness or even death. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1991 reported that more than 100,000 cases of facial trauma occurred in children younger than 14 years while they participated in sports activities with a surprisingly high incidence of female pitchers that are hit with a batted ball.

Let me give a couple of real life examples that I have witnessed first hand. A few years back when my daughters softball team was just a 10 year old team (although we were very good), we had the opportunity to play a High School Junior Varsity team. During that game, one of our 10 year old girls hit a line shot back at the pitcher. The pitcher was just able to move her head enough that the ball glanced off the side of her head just above her ear. She immediately fell to the ground and everyone rushed the field to see about her. Fortunately the ball had glanced off of her rather than a straight on blunt impact. She only suffered from a rather severe abrasion on her head, a swollen ear, and a pretty good size knot on her head. Understand that I’m talking about a fairly athletic 14 year old girl only had the chance to react and turn her head about 45 degrees to avoid a ball hit by a 10 year old girl.

Just this season I was watching a fastpitch softball game of 12 year old girls. I was sitting by the father of the 3rd baseman and we were discussing how scary it is that coach’s have the 3rd baseman play so close to home plate. Many 3rd baseman now play about 20 feet inside 3rd base and even closer when the coach thinks the other team is going to bunt. Later that same inning, a batter ripped a line drive about 18 inches directly over his daughter’s head. She didn’t even have time to flinch. Honestly, it was so sudden she didn’t have time to duck or move her hands for protection. The dad, relieved that his daughter was okay, said, “That’s it. I’m online tonight and will buy a protective face mask. She won’t play 3rd base again without one.”

One might think a protective face mask is only applicable to girls softball, but that would be naive. Just two years ago, I met a man that played recreational slow pitch softball. He proceeded to tell me that he stills plays softball but he can longer pitch. He had been struck in his right eye socket with a batted ball and could not risk being struck again. Are you ready for this, it took three surgeries and 189 stitches to repair the damage to his eye socket, nose, and cheek. I don’t know his exact age, but I suspect he was in his late 20’s or early 30’s when the injury occurred.

The game of softball is the most participated sport in the U.S. Given this level of participation and the possible severity of facial injuries, it just makes sense that players in high risk positions should be required to wear a softball protective face mask. The unfortunate reality is that most people will not wear safety gear until they are required to do so. A couple of years ago, face masks on batting helmets became mandatory. In the year prior to that rule, my daughter’s softball team was the only team in our fastpitch softball league that voluntarily put face masks on batting helmets. That’s just one team out of approximately 50 teams.

I’m not sure why more players don’t wear the protective face mask. I suspect some parents are not aware that it exists and many other parents don’t want to spend the $40.00 because the odds are so slim. Imagine what the cost might be for a trip to the emergency room, a week in the hospital, and two or three re-constructive surgeries. That’s just the actual financial cost. Also consider the potential of losing sight in one eye, or the mental damage associated with having scars from 189 stitches. Those costs can’t be measured.

Now that you have been made aware of the safety issue, the severity of the injury, the knowledge that there are softball protective face masks on the market, what will your position be? Will you be proactive with your local league? If you coach, will you be proactive with your team? Finally, will you be proactive with your daughter, or with yourself if you play softball?

Slow pitch softball and fastpitch softball are great games. I hope you will take the necessary precautions to ensure your safety and those you are responsible for.