The Nationals Report

According to this story, Shawn Hill's second MRI at Duke University Medical Center came up negative and he will not need surgery to fix his forearm. That being said, that doesn't mean he isn't injured. I'm starting to believe this is more of a permanent thing for Shawn and that he will always have arm pain for the rest of his life. Which brings me to what I really want to talk about...youth baseball.

Shawn probably threw too many curve balls in little league and now his arm is jacked. I knew way too many kids who's fathers and coaches thought it would be a good idea for their kid to learn how to throw a curve when they were 12. I was not one of those kids. I guess you could call me the Greg Maddux of our local league. I was highly successful (League Champion and All-star, whatever that means when you're 12) throwing 3 pitches: the 2-seam fb, 4-seam fb, and change-up. It's something you see all to often in today's game. Just watch a few games of the little league world series this August. You'll see these kids with their tiny arms throwing 12-6 curves. They haven't worked out enough to develop the muscles needed to maintain a proper throwing motion without injuring themselves. Thus, most of these kids will have dead arms by the time they reach high school, when the big money can really be made. I know LLBB has implemented pitch counts and mandatory days of rest to try and keep these kids healthy but the burden really lies on the parents and coaches of these players. The more parents and coaches urge their players not throw curves, the less Shawn Hill's we'll have in the world.

EDIT: I have thrown a Zito-esque curve my whole life, through high school. It accounted for about 80% of my K's. The flip side? When ever I raise my arm, my shoulder pops audibly. - Jon