Hitting Dingers

  The Raise in Tommy John surgery in Youth Baseball     The shocking raise in youth baseball players needing reconstructive Tommy John surgery has been on the raise for the last decade. With changes in pitching styles in the MLB over the last 20 years. Pitchers are being asking to throw harder then ever and places a high amount of spin on the ball that places a tremendous amount of torque on the elbow.      The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is a small ligament on the inside of the elbow that connects the ulna bone (forearm) to the humerus bone. In children the ligament is under developed, the repetitive  stress of throwing a baseball as soon as the age of 4 years contributes to the raising number of injuries for players under the age of 15.      Tommy john was a dodger pitching that received the first successful reconstructive surgery of the UCL that saved his MLB career. The tearing of the UCL before was a career ending injury. In to...

             The game of softball was first played on a cold Chicago day in 1887. George Hancock is credited with the invention of the game of Softball. George and a group of men with the love of the game of Baseball found it difficult to play baseball in the middle of a Chicago winter. George and his buddies brought the game inside a warehouse to escape the cold. The game was first played with a boxing glove and a broom stick.  The game of softball is played similar to the game of baseball, with its unique challenges. With the fields being roughly half the size of a baseball field requires the player to have a quicker reaction times. The softball is designed to the difference of the game. We will talk about a few of the obvious differences. Even how the players run the bases brings it unique twist. First the pitching styles is a noticeable difference. The game of baseball, pitching is overhand in a downward motion vs pitching under hand that is ...

  Why are there so many different baseballs today?     It shouldn't come to a surprise, with increase in technology would bring innovation to the game of baseball. Baseball has stood the test of time, from "playing at base" at the American army camp at Valley Forge in 1778. Princeton College in 1787 forbidding students to "play with balls and sticks" on the common ground. To one of the first organized Rochester (New York) Baseball Club, with it's fifty members in the 1820's. Over the last 30 years wide world of sports general have invested a tremendous amount of money and man hours. The goal was to find a way to be more competitive and make the game safer for the players at all age levels.  Each baseball is designed for a certain age group with performance and safety in mind. With the youngest group the first priority being safety over performance. As the the age of the players grow, the increase of the performance of the ball increases, with a decrease ...

  How To Break-in Your New Glove                Congratulations, purchasing your new glove. Before you rush on to the field to make those big plays, there is some work to be done. Your new leather will require a period of break-in, but if you rush the process, you might pay the price. Breaking in the glove incorrectly can misshapen the leather, causing a awkward feel in your hand or lose the potential of a high-performing glove. It is important to do it right. Here is a few step process to successfully break-in your new glove. Work the padding                              Working the glove, is really doing is loosening the leather, laces and the padding so                                 There is some movement in the glove. The first area to work is where ...