good article
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Saw that a few days ago, a lot of good information there.
Here is my biggest problem.
First I should say this... I am not for or against specializing in baseball. At young ages I think it is good for kids to participate in more than one sport or activity. I would like to know which college coach or MLB club would refuse someone like a Zack Greinke because he didn't play other sports. That would be one very stubborn and ignorant coach.
how many kids out there are specializing in basketball or football? Is the NBA against this? How many potentially outstanding baseball players no longer play our game because they specialize in other sports? Is that in the best interest of the game of baseball? It has been proven many times over that baseball wants the top football prospects if they are also a top baseball prospect.
Lastly, the large number of MLB players that did concentrate on baseball actually did participate in other sports until they got into high school.
so bottom line... For many duel sports were good... For many specialization was good. The proof is right there on the MLB rosters!
Interesting article. I agree it didn't make much sense to have the heavy showcase season during what is typically the shutdown period. That suggested change made a lot of sense to me. He also touched on the problem of over lapping sports in the South. There are some teams/coaches that want kids to be available on day one and have zero other commitments during the baseball season, i.e. no other sports. I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying it's a fact.
On the one hand people harp and harp that under 14u is about fun and enjoying being a kid without the pressures of recruiting or future plans, they should just be allowed to be kids. I believe this 100%.
On the other hand, if your kid wants to play at the next level one day it's very important to steer them away from playing all this baseball when they are younger, it's just hurting their arms. I believe this 100%.
Catch 22 much? Plan for your kid to go to the next level and you MUST protect his arm by not letting him specialize in only baseball, OR, let the kid be a kid who just wants to play baseball and quit thinking about the future, just let them play what they want to play?
99+% of 6u little league players will never see the MLB so where do you draw the line? We have had this debate 100 times on here. Yes, multi-sport athletes are more well rounded athletes. But telling a 9u/11u/13u "I know you love baseball but you need to take a break now for the health of your arm and go pick up another sport"...yeah...I have never and will never take my sons favorite sport/activity/social outlet away from him to "protect" him. Sounds like cutting off your nose to spite your face stuff right there. Maybe I have doomed him from a possible MLB career, but I have had one happy kid 
In Texas 6A high schools, Basketball coach wants you playing in AAU in spring/summer, Football coach wants you playing 7 on 7 in Spring, Baseball coach wants you in Fall ball and all want you at weightlifting as well as other workouts. None are accepting of you missing, unless, well, your Bo Jackson.
The baseball/football combo can work if the coaches agree and the player is good enough.
What is meant by "early specialization" . . . does that mean specialization pre-high school? Specialization during high school? Specialization after high school?
For example, if you click through the link in Cressey's blog post to the Dr. Andrews interview, it's clear that Dr. Andrews is talking about ages 12 or 13 (e.g., "I want parents and coaches to realize the implications of putting a 12- or 13-year-old through the type of athletic work done by a 25-year-old"). Cressey, on the other hand, seems to be talking about high school (e.g., "State athletic associations in warm weather climates need to structure high school seasons to allow for athletes to compete in multiple sports."). That is logic I don't understand . . . I mean, an 18-year-old high school senior playing only one sport = bad; a 19-year-old college freshman playing only one sport = normal.
These discussions make my head spin. If your "that good", what difference does it make whether you played 1 sport or 10? I don't think it makes any difference, over use aside, if your good your good.
Latin Americans account for nearly 30% of all major league players. When is someone going to take that into account?
Most of these Latin players specialize AND play year around baseball. Mostly unsupervised at the younger ages. Just think... 30% and most of those come from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is smaller than most states.
Can anyone name a Dominican Football player? How about a Dominican Basketball Player? How about any Dominican athlete other than a baseball player.
Guess what, they get hurt just like the players here get hurt. Some got hurt and it ended their chance. But 30% of all Major League players??? Doesn't that tell us anything at all? It is a very small poverty stricken country with a lot less medical capabilities.
Some argue this is due to players being desperate to lead a better life. Others say it is because of steroids. No one claims that they are better athletes. I say 30% is an astounding number no matter how you look at it.
I think it is not so much about playing multiple sports than it is about not throwing for 2-3 months (which means no pitching for 4 months since you have to get back to strength). Multi sports means a larger chance kids won't touch a baseball for some months (Really not just not pitching but also no throwing).
But you can also have a break without other sports. Cressey pitchers will stop throwing and instead focus on lifting and specific exercises to get stronger).
I
Go44dad posted:In Texas 6A high schools, Basketball coach wants you playing in AAU in spring/summer, Football coach wants you playing 7 on 7 in Spring, Baseball coach wants you in Fall ball and all want you at weightlifting as well as other workouts. None are accepting of you missing, unless, well, your Bo Jackson.
The baseball/football combo can work if the coaches agree and the player is good enough.
Same in California. At the largest high schools, Fall/Spring sports can possibly work, but it is extremely difficult to make Fall/Winter or Winter/Spring work. There are always exceptions (e.g., Giancarlo Stanton was all-CIF (similar to all-state) in football, basketball, and baseball) but the vast majority of kids are single-sport by sophomore year. This differs in the lower classifications, but for Div. 1 (similar to Texas 6A) it's the general rule.
I've read a few of these and there is a distinction that is rarely made, and that is that because a child may only play one sport, that doesn't automatically mean they play it year round.
People should be careful not to conflate "specialization" or one sport players with year-round players. This article does specifically mention year round playing or throwing, so that's not necessarily the case here, but it often is.
I have two boys, 10 and 13(11/14 in March/April), and younger son also plays football. Older son stopped tennis last year, but not really interested in other sports. He's tried basketball, wrestling, but not interested. There is nothing wrong with that, but often get questioned or implied that this is harming him in some manner...it is not, he doesn't play year round.
Anyway, wanted to make that distinction. I also don't really know if the experts know what the best course of action is, other than inaction.
Once again, regarding specialization in high school. I can give hundreds of cases each way that are in the Big Leagues right now!
i personally favor multi sport athletes for several reasons, but the truth is there are many that only play baseball in high school.
I also favor arm care and rest. I actually think Eric Cressy's article was good. There is some great stuff in there.
People need to understand arm care, at the same time, they need to understand risk and reward. Perhaps one of the reasons so many Latin players make it to the top is because they simply are willing to risk more.
People see an event held in January and assume that pitcher is throwing year around. Why is that? Taking time off doesn't have to include any certain months. I like limits, and I like common sense even more.
The one thing that I believe everyone agrees on is that every pitcher and player is different. That is my only issue when it comes to arm care. We can't generalize and claim everyone is the same. At the same time we need guidelines to protect against stupidity.
so in my opinion... Is it stupid to pitch in January? Yes for some, no for others. A lot depends on what happened in Sept thru Dec. and when your season starts, and what condition you are in. There is risk involved every time a pitcher takes the mound. Is the potential reward worth the risk? I can't answer that.
PGStaff posted:
…Some argue this is due to players being desperate to lead a better life. Others say it is because of steroids. No one claims that they are better athletes. I say 30% is an astounding number no matter how you look at it.
Could it possibly be that because adults aren’t nearly as involved at the younger ages they learn to play the game better and with more passion, then don’t use up a lot of resources traveling all over the place to play in showcases as they reach maturity? 
Stats4Gnats posted:Could it possibly be that because adults aren’t nearly as involved at the younger ages they learn to play the game better and with more passion, then don’t use up a lot of resources traveling all over the place to play in showcases as they reach maturity?
Not sure about the passion part, but I do think there's something to the unsupervised argument. I can't image any kid playing with his friends in the park throwing 100 hard pitches in a pick up game. Kids take turns pitching. Kids play around with junk-balls. Kids get bored.
I don't recall anyone's arm ever getting sore when I played ball with my friends as a kid, and we played all spring and summer (on top of Little League).
PGStaff posted:Latin Americans account for nearly 30% of all major league players. When is someone going to take that into account?
My first thought was that these are obviously all position players, since the pitchers would all be worn out.
Wrong. I checked and 56% of the active MLB guys are pitchers.
I've read his blog post a few days ago as well. I find Cressey's assertion that Northern shoulders are stronger than Southern shoulders a little lacking in data. I'm sure he's a good guy but I doubt there is a scientific study which supports. The other interesting comment was an indirect criticism of Jupiter in October. He states most top players don't even attend these showcases. He must not be watching the same tournament I watched. I saw most of the pitchers featured among this year's 2016 prospect list at the event and certainly the vast majority of position players. They go to the tournament because they love the game. Also, these guys aren't throwing solid from January through October.
I just looked on the FL High School Assoc website. In Florida, the season starts with the first games in February, not January. They can begin to practice in January 18. That said, I wonder why playing 30 games from February through May (Southern states) is worse than condensing 30 games from late March to May (North)?
MIDATLANTICDAD,
Guess what, the percentage of pitchers having TJ surgery from the Dominican is exactly the same percentage of pitchers having TJ surgery here. Since they play year around, shouldn't it be much higher?
Stats,
We have well over 100 Dominican's attend our showcases every year. In fact we just finished a showcase in Florida that had many Latin Americans including a dozen or so Dominicans. Several of them are pitchers 15-16 years old. Dominicans can sign at age 16. Couple were throwing in the 90s, one up to 94 that will end up very happy he was there.
The idea that Dominicans don't showcase would be wrong. If anything the top Dominican players showcase as much as the top Players here.
PGStaff posted:MIDATLANTICDAD,
Guess what, the percentage of pitchers having TJ surgery from the Dominican is exactly the same percentage of pitchers having TJ surgery here. Since they play year around, shouldn't it be much higher?
I was wondering if the young DR pitchers were being used up and tossed aside, with no opportunity to get TJS. But the fact that 56% of the DR players in the MLB are pitchers totally flies in the face of that thinking. If pitching year round in the DR isn't tearing up UCLs any worse than in the USA, then we could probably learn something from what they're doing.
Jim T. posted:
…That said, I wonder why playing 30 games from February through May (Southern states) is worse than condensing 30 games from late March to May (North)?
That’s an interesting question. In our section, CIFSJS, we’re limited to 27 regular season games + playoff games. But that doesn’t mean all of the 10 different sections here in Ca have the same limits, or that every state has the same limit. I’ve never checked to see how many games are allowed in each state, but I do know that some northern states play significantly fewer games than we do. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of how many games each state is allowed to play?
PGStaff posted:
MIDATLANTICDAD,
Guess what, the percentage of pitchers having TJ surgery from the Dominican is exactly the same percentage of pitchers having TJ surgery here. Since they play year around, shouldn't it be much higher?
Is that only the pitchers who are signed to pro contracts or all the pitchers in the DR regardless of level?
Stats,
We have well over 100 Dominican's attend our showcases every year. In fact we just finished a showcase in Florida that had many Latin Americans including a dozen or so Dominicans. Several of them are pitchers 15-16 years old. Dominicans can sign at age 16. Couple were throwing in the 90s, one up to 94 that will end up very happy he was there.
The idea that Dominicans don't showcase would be wrong. If anything the top Dominican players showcase as much as the top Players here.
100, 500, or 5,000 isn’t the point. What percentage of all players attending any of your showcases are from the DR? That brings up another question. If the DR is such a poverty stricken country, where are the players coming to the showcases getting the $$$$? It seems to me that between the air fare, lodging, food, and cost of the showcase we're talking well over $1,000 minimum.
