For 75 years, Little League® has strived to provide children with healthy and safe baseball and softball opportunities. Little League would like to congratulate Major League Baseball and USA Baseball for the launch of their new Pitch Smart campaign, as we continue to work together to make baseball a safe, fun sport for all children.
The Pitch Smart program is a collaborative effort to encourage youth baseball pitchers to adhere to strict pitch count limits with mandatory day's rest. The program follows the same guidelines that Little League established in 2006 to protect young arms. Both Little League's pitch count regulations and the Pitch Smart program directly benefited from the insight and expertise of Dr. James Andrews, notable orthopedic surgeon and a member of Little League International Board of Directors, and his colleague, Dr. Glenn Fleisig, also of the American Sports Medicine Institute. Dr. Andrews recently wrote about the importance of putting the baseball glove down for Little League's The Parent Connection.
"The issue of arm safety is something we take very seriously here at Little League," said Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO. "We are thrilled to see the launch of the Pitch Smart campaign, and Little League looks forward to continuing to work with Major League Baseball and USA Baseball to enhance the safety of the sport for all its young participants."
After several years of research, Little League launched its pitch count program in 2006. With limits set for different amounts of pitches for different age groups, Little League has been diligent in protecting young arms since establishing strict pitching rules based on Dr. Andrews' research. With many baseball players participating in Little League and other youth baseball programs, it is important for parents and coaches to use the Pitch Smart campaign and the Little League pitch count program to ensure young pitching arms stay safe.
Little League strongly encourages all Little League volunteers, parents, and officials to review PitchSmart.org and share it with others.