Baseball: Major Peculiarities - Essay Example

Baseball is a popular sport at the professional, amateur and youth levels in North, South and Central America, the Caribbean lands and some parts of East and Southeast Asia. It is supposed to have evolved from the earlier bat and ball games. Baseball came up as the national sport of America. It is played between two teams consisting of 9 members each. The players are expected to hit the thrown ball and thus score runs. The balls need to strike the four markers or bases, which are arranged at the corners of a diamond. One team is the offense from where the players take their turns and hit while the other team or the defense tries to prevent the scores. The team switches their roles as soon as three members of the defense gets three hitters out in any of the several ways. An innings refers to the turn on offense for each team. The team scoring most of the runs at the end wins the game. The professional Major League Baseball teams of North America are categorized into National League and American League each of which is comprised of three subdivisions – East, West and Central. The champion is decided by the playoffs comprising of four teams. There are three regular season division winners and one wild card team, which is the one with best record out of the league’s non-division winners. The younger players get a chance to develop their skills through experience against opponents on the field with similar levels of expertise. The pitchers played a strong role in the game during the 1960s and early 1970s. Players have attempted strikes but came back when their jobs faced some threats. The baseball at the college and professional level is played in nine innings where every team may get a turn to bat and attempt to score runs. The other team pitches and defends in the field. Baseball at the highschool level is played in seven innings while a six innings game is played in the field. Each inning is divided into two halves where one team (away team) bats in the first half and the home team bats in the second half. The defense in the game always possess the ball and this also distinguishes baseball from other sports. Whenever the defending team gets three players out from the batting team, the teams undergo switching. Pitching is an integral part of the game of baseball. Pitching should be effective and it mainly helps the defensive team to prevent the scores of the runners from getting a base. A proper full game would ensure above one hundred pitches from each team but a pitcher tends to become tired before reaching this point. The pitcher is usually the player who is reponsible for throwing the ball from the pitcher’s mound to the catcher to initiate the play. (Feller and Rocks, 2001, 3) The idea is to retire the batter. The pitcher is assigned the number 1 while recording the defensive plays. The pitch is thrown to the catcher in such a way that the batter does not get a chance to hit the ball through the strike zone. The batter may also hit the ball poorly. However if he chooses not to hit the ball at all, then this is called a strike provided the ball passes through the strike zone and otherwise it is known as a ball (Hughes and Hughes, 2004, 3). A power pitcher relies on the velocity of the pitches to succeed while a control pitcher is successful in throwing accurate pitches. Pitchers form an integral part of the defensive team to eliminate batters and prevent the runers from getting on the base. A complete game involves over one hundred pitches thrown on behalf of each team. A full game usually involves over one hundred pitches thrown by each team. During the Harris Poll people were asked around about their favorite sports since 1985. Usually football came up at the top and baseball came second. The results of the poll can be displayed as follows (The numbers refer to the percentage of people who chose a sport as their favorite): 1985 1994 2003 Change since 85 Pro football 24 24 29 +5 Baseball 23 17 13 -10 Pro basketball 6 11 10 +4 Auto racing 5 5 9 +4 College football 10 7 9 -1 College basketball 6 8 6 -- Golf 3 5 5 +2 Hockey 2 5 3 +1 America can secure a great future in baseball compared to any other sports provided they can find out the solution to some basic problems like pitching. Pitchers are inclined to tire themselves very soon. In order to keep young pitchers steady determination of pitch count is assumed to be an appropriate strategy. However, proper training in terms of exercise, conditioning and nutrition is very important. The pitcher may therefore need to undergo a complete rehabilitation program before joining his sport. The pitcher should also be made aware of the extent and degree of his injury. The ideal way of developing the arm strength need not always be related to arm stamina or strength, the skill is also important. Pitchers who are successful in the long run often develop a repeatable, rhythmic and efficient motion. (Shammus and Shammus, 2001) The parents of the young baseball players often raise the question about maximum pitch count. It is often asked how many counts the pitcher can throw without getting injured. Surveys and opinion reflects that limits need to be placed on the number of pitches rather than number of innings. (“Pitch Count - How Many Pitches or Innings Should I Allow My Player to Throw?” 2007) Surveys undertaken by the American Sports Medicine Institute recommends the following: “The maximum number of pitches allowed in one outing should increase with age. A pitcher should be limited to two appearances per week. Compared to younger pitchers, older pitchers can throw a few more pitches for a given number of days rest. Participation in multiple leagues, playing other positions, and practice pitching should be considered when defining and regulating rest. Breakaway bases should be used. In general, a child can start throwing a fastball at age 8, a change-up at 10, and a curveball at 14. All other pitches should not be introduced until high school age. Improper technique is a major factor in injury potential. Conditioning of the throwing arm and entire body can reduce a young pitchers risk of injury. While the number of pitches should be limited, the young athlete should be encouraged to throw. This includes playing catch, playing other positions besides pitcher, and practicing pitching. When symptoms of arm discomfort or fatigue arise, longer periods of rest are recommended.” (Andrews and Fleisig, 1996, 2) While focusing too much on the pitch counts, the other means of protecting the young pitchers are not considered into much depth. Some negative practices like gambling and bribing that have become a part of the game needs to be controlled adequately (Fitzgerald, 1993). Films photographed on this game have also been unrealistic, sentimental and exaggerated (Harris, 2003, xi). For instance, the film “Bang The Drum Slow” was adapted from the novel “Bang The Drum Slow” and was criticized to be long and unrealistic (Harris, 2003). A more detailed analysis would help us understand the mechanics of the pitcher’s throwing motion. For instance, according to Mair, an associate professor from the University of Kentucky, “External rotation is important in throwers and pitchers in generating velocity and may protect (the arm) from injury.” (Dotinga, 2007) According to McHugh, director of research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine, the motion of the arm while throwing the ball determines the different effects on flexibility. The players need to be motivated and encouraged such that the strain does not deter them from further practice after recovery. (Dotinga, 2007) Nutrition and conditioning should also be taken seriously because it is certainly of little use to grant the rest periods and yet not be able to improve upon the physical condition of the arm. Above all, coaching should be held in and outside the field and this should cover everything, right from pitch count consideration to overall grooming of the pitcher. Their psychological orientation should be felt and attended to in order to train them suitably in all respect. In order to secure a bright future for the game, all these measures need to taken into account and a profound research is required to improve upon the quality of players. References: 1. Andrews, J.R. and Fleisig, G. (1996), “How Many Pitches Should I Allow My Child to Throw?”, Retrieved on November 21, 2007 from: http://www.asmi.org/SportsMed/youth/PITCHCNT.PDF 2. Baseball Vs. Other Sports, 2004, http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/040317vsintro.html 3. Dotinga, R. (2007) Throwing Helps Protect Pitchers Arms, Medicine net, retrieved on November 21, 2007 from: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=82569 4. Feller, B. and Rocks, B. (2001) Bob Fellers Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom, McGraw-Hill 5. Fitzgerald, F. Scott, The Great Gatsby, Wordsworth Editions, 1993, p. 119 6. Harris, Mark. Bang the Drum Slowly, U of Nebraska Press, 2003,xi 7. Hughes, J and Hughes, N. (2004). Hey Dad, Wanna pitch to me? Jim Hughes 8. Shamus, E. and Shammus, J. (2001), Sports Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation, McGraw-Hill Medical 9. “Pitch Count - How Many Pitches or Innings Should I Allow My Player to Throw?”, (2007), retrieved on November 21, 2007 from: http://www.qcbaseball.com/philosophy/pitch_count2.aspx Read More