Posted on 04/12/2011 9:57:13 AM PDT by Artemis Webb
Just freakishly unreal. I saw something very similar to this decades ago of a shirtless Nolan Ryan throwing in super slow motion. It's amazing the trauma intentionally inflicted in a second.
Even more amazing was how he managed to squeeze in the bong hit before releasing the ball.
Ever wonder why in football they talk about “skill positions” but not in baseball?
I pitched from the time I was 8 until 17 and just ruined my arm. There was a ton of pressure to keep throwing that I wouldn’t tell the coaches when my arm hurt.
 I can't stand coaches like that. Coaches should be emphasizing arm-preserving mechanics in those age ranges - not pushing for wins at any cost.
Its pretty amazing how quick some of these guys heal. After seeing Joel Zumaya shatter his elbow early last season I assumed he was done, likely for good. He’s back but will never pitch those 100+ fastballs with any consistency. These days he has to be a control pitcher or give it up.
 That's why I think the Little League organization does it correctly. They really do have rules in place to protect pitchers. Although I did hate their rules when I played, I see the point now.
The rules are much tighter for Little Leagues today. You can only throw a certain number of innings and have to have a certain number of days rest. They were changed to help prevent the type of thing that happened to me.
And very few dominant college baseball pitchers make the transition to the Major Leagues, since college coaches abuse them. Cliff Gustafson at Texas was notorious for that.
Your arm and shoulders are the last part of the body to completely develop, around the age of 25. Nolan Ryan would not have lasted nearly as long, had he not started out in the Mets’ bullpen.
When I was 9, the coach of the team I was on told our pitchers that if he saw the ball curve or break, they’d be on the bench for the rest of the game.
Whoa, that chick can throw.
gals i know don’t have fingernails half as long as this fellas

And you can see Tim as a Little Leaguer in "Dazed and Confused."
Bump for home digestion. Work blocks YouTube (among other things).
That’s why I never pitched in the majors.
When my son was playing, before discovering lacrosse, it wasn’t innings...it was pitch counts. I can remember many times trotting out to the mound and taking the ball when the kid had thrown 39 pitches or whatever it was to save him for another game and let somebody else pitch to his pitch count.
It’s annoying but by the end of the season we had 4-5 kids who could reliably throw strikes after starting the season with 2.
I threw my arm out when I was 17 and it’s never been the same. The doc said that pitching was like purposefully dislocating your shoulder and it placed too much torque on your elbow for most people to even tolerate it. The motion itself is destructive not to mention repeating it a hundred times in a few hours.
This is why so few real good pitchers get paid lots of money.
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