New Blog columnist Frank Sullivan debuts

(Frank Sullivan is a former All Star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and a friend of Gazette Columnist Noble Collins.  He was a teammate of the revered Ted Williams, among others.  Frank has an engaging writing style and has experienced far more adventures than baseball alone. In coming weeks it will be a pleasure to share his many ups and downs with Gazette Blog readers.) 

Pitch count a product of Little League, ESPN

By Frank Sullivan
Gazette Blog Contributor

I have been asked more times than I can count, “What is the reason for the pitch count in baseball these days?” After talking with my friend Gary Yates, I believe, as he suggested, it is because of Little League Baseball and here is why.

When I grew up there wasn’t any Little League Baseball. We played a game called "Work Up" and it was played like this. There are four batters and if you made an out you went into right field and everyone changed positions. The right fielder you replaced went to center field. The center fielder went to left field. The left fielder went to third base and so it went until you got to be pitcher. Then after a few throws and an out you got to be a hitter.

Great thing about the game was as long as you didn’t make an out you could keep hitting and everyone got to play every position. It was also good because if one of the fielders wasn’t very good, all the rest of the fielders tried to make him better so they could get their time at bat.

With very little time on the mound as a pitcher and just trying to get the ball over the plate without trying to make it curve (although some guys could), it just didn’t stress out a young arm still in the tender growing process.

Gary Yates has two boys being paid by professional baseball who have been pitching since they were, in essence, babies. Tyler, the oldest made it to the Majors even after shoulder and elbow surgery only to have to have more surgery. I didn’t pitch a game until my second year in high school. That would make my arm at least seven years more mature and a hell of a lot stronger.

It doesn’t explain a game like Juan Marichal beating Warren Spahn 1 to 0 in a game that went 16 innings in Candlestick Park with both pitchers going the distance. And both pitchers were ready for their next start four days later. No one can explain that other than to say that they were damn near freaks of being able to throw a ball at the highest level with perfect physical mechanics.

I know I pitched games when my pitch count was well into the second hundred but my mechanics were never perfect and the soreness afterward from just behind my right ear to the cheek of my right butt was beyond belief. When I say I couldn’t brush my teeth with my right hand the next day, I mean it.

All starting pitchers in my day stayed on the mound until the manager couldn’t stand it anymore. It had nothing to do with how many balls were thrown. And, I might add, we pitched every fourth day and rarely got a five day reprieve.

But here comes Little League which has become a product of television and has cost the parents of gifted baseball kids (most teams that get to Williamsport are All Star products of their league) a very large amount of money. Also making Little League in northern climates having to start damn near in the heart of winter to come up with the teams to send to the Series (baseball was never made to play in cold weather).

So we now have a pitcher at the age of say seven years old that is throwing baseballs as if he was in the Major Leagues while his arm is still in the growing process. In my mind it reeks of disaster.
So far the winners of all this are the doctors who routinely preform the "Tommy John" surgery that replaces a tendon that is attached at the elbow in the pitching arm and has proved to be successful much of the time.

There you have it. I believe the reason for pitch counts today is because the young pitchers are damn near worn out making sure ESPN makes millions way before they have time to use a mature arm that the Major Leagues will destroy later to make ESPN more money.

But if given the chance to make millions while keeping ESPN afloat, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Editor's note: Frank Sullivan has written a book called Life is More than 9 Innings , a unique collection of stories covering a lifetime of memories.  Frank's 10-year Major League Baseball career is the source of a fascinating insider’s look at the sport of baseball and some of the legendary players of the ‘50s and ‘60s including Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Sam White and many more. (Click for a preview.
As the title implies, there are many more stories to be told including his early years growing up in California, Army service during the Korean War, and 43 years of life in Hawai‘i on the island of Kaua‘i.

Put together in a very readable short story format, each account stands on its own as a captivating tale told by a master storyteller. Along with its wonderful collection of photographs, the book is a storehouse of memories to be savored and enjoyed by sports fans and casual readers alike. 

Frank Sullivan is a Red Sox Hall of Fame pitcher who is now on the way to becoming a Hall of Fame storyteller. This delightful book not only covers his professional career and many of the great players of that era but also has many delightful human interest tales of life away from the playing fields.

He details the ups and downs of a baseball career at a time when there wasn’t expansion of the leagues and free agency was not a part of baseball terminology. A really enjoyable, fun book for everyone.

— Dick Bresciani, Vice President, Boston Red Sox 

Life is More Than 9 Innings
By Frank Sullivan
216 Pages, soft cover
7" x 10"
Published by Editions Limited
List Price $18.00
Special offer: $15.95