Baseball Player Magazine

IN THIS ISSUE:

TEAM CENTERCREATIVE NEEDS FORBASEBALL ORGANIZATIONSPAGE 16

HAMPTOM COLLEGIATEBASEBALLPAGE 18

SPORTS MEDICINE:THE YOUTH ELBOW INJURYPAGE 20

HALL OFFAME NEWS:90 FOOT THIEVESPAGE 33

FALL BASEBALLPAGE 37

A NEW ERA:SAL AGOSTINELLI’S LONG ISLANDBASEBALL ACADEMY MOVES TO ABIGGER SPACEPAGE 42

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Baseball Player Magazine is de-signed as a resource guide for thebaseball community. Its intent is topresent all types of businesses thatcater to families. When you purchaseor utilize a product or service that yousaw within the pages of BPM let themknow you found it in Baseball PlayerMagazine. Thank You!In order to provide the BaseballPlayer Magazine free to consumersthat advertisements and this publica-tion are paid for by the advertisers.Unless specially noted, no services,ideas, columns or concepts in Base-ball Player Magazine are endorsedby the publisher. Baseball PlayerMagazine reserves the unrestrictedright to refuse, edit or otherwise alterany advertisement submitted for pub-lication. All information in the maga-zine is copyrighted, including the text,the logo and the layout. All the con-tent of the magazine or the websitewww.baseballplayermagazine.commay not be copied or distributed with-out the written consent of the pub-lisher. The publisher of the publicationdoes not warrant or make any repre-sentations concerning the accuracy orreliability of the information containedherein.For information about having Base-ball Player Magazine distributed inyour location or to advertise or submita story contact 516-380-6775.

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CONTENTS6 HITTING

Analyzing the Swing, Joe Francisco

10 TRAININGDr. William J. Germano

14 DEFENSE2nd Base Double Play Pivot, Jimmy Goelz

16 TEAM CENTER WORKSCreative Marketing Strategies

18 HAMPTON COLLEGIATE BASEBALL

20 SPORTS MEDICINECharles Ruotolo, MD

23 TAKING GREAT BASEBALL PHOTOSSigma Lenses

24 PERFECT GAME SHOWCASE REVIEWMay, 2009 in Ft. Myers, FL

30 HALL OF FAMEModern Medicine and Former Greats

33 HALL OF FAMENinety-foot Thieves

37 FALL BASEBALLGetting Strong

38 FALL BASEBALLMaking It A Better Experience

42 A NEW ERALIBA Moves To A bigger Facility

44 FALL PITCHING

46 A HEALTHY EDGENutritional Guidelines

BASEBALL PLAYER MAGAZINE . DEVOTED TO AMATEUR BASEBALL PLAYERS AND THEIR TEAMS6

ANALYZING THE SWING

HITTINGHITTING

SWING DOWN – How to end yourhitting career before it really begins!

When we look at the origin of the im-proper swing path we have to startas early as tee ball. The problemstarts when the tee is placed on homeplate. Young hitters are then taught toget their back elbow high, swingdown and squash the bug. This to-tally corrupts what they would do in-stinctively and is the start of thecollapse of the young hitter.

As Little League goes on it only getsworse. Coaches are now instructingplayers to take strikes–bunt instead ofhit–squat down to shrink the strikezone and to choke up and put theball in play. Add to the mix the everpresent swing down on the ball andit’s a real recipe for disaster. But withsmall fields and weak competition theplayers with more athleticism and bet-ter hand eye coordination are stillhaving success.

The players that advance to travelbaseball quickly find out the lowerlevel player is no longer on the field.Pitchers can now throw with more ve-locity and start to learn off-speedpitches. The inadequate swing thathad gotten them to this point is start-ing to work less and less. When theydo hit the ball they find that mostplayers can actually field it and throwthem out. Add in bases moving to 75then 90 feet and the ball once hit inthe gap is now a routine out. Swing-ing down is not allowing them to ele-vate the ball and driving one into the

outfield has become an infrequentevent.

For the select few advancing to highschool and beyond–unfortunately theend is near unless changes aremade. The reason you have gottenthis far is because genetics, athleticability, work ethic or skill. This is sadbecause you will never tap into yourtrue ability as a hitter with this swingpath. Eventually when the level ofplay rises and all the players are atthe same ability level, the properswing path sets apart the players thatcontinue and the ones who do not.

So you may be asking yourself whatis the correct bat path. Let’s start withwhat is not the correct path.

The completely wrong, absolutely in-correct, no shot in hell way to hit aball is to swing down. I repeat YOUDO NOT SWING DOWN ON THEBALL. Not one MLB hitter swingsdown on the ball–zero, zilch, nada,niente–NOBODY! If someone isteaching you to swing down youshould run in the opposite direction.

The Major League Swing Path

The proper path of the baseball bat isa slight curving angle allowing thebat to flatten off the back hip–thenslightly climbing the upward 6-9°plane as it gets through the strikezone. The goal of the swing is tomatch the plane of the ball as long aspossible–giving the hitter the greatestopportunity for contact.

Joe Francisco is known as one of the top hitting instructorsaround. Since 2004 he has used innovative and cuttingedge training methods to develop 4 Drafted players, 15signed professional contracts and 6 HS Players of the Year.As a player he was 1994 New York City HS Player of theYear and rewrote the Wagner College record book. In1999 he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves. Joe is theowner of Performance Factory, a training facility with thereputation of developing premier talent. Visit Joe on theweb at: www.PerformanceFactoryBaseball.com

Joe Francisco

YOUDONOT

SWINGDOWN

ONTHEBALL

FOR ADVERTISING CALL: 516.380.6775 . ON LINE: WWW.BASEBALLPLAYERMAGAZINE.COM 7

To keep things simple: The hitter wants to hitwith a slight upper cut to match the downwardangle of the ball coming from the pitcher. If theball is moving on a downward angle and thebat is moving on a downward angle you couldbet the ball is going to get beat into the ground.

Stop the problem before it starts

If you have tee ball age kids or below here iswhat to do. Start with putting the tee out in frontof home plate. Allow the contact point of theball to be out in front of the hitter’s front hip.Now put the young hitter in an athletic position,knees slightly bent, chest slightly over and feetwider than shoulder width apart. Put the bat onthe back shoulder with the elbows relaxed. Letthe hitter lift his hands and bat to a 45° angle.The elbows will elevate but stay relaxed andbelow the hands. Now let him aggressively at-tack the ball–everything else will start to takecare of itself.

For the players above that you will need to re-condition your body to work the correct way.Drills and proper instruction is a good start. Justbe careful that the person you are trusting to de-velop your game isn’t teaching you to swingdown on the ball.

Ridiculous Hitting Comments:

“The barrel should always stay above yourhands”For the most part we want to keep the bat asflat as possible but any pitch below chest highthe bat will have to get below the hands. Thebody stays in the same position on every pitch–the bat angle will change depending on loca-tion of the pitch.

“Swing down–hit the top/bottom of the ball andthe ball will go up”The goal of hitting is to hit the ball dead center.Swinging down on the ball will accomplish onething–hit a ground ball. If you hit the top of theball it’s definitely going to go down–if you hitthe bottom you can get it to lift but decrease thebat in the strike zone dramatically.

“Hit the ball on the ground”Why? Ground balls are better than fly ballsright? I agree. But I think I rather hit line drivesand elevate the ball up the gap or over thefence rather than hit a grounder.

“Keep your shoulders level at contact”

Your shoulders should tilt at contact along withevery MLB hitter. The front shoulder will angleabove the back shoulder enough to allow thebat to get into the proper position to drive theball. Try hitting a ball below your waist withthis interesting theory and see how it goes.

For any hitting questions or comments:

Email: [email protected]: BPM Hitting Comment

Contact: Joe FranciscoPerformance Factory Baseball931A Conklin StreetFarmingdale, NY 11735(631)777-7740www.PerformanceFactoryBaseball.com

NOWOPEN


PERFORMANCE TRAINING

TRAININGTRAINING

By Dr. William J. GermanoPerformance Director &Managing PartnerCATZ of Commack /CATZ of Levittown

Throughout my years of treating andtraining professional and amateur ath-letes, I have had the opportunity to seefirst hand, the benefits of a proper condi-tioning program with regard to injury pre-vention and performance enhancement.Unfortunately, in my opinion, one sport inparticular is far behind most of the otherswhen it comes to time devoted to speed,power and agility development. Base-ball players spend a disproportionateamount of time on their skills trainingwhen compared to their conditioning.There are a few theories as to why this isso, and absolutely none of them aremeant to be a knock on the overall workethic of baseball players as opposed toathletes in other sports.

As a former NCAA baseball player, Ifully realize the exceptional skill level andhand-eye coordination required to excelon the baseball diamond. However, likeeverything else in this world, there trulyis a time and a place for everything. Thescience of performance training dictatesthat athletes should devote different timesof the year to different goals with regardto overall conditioning and skill develop-ment. To over generalize, the 3-4 monthspreceding the start of an athlete’s com-petitive season is when the emphasisshould be placed on conditioning. Forbaseball players, the winter months ofDecember through March are when theathletes should physically prepare for thedemands of their upcoming season. Inthe early spring, the focus should shift to-wards skill development: swing mechan-ics, fielding drills, base running, andpitching and catching skills. This is notto say that no skills training should bedone during the winter, just as condition-ing would not be abandoned when theseason starts. Rather, it’s more a matterof making the best use of your trainingtime to maximize the overall benefit. Forbaseball players, roughly three-quartersof their available training time in the

winter should be devoted to performancetraining or speed, power, flexibility andagility development, whereas, the other25% of their time should be devoted to hit-ting, throwing and fielding mechanics. Inearly spring, the ratio would reverse. Theresult of this is a better athlete, a baseballplayer that is fitter, quicker, and more pow-erful, and one who is much less likely tosuffer an injury.

At our two CATZ training facilities, theBaseball Performance Training program isnot only sport-specific, but also position-specific as well. This is easily accom-plished by getting away from the outdatedand ineffective methodologies of trainingisolated muscles, especially in fixed mo-tions. By training the specific movementpatterns of an athlete’s sport/position, weintegrate full body, weight bearing, multi-planar exercises to improve bat speed andhitting power, first step explosive quicknessand lateral movement, reaction time andcenter of gravity control. Since baseballis played on two feet, using full bodymovements and coordination, baseballplayers should never train on machines.Training on machines places the athlete inan artificial environment rendering them ill-prepared for the explosive, dynamic, andreactive demands of their sport - and there-fore much more susceptible to a non-con-tact injury.

The good news with regard to baseballplayers participating in preseason condi-tioning programs is that with so few play-ers taking advantage of this valuableresource, the ones that do really set them-selves apart from their competition andenjoy unexpected accomplishments on thefield. Ed Boll, the Varsity baseball coachat Commack High School, credits the win-ter performance training his team did atCATZ in Commack with the success hisprogram has had over the past two years.“We spent less time in the cages those pasttwo winters, and more time becomingstronger, faster and better conditioned,and we’ve all noticed a huge difference.This training will be an integral part of ourprogram for as long as I am the HeadCoach here.”

For more information on the CATZsport-specific Performance Training forbaseball players, visit www.catzli.com,or contact CATZ in Commack,(631) 486-8933, or in Levittown,(516) 513-0573.

THESECONDBASEMANHAS TORECEIVE,

TRANSFER,AND THROW

THE BALL,ALL WHILEHAVING ARUNNERBEARING

DOWN ONTHEM.

2B DOUBLE PLAY PIVOT


Jimmy Goelz is regarded as one of thebest infielders to come out of the Tri StateArea. Jimmy reached the AAA level withboth the Cleveland Indians and BostonRed Sox, and is currently an AssociateScout with the Colorado Rockies. He Co-Owns Prospect Sports in Farmingdale,and developed "Major League Actions", aclinic devoted to infield play.

requires everyone to be fairly fastwith their movements, and with fastmovements come mistakes, andsloppy throws. Players often rushtheir transfers and throws, and in-evitably turn a could be double play,into no outs at all. That's why itsvital to get to the base, stop all mo-mentum, and provide a big target.Knees should be slightly bent, shoul-ders completely square to whereverthe throw is coming from, and handsin thumb to thumb position.

To keep it simple, there are basicallythree pivots the second basemenshould rely on. The first and mostused, should be the pivot requiringthe least amount of movement. Thisdouble play turn is the one wherethe player just transfers his weightright at the bag. The weight startsmore on the left foot, transfers backto the right foot, and then backagain with force to the left, to com-plete the throw.(picture 2) It is at thistime, that all weight ends up on thatleft foot, putting the player in anideal position to jump out of the wayof the oncoming runner. The sameleft, right, left, transfer (L-R-L) ofweight is used in all three pivots.The amount of movement and L-R-Ltransfer needed, will depend oneach players arm strength. Youngplayers will require an obvious trans-fer of their weight to throw, whereaswith a guy like Robinson Cano, thetransfer is barely noticeable due tohis arm strength. As with every

DEFENSEDEFENSE

Many things define a great secondbaseman, but none more so thantheir ability to turn the double play.The second baseman has to receive,transfer, and throw the ball, all whilehaving a runner bearing down onthem. It requires balance, quick-ness, and a degree of toughness todeal with the threat the runner look-ing to take him out. What the sec-ond basemen does before the firstthrow even gets to them, will have ahuge impact in determining if theiractions can complete the doubleplay. All too often, young middlemen have been taught to time thethrow coming their way, and be onthe move as they receive the throw.This makes for loss of body control,and potentially erratic throw to thefirst baseman. Most importantly, itjeopardizes the chance to get thecrucial first out, since the pivot manis unable to catch anything but per-fect throws with their unstable target.What the second baseman must do,is get to the base, and provide asteady, stationary target for theirteammate to throw to. As shown inpicture 1, the second baseman hashis left foot on the back corner of thebase, and his right foot off the baseslightly behind the left. The fielder'sfeet are wide enough to provide agood strong base, with the weightcompletely centered between hisfeet. The weight is also on the ballsof his feet. The target is strong, bal-anced, and in a great position toreact to a poor throw. Turning two

pivot, the throw your receiving will dictatewhich pivot you use, and the first pivot requiresa decent throw.

The second pivot is where the second basemancomes across the bag to receive a throw. Itshould be used in the following three situations:1. when a throw is made towards the first baseside of second base, 2. when there is going tobe a close play, or 3. if the throw just isn'tgoing to make it far enough to wait back.Either way, it is designed for the player to goget the ball, and clear out of the way of the on-coming base runner. This time, the right footsteps across the base towards the throw.(picture 3) A good way to line the body upcorrectly to the throw is to take the right kneeto the thrown baseball. It will put the fielder in

a real strong position to complete the doubleplay, and allow the left foot to drive towardsfirst base. It's common to find a lot of secondbaseman like to make this their primary pivotbecause of the safety, but it's not nearly as fastas the first one. As is with all three pivots, L-R-L footwork/transfer of weight is again to befollowed, with the starting position remainingthe same.

The third and most difficult pivot, is for thethrow headed towards the left field side of sec-ond base. The pivot man again takes his rightknee to the thrown ball, but this time ends upfalling away from first base. (picture 4) Theensuing throw will require momentum back to-wards first base. The second basemen should

be comfortable doing so,knowing the base is be-tween them and the runnerfor protection.

Finally, a strong accuratethrow is required to recordthe second out. It's often ahelpless feeling knowing therunner is getting close as thepivot man awaits the doubleplay feed. The secondbaseman can't look to seewhere that runner is at, buthis instincts and past expe-riences act as his gauge.When making the throw, it'simportant for the shouldersand feet to be square to firstbase. Stepping forward orto the side to receive athrow is no easy task, andemphasizes the need forbody control. Body controlis accomplished by gettingto the base in a timely man-ner, and providing a goodstrong target. A ton of prac-tice and proper positioningbefore the play, will help agreat deal. Like great short-stops need to make the playin the hole, and great cen-ter fielders need to rundown the ball in the gaps, agreat second basemanneeds to be able to turn adouble play.


1 2

3 4


If you are starting a travel baseballteam or organization or have an ex-isting one there are so many aspectsof management to consider. Formany of these individuals this is anundertaking that wasborne out of their loveof the game not as abusiness opportunity.Countless hours arespent recruiting,training, practicingand playing thatthere is little time leftto develop a marketingand branding strategy. Forthe inexperienced manager this isan impossible task.

In order to simplify the tasks of developingteam logos, websites and an overall market-ing strategy Team Center has developed acomprehensive one-stop-shop for all of yourcreative needs called Team Center Works.This package provides brand new teams orteams looking to revise their marketing ap-proach with a complete package that in-cludes a Team Center designed logo, TeamCenter website, and a Web Page designedwithin the TC Baseball Directory. The TeamWeb Page provides each team the ability topublish news stories, promote events, pro-mote their mailing list, and much more. TCwill also assist you in building creativenewsletters that links with a Mailing List"builder" directly from your TC web page orwebsite. As part of the Team Center Workspackage you will receive Team Communicatefor FREE which uses email and phone to textmessaging conversion to keep your team upto date on news, events, and alerts.

Kenneth Henderson, General Man-ager of the Long Island Whalers,says "Team Center is the only com-pany I use for all of my marketingneeds. Their design team delivers

unparalleled qual-ity. I needed a logoand website thatwould catch the at-tention of playerswho wanted to bepart of a quality or-

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growth of amateur baseball onLong Island."

TC is currently in the development stage ofbuilding “Player Center “ a social networkthat will enable players to communicate witheach other, upload page elements containingstats, videos, photos and much more. Com-pany Vice-President, Jennifer Jaeger, hopesthat this feature will allow players to commu-nicate with college coaches. "This programwhen completed will provide password pro-tected access to link college coaches to localamateur players.

Since 2005 Team Center “TC” powered byNGIN, has been providing graphic design,creative consulting, and online marketing so-lutions to many of Long Island's largest ama-teur baseball organizations such as the LongIsland Whalers, Hamptons Collegiate Base-ball & Baseball Player Magazine.

If you are interested in becoming a TeamCenter organization call 516.874.5596 ore-mail [email protected] to requesta Team Questionnaire.

TEAM CENTERWORKS

BPM COVER STORY... THE CREATIVE STRATEGIES OF TEAM CENTER...


DIRECTED BY SAMANTHA YODOWITZSamantha Yodowitz, a two-time All-America Second Team selection and current assistant

coach at C.W. Post, joins the Prospect Sports coaching staff after a record-breaking careerwith the CW Post Pioneers.

In her four seasons at C.W. Post, Yodowitz posted a 90-27 record with a 1.68 ERA, strikingout 586 batters in 792 innings. She was equally impressive at the plate, batting .329 with 95RBI, connected for 20 home runs and 58 extra-base hits. In 2008, the lefty started everygame in the Pioneers' post-season, posting a 3-0 record in the East Coast ConferenceChampionship, and a 4-0 record in the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship.

The Suffern, N.Y. native garnered several other accolades for her performance in 2008, as she was named to theEastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division II All-Star Team, the NCFA All-Northeast Region First Team,as well as the All-ECC First Team.

The team improved each year since Yodowitz came on as a freshman in 2005. The former player helped lead C.W.Post to a combined 176-57 record, two conference championships, consecutive NCAA Division II ChampionshipNortheast Regional titles in 2007 and 2008, and two appearances in the College World Series.

C

A Hamptons Collegiate Baseball front of-fice member approached WesthamptonAviators manager Dave Walker shortlyafter his squad had hoisted the Atlantic Col-legiate Baseball League championship tro-phy. It had come time to round up awardsnominees. Walker wanted no part of it. Tocall this hitter or pitcher more importantthan the next would be unjust.

In the inaugural season for the team, one offive under the Hamptons Collegiate Base-ball umbrella, seven Westhampton regularshit over .300 but none higher than .336.The starters, the relievers, the righties, thelefties, even the occasional position player,they all pitched in. It aptly summed up howthe organization came together – its play-ers, coaches, front offices and fans com-bined to make 2009 quite a memorablesummer on the East End.

“We were success-ful in that the ex-pansion took placein a recessionaryeconomy, provingthat the idea is onthe right track,”Hamptons Colle-giate Baseball Pres-ident Rusty Leaversaid. “It filled a realneed in the com-munities. Secondly,the grassroots,hands-on support we received in the formof host family housing, meals and part-timejobs for players, and overall support at thegames reinforced the same thing.”

The Aviators’ 7-5 win over the Jersey Pilotsin the ACBL title game punctuated a stand-

out season on the East End. Be-tween an All-Star Game shutoutof the Wolff Division, a suc-cessful MLB Scout Day and thedelivery of top-flight summerball to the Hamptons, the or-ganization has developed intoa must-see stop in MajorLeague scouts’ summer circuit.If its progress in the last twoyears is any indication, it won’tbe long before it rivals the bestof what’s around.

“One of the huge benefits ofthis year was the baseball cred-


PROVIDING A VENUE FOR MAJOR-LEAGUE HOPEFULS TO SHINE

HAMPTONSCOLLEGIATEBASEBALL

ibility that we established,” Leaver said.“Every time we raise our game, it’s ac-knowledged by the world of Major LeagueBaseball and collegiate baseball. What’scritical to our success is that we’re able toconvey our commitment to becoming oneof the elite collegiate programs in thenation.”From start to finish, thousands of fansplopped themselves down in bleachers,beach blankets and lawn chairs in SagHarbor, Southampton, Westhampton,Riverhead and the North Fork for thesecond season of Hamptons CollegiateBaseball, its first as a five-team venture.The standout players reaped postsea-son accolades. Right-hander Nick Tro-peano (Stony Brook/West Islip, N.Y.)was named Most Valuable Pitcher, ac-cumulating an astounding 77 strikeoutsin 50 innings while compiling sevenwins and a 1.61 earned run average.His success earned him the No. 1 spoton the ACBL’s prospect list according toBaseball America. Rounding out the topfive were Nick Ahmed (Connecticut/EastLongmeadow, Mass.), Gardner Leaver(Rhode Island/Montauk, N.Y.), PeteGreskoff (Brown/Paoli, Pa.) and JustinBradley (UNC-Wilmington/CarolinaBeach, N.C.) all HCB products. AlexPracher (Stanford/Marlton, N.J.) was sixthon that list after a dominant season on themound for Westhampton. Greskoff sharedMost Valuable Player honors with Jersey’sKen Gregory after hitting .397 and belting10 home runs and driving in 37.

At the All-Star Game, Tropeano went twoshutout innings before giving way to seven

relievers; together, they limitedthe Wolff Division to four hits andno runs. Stealing the show wasBrandon Boykin (Rutgers/Tea-neck, N.J.), whose three-run blastin the fourth inning all but put theWolff away. Boykin’s blasthelped earn him Most ValuablePlayer honors for the game.

Less than two weeks later, HCBhad another first – its first MajorLeague scout day. More than100 players were tested in the60-yard dash, making variousthrows from the outfield and in-

field, at the plate and on the mound. Scoutsfrom several clubs, including both 2008World Series representatives – the DevilRays and Phillies – as well as the New YorkMets attended and left with several playersto follow in the fall and spring seasons.

“The first annual scout day that the HCB or-ganization ran was very thorough and Iknow that the scouts who were there leftwith a lot more knowledge of the playersthat we brought out to the Island from allover the country," said Dan Gallagher, di-rector of baseball operations.

It’s just one year however. There will bemany more. HCB’s key components took afew days to reflect on a job well done be-fore hitting the recruiting trail for 2010.There’s always room to improve. There’s al-ways next year, to which the East End mostcertainly looks forward.


By Charles Ruotolo, MD

Elbow injuries in the baseball player arecommon and range from simple sprains tosport ending injuries. Common to many ofthese problems are their presentation asoveruse injuries, injuries that gradually getworse over time. The key to successfultreatment of these problems is early recog-nition.

In the younger baseball player multiple in-juries can occur many being age specific.This list includes stress fractures throughgrowing bone, ligament sprains, partialligament tears, complete ligament tears,and osteochondritis dessicans, a bone andcartilage disorder that can lead to loosebodies, arthritis and the inability to throw.

Stress fractures and stress reaction arecommon problems in the younger baseballplayer with the most common bone af-fected being the medial epicondyle of thedistal humerus. This usually presents aspain on the inside of the elbow that pro-gressively gets worse with throwing. Inrare instances complete fracture with dis-placement of the epicondyle can occur ne-cessitating surgery. These fractures rangein children 9 to 14 years old. The key totreatment again is early recognition andrest. Specific shoulder problems may in-crease risk for this problem causing alteredthrowing mechanics and increase stressapplied to the elbow during throwing.

Ligament injuries can also occur due to thesame biomechanical stress. These canrange from ligament strains to completetears of medial collateral ligament of theelbow. Ligament tears occur in older ath-letes who are skeletally mature, age 15and above. Even in the skeletally matureteenage level player complete tears arerare. For patients with partial tears of themedial collateral ligament conservativemanagement should always be the first lineof treatment. Rest, as well as evaluationby a sports trained physician, are the keysto successful return to the pre-injury level ofplay. Again biomechanical issues includ-ing posterior capsular tightness of theshoulder, scapular dyskinesis (abnormalshoulder blade mechanics), and coreweakness can all lead to altered pitchingmechanics and increased stress across themedial collateral ligament. In a study onprofessional baseball pitchers posteriorcapsular shoulder stretching significantly

decreased elbow injuries. This highlightsthe need to assess the entire athlete whopresents with elbow pain.

Lastly, osteochondritis dissecans commonlyoccurs in athletes aged 11 to 21 with mostpresenting between age 12 and 14. It isa localized condition of the capitellum, thelateral or outside portion of the distalhumerus. This is thought to be an overuseinjury caused by repetitive compressiveand shearing forces on the lateral portionof the elbow joint from throwing. This re-sults in separation of a segment of articularcartilage from the underlying bone. Pain isthe most common presenting complaint. Itis insidious in nature and is exacerbatedby throwing and relieved by rest. Loss ofelbow motion is common. Patients cancomplain also of locking, catching, andgrinding especially as the fragment of car-tilage becomes loose. Initial treatment isconservative, except when there are loosebodies in the joint that need to be surgi-cally removed. Conservative treatment hasshown favorable results when the lesion isdetected early. Advanced lesions can beassociated with limited elbow function anddegenerative arthritis.

Baseball players commonly develop elbowpain due to the high forces and torque gen-erated at the elbow during throwing.Most of these conditions can be treatedconservatively when early treatment is in-stituted. Appropriate evaluation includingassociated problems affecting biomechan-ics need to be assessed for successfultreatment.

Total Orthopaedics &Sports Medicine, LLP

The Office of Charles Ruotolo, MD,FAAOS and Gary Gonya, MD

5500 Merrick RdMassapequa, NY 11758www.orthodoc.aaos.org/ruotolo

For Appointments call 516-795-3033

Specializing in Sport Specific Evaluationand Treatment of Orthopaedic SportsInjuries including Sport SpecificRehabilitation Programs for theShoulder and Elbow

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If you have a passion for sports photography, the rightequipment, and you don’t mind spending a copious amountof time marketing your skills, then you might have a futurein digital youth spots photography.

The following tips are designed to help you turn your pas-sion into profit:

Shutter SpeedHigh shutter speed is critical when it comes to taking actionshots. The absolute slowest speed you will employ is one500th of a second, which will enable you to capture theaverage line tackle or pole vault. For lightning fast motion,you will want speeds of one 1000th of a second or higher.For example, a typical fast baseball pitch at the high schoollevel averages about 90 miles per hour. In order to capturethe ball in mid-air, you will need a shutter speed of one4000th. Knowing the importance of high shutter speed willallow you to better determine the type of digital camerayou’ll need in order to capture vivid action photos.

LightingHigh-speed shutter translates in a higher ISO. This meanslighting is critical. Generally, stadiums will be well lit. How-ever, high-intensity stadium lights often washout color andyield unwanted glare and high-contrast shadows. To avoidrunning into lighting issues, it’s a good idea to have a lighttool on your digital camera such as a histogram. The his-togram’s sensor will give you a good read on light levels,thereby allowing you to adjust the ISO on the spot.

LensesHaving a telephoto lens is a must when shooting youthsporting events. It will prove invaluable, especially whenyou are covering games where you are not allowed on thefield and you don’t have a front-row seat. You might think

you can get away with a good optical zoom lens, but su-perior digital sports shots are taken with a proper telephoto.

Cutting-Edge EquipmentIf you are planning to turn your passion into a moneymak-ing venture, it’s important to invest in professional-gradeequipment. These days almost all professional youth sportsphotographers shoot with cutting-edge digital cameras. Thisis a bonus for parents, who don’t own digital photo equip-ment, in that it provides them with high quality images oftheir young athletes in action.By shooting with high-tech digital equipment, you will beable to display your images on a website. This allows par-ents easy access to photos of their son scoring the game-winning touchdown or their daughter hitting her firsthomerun. What’s more, with digital photo technology,moms, dads and other family members can view and pur-chase prints online, often within hours of the sporting event.This translates into more sales for you.

Practice Makes PerfectDocumenting little leaguers, pint-sized swimmers and supersoccer players in action can be a daunting task even foradvanced shooters. The slightest mistake can ruin a shot.On the flipside, sporting events yield many dramatic mo-ments so you often get multiple chances to capture high-im-pact shots. The key to snapping exceptional photos is to bepatient and practice whenever possible. Being at the rightplace at the right time with the right equipment will helpyou get the money shots you are looking for.

My friend (and my son’s former youth coach)recently asked us to go along to PerfectGame in Ft. Myers Florida this Spring toshowcase our son’s skills. Coach SteveKalousdian and his son Chris (17), alongwith Brandon (17) and I thought it would bea good opportunity since college is rightaround the corner.

Both our kids have shown that they want toplay in college - they have shown much suc-cess in playing for the last 7 years - and theyhave an interest in playing where theweather is a little warmer than up here in NY.So, we spent the money - about $1650+ foreach family for the 3 days and off we went.

We have been to other Perfect Game Show-cases before - so we kind of knew what toexpect - but the kids never did one in Florida

and we wanted them to experience what itwas like. Plus - because they have an interestin attending colleges in FL - why not plan anextended stay and travel around to seeschools? We did just that. We made a 5 daytrip that included the Showcase and a stopat 7 colleges of which we got to meet 5coaches.No matter what showcase you go to orwhere it is - you never know what’s going tohappen. Will it be organized? Will theweather hold up? Will the kids perform well?Will someone see my kid? I can tell you frompast experience that Perfect Game is topnotch. Minor league facilities, well run, veryorganized. There are always scouts there - itjust depends on how many and what schoolsthey are from. What about the talent of theother kids? Because the kids at this showcaseare from all over - the level of play was prettyeven. Will my kid get enough playing timeto showcase his skills? Yes - Perfect Gamedoes a good job not to overload the teams soeach kid gets their innings. The Showcase isbroken into 2 days - day 1 is individual skillsand games, and day 2 is typically 1 game -then you go home.

TWO FAMILIES ATTEND & REVIEW THE SUNSHINE EAST SHOWCASE MAY 31, 2009

PERFECTGAMEUSA

FOR ADVERTISING CALL: 908.455.1613 .ON LINE: WWW.DIAMONDNATIONMAGAZINE.COM24

By JEFF HANEY

Before the Showcase begins, players gather in their colorful attire to hear the day’s Instructions

I could speak about showcases and thedetails for days - so to shorten the results,here are TEN QUESTIONS about PerfectGame directed to the kids themselves:

WHAT WERE YOUR EXPECTATIONS GOINGTO PERFECT GAME IN FLORIDA?Brandon Haney: I expected to see a lot morekids at a higher level of play. I didn’t.Chris Kalousdian: I expected to see Coachesand scouts and a lot of great talent. The tal-ent was average.

DO YOU THINK THE EVENT WAS WELL RUN?Brandon Haney: Yes, very organized.Chris Kalousdian: Yes, well run.

HOW WERE THE FACILITIES?Brandon Haney: Top notch - professional.Chris Kalousdian: Awesome - Minor league!

DO YOU THINK THAT PG GAVE YOUENOUGH TIME TO SHOWCASE YOURSKILLS?Brandon Haney: They gave me 3 full inningson the mound which was good. I don’t thinkthat they gave me enough time at my in-fieldposition or at bat - I would have like more.Chris Kalousdian: I thought they did both atinfield and pitching. I was able to showscouts what I have. For relief pitchers - not somuch.

DID YOU SEE A GOOD REPRESENTATION OFSCOUTS / COLLEGES?Brandon Haney: I expected more. I only saw afew. Some from Florida, some from up north.Chris Kalousdian: There could have beenmore. I would have like to have seen morescouts going around checking out the kids.

DID YOU SPEAK TO ANY?Brandon Haney: I don’t think they were allowedto approach us - but I did approach and speakto 1 or 2. It’s nice to speak to them.Chris Kalousdian: Same with me - I did speakto a few. You can really learn from them.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE PUT ON A TEAM OFPLAYERS WHOM YOU’VE NEVER MET?Brandon Haney: I thought it was a good ex-

FOR ADVERTISING CALL: 908.455.1613 .ON LINE: WWW.DIAMONDNATIONMAGAZINE.COM 25

perience. We all seemed to gel very quickly.Chris Kalousdian: It was good to see differ-ent and new perspectives from the kids - Ithink it was a good experience for me.

HOW DO YOU COMPARE YOUR SKILL LEVELCOMING FROM NY TO THE TALENT YOUSAW?Brandon Haney: I really thought my skill levelwas right on par with the talent that I saw. Ifelt that I could compete.Chris Kalousdian: I thought that my level ofplay was right on with the rest. There werevery few ‘stand-outs’ at the event. Some kidsshould not have been there.

DO YOU FEEL THAT IT WAS A SUCCESSFULSHOWCASE FOR YOU - WOULD YOU DO ITAGAIN?Brandon Haney: I had a good time and felt itwas successful. The whole trip - includingvisiting schools was great. I would do itagain.Chris Kalousdian: I felt it was successful. I’ddo it again. It was fun.

BESIDES THE SHOWCASE - WHAT ELSE DIDYOU DO IN FLORIDA?Brandon Haney: You have to check out thebeaches - which were great and of course weplanned out a 2 day college tour visitingschools and baseball facilities.Chris Kalousdian: Same here. We saw 3types of schools which gave us a great ideaof what college could be like.

Brandon Haney and Chris Kalousdian fromKings Park HS in NY and from the LI Titans

FOR ADVERTISING CALL: 908.455.1613 .ON LINE: WWW.DIAMONDNATIONMAGAZINE.COM26

Clockwisefrom Top:Brandon Haneyshowcasing hishitting.

Pesky sign whichdesignates oneof the trainingfacilities.

Steve K. lookingover a baseballvideo for Chris K.

Below - playersstretch and getready to be timedin the 60.

PERFECT GAME CONTINUED...

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In sickness and in healthModern medicine may have madesome greats even better

By Trevor HayesNational Baseball Hall of Fame andMuseum

McCoy Stadium bulged. The home of theTriple-A Pawtucket Red Sox could barely con-tain the standing-room-only crowd, and theirnoise swelled out-side of the stadium,with chants of “Pa-pi, Pa-pi.”

David Ortiz gavethe crowd what itwanted when he hitthree homers inthree games for thePawSox. 2008saw Red Sox Na-tion descend uponPawtucket to seetheir slugger re-cover from his wristinjury. Despite only10,031 seats inMcCoy stadium, acrowd of 11,460saw Ortiz hit hisfirst bomb in a PawSox uniform.

The minors are often known for their promo-tions, but the attendance boost a majorleague star provides can be better than anygiveaway. But while minor league rehabilita-tion assignments are common today, very fewHall of Famers ever played one.In 1980, a change to the rules allowed teamsto send major league players on injuryrehabilitation assignments and still accrue

major league service time. The rule changecame as a part of the resolution to the laborstruggles that year.

In baseball terms the change is still recent.Hall of Fame careers take a minimum of 10years to build and players must wait fiveyears after retiring to be elected, so only ahandful of Hall of Famers could haveplayed rehabilitation games. Even fewer Hallof Famers – like Paul Molitor who suffered a

broken knucklethat sent him to theBeloit Brewers fora rehab game in1990 – haveneeded to take ad-vantage of the rulechange.

For many of theplayers enshrinedin Cooperstown,things were justhandled differently.Thomas Boswellsummed up the dif-ference in his1989 book TheHeart of the Order.

“Once upon atime, you spit on a cut and rubbed a bruise,”Boswell wrote. “Now, if you don’t feel per-fect, a battery of trainers, doctors andmasseurs try to decide whether you needdiathermy, deep heat, whirlpool, ice, mas-sage, ultrasound, acupuncture, cortisone,hypnotism or an L.A. shrink.”

In 1992, almost $100 million was paid toplayers on the disabled list. With more so-phisticated equipment to detect injuries and

HALL OFFAME NEWS

New York Mets


the monetary investment in players, teamstoday are much more cautious. Molitor’sstring of injuries – pulled hamstrings, pulledribcage muscles, torn ankle ligaments, elbowinjuries and the broken knuckle – ultimatelyforced him to become a designated hitter tolimit the wear on his body.

Tales like future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynnleading the National League in hitting with a.353 average in 1996 despite a tornAchilles’ tendon are becoming rarer. Gwynnand his 2007 Induction mate, Cal Ripken Jr.,were throwbacks to the early days ofbaseball.

Ripken set a new record by playing in 2,632consecutive games, which lasted from 1982until 1998. Over that time, 3,695 major lea-guers were placed on the DL. Ripken’s firsttrip to the disabled list was in 1999, his 19thseason in the majors. He’d two years later.

The man Ripken passed for the title of IronMan, Lou Gehrig, once had his hands x-rayed late in his career. Seventeen healedbone fractures were uncovered with the pic-tures. Gehrig apparently had no clue they ex-isted. He also suffered afew severe bean balls to thehead in an era before bat-ting helmets were used andfought through chronic backspasms to play every day.The only thing that couldforce Gehrig from playingwas the illness that eventu-ally took his life, amy-otrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS). Commonly known asLou Gehrig’s Disease, ALScauses muscles throughoutthe body to degenerate. In1939, after suffering fromthe disease for over a year,Gehrig’s skill had deterio-rated to the point that hepulled himself from histeam’s lineup. His streak

ended at 2,130 games and he never playedagain.

Columnist Jim Murray once wrote “He was asymbol of indestructibility – a Gibraltar incleats.”

In the days before teams started usingdoctors and trainers, players took the fieldwith all sorts of injuries, whether they wantedto or were ready to. An exhausted DizzyDean asked to sit out of the 1937 All-StarGame, but played anyway. The Hall ofFamer gave up a homer to Gehrig and thena line drive to Earl Averill. Averill’s lineradded injury to the insult of the home run. Theball struck Dean’s foot, sidelining him with abroken toe.

The star pitcher wasn’t given enough time torecover though. The Cardinals rushed himback into service. The toe forced Dean toalter his delivery which resulted in shoulderdamage and cut his career short. Deanplayed four more seasons but never pitchedmore than 20 games in a season again.

Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle is another star


who was limited by injuries. Mantle isconsidered one of the all-time greats, but in-juries plagued him throughout his career.

At 19, during Game 2 of the 1951World Se-ries, Mantle charged hard after a fly ball try-ing to help cover ground for an aged JoeDiMaggio. When he saw DiMaggio in posi-tion, Mantle pulled up and caught his spikeson a sprinkler head in the Yankee Stadiumoutfield. He tore several ligaments in his kneeand neglected to rehabilitate it properly. Theincident became the source of a series of legproblems.

Rex Barney, a former player, broadcasterand public address announcer once said ofMantle, “Before every game he had to wraphis left leg from the ankle up with an Acebandage as tight as a mummy. After everygame, he would unwrap it, tears of pain onhis face. Never said a word.”

Hall of Famer Nellie Fox said: “On two legs,Mickey Mantle would have been the greatestballplayer who ever lived.” And 1989 HallInductee Carl Yastrzemski said, “If that guywere healthy, he’d have hit 80 home runs.”

Like Mantle, Dodger legend Sandy Koufaxwas cut down in his prime by injuries. Armproblems forced the L.A. fireballer to retireearly. Winning his third Cy Young in 1966after going 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA, Koufax re-tired at 31, saying “When I’m 40 years old,I’d still like to be able to comb my hair.”

Koufax’s arm problems were well docu-mented. Reynaud’s Phenomenon, a circula-tory problem which caused him to losefeeling in his fingers, cost him half of the1962 season. He dominated over the nextfew years, throwing four no-hitters including aperfect game between 1962 and his retire-ment, but elbow problems caught up to him.

After already starting two games, Koufaxthrew Game 7 of the 1965 World Series onjust two days rest. The strain on his arm wasgetting to be unbearable and his catcherJohnny Roseboro asked what they should do

without the use of the hurler’s devastatingcurve. Koufax replied “Just blow them away.”He threw a three-hitter and struck out 10, end-ing the Series with a 0.38 ERA in 24 innings.

Within a decade after Koufax’s retirement,medical science made a great leap forward.Dr. Frank Jobe and Dodgers pitcher TommyJohn made history in 1974. To save John’scareer after elbow problems, Jobe pioneeredwhat has become known as Tommy John sur-gery, where an elbow ligament is replacedwith a tendon from elsewhere in the body.While no Hall of Famer has had the opera-tion, plenty of active pitchers have a four-inchscar from the Tommy John procedure, includ-ing A.J. Burnett, Matt Holliday, MarianoRivera, Kenny Rogers and John Smoltz.

Some of those players may soon be in Coop-erstown, a tribute to a doctor’s skill and aplayer’s determination to keep playing.

Members of the National Baseball Hall ofFame and Museum receive free admission tothe Museum, as well as access to exclusiveprograms, such as the Voices of the GameSeries. Additionally, members receive a sub-scription to the Hall of Fame's bi-monthlymagazine, Memories and Dreams, the 2009Hall of Fame yearbook and a 10% discountand free shipping on retail purchases. For in-formation on becoming a member, pleasevisit baseballhall.org or call 607-547-0397.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum isopen seven days a week year round, with the ex-ception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’sDay. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, theMuseum is open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. seven daysa week. The Museum observes off-season hours of9 a.m. until 5 p.m. from the day after Labor Dayuntil Memorial Day Weekend. Ticket prices are$16.50 for adults (13 and over), $11 for seniors (65and over) and for those holding current member-ships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans,American Legion and AMVets organizations, and $6for juniors (ages 7-12). Members are alwaysadmitted free of charge and there is no charge forchildren 6 years of age or younger. For moreinformation, visit our Web site at baseballhall.orgor call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or607-547-7200.


Ninety-foot ThievesHall of Famers Dominate Stolen BaseRecords

By Samantha CarrNational Baseball Hall of Fame andMuseum

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Great base steal-ers have more than just speed. They havesomething intangible, something that con-vinces them they will steal that base.

They also have something else in common.Most of them are in the Hall of Fame.

“My greatest asset was my ‘arrogance’ onthe bases, which enabled me to light thefuse to a ball club,” said Hall of Famer LouBrock, who became the oldest player tosteal 100 bases when he totaled 118 in1974. “Baserunning ‘arrogance’ is just likepitching ‘arrogance.’ The runner gets to firstbase and stands out there nine or 10 feet

HALL OFFAME NEWS

off the bag. Do I challenge the pitcher andcatcher or do I back away? If you’re ‘arro-gant,’ you are presenting a presence thattells the opposition, ‘I am ready for thetest.’.”

Brock held the career stolen base recordwhen he retired in 1979. The record hassince been topped by the newest electee tothe Baseball Hall of Fame, Rickey Hender-son. Henderson stole 1,406 bases duringhis 25-year career.

Henderson was elected by the BaseballWriters Association of America in Januarywith 94.8 percent of the vote. He will be in-ducted on July 26 and receive his plaque inCooperstown.

Henderson, who is considered by many thegreatest leadoff hitter of all time, gained thenickname “Man of Steal” because of hisdancing fingers and quick feet. He led hisleague in stolen bases 12 times.

The Legendary Ty Cobb

Honus Wagner


Henderson and Brock dominate the recordbook when it comes to swiping bases. Thetop two modern single season records are:Henderson with 130 steals in 1982, andBrock with 118 steals in 1974. They eachled Major League Baseball in steals for sixseasons. They have the top two career sea-sons with 50-plus stolen bases, Hendersonwith 13 and Brock with 12, which were allconsecutive.

In fact, Hall of Famers are all over therecord books for stolen bases. The top fourcareer base stealers are in the Hall of Fame:After Henderson and Brock are Billy Hamil-ton with 912 and Ty Cobb with 892.

Henderson holds the record for most timesleading a league with 12 AL titles, but Hallof Famer Max Carey is not far behind, lead-ing the NL 10 times. Hall of Famer LuisAparicio has the most consecutive seasonsleading his league with nine.

Two records exist for the most stolen basesin a game. Prior to 1901, that record stoodat 7 by Hamilton and George Gore. Themodern record is six and is held by Hall ofFamer Eddie Collins, Otis Nixon, and EricYoung.

Brock and Collins are tied for most careersteals in the World Series with 14. Cobbstole home more than any other player, pil-fering the plate 54 times.

The stolen base was not a recorded statisticuntil 1886, and it was much different then.A stolen base was awarded to any runnerwho advanced an extra base on his ownaccord. This included a runner who wentfrom first to third on a single.

When he retired, Hall Of Famer Lou Brock led almost every category related to stolen bases

The shoes of Hall Of Famer Lou Brock


With this definition of the statistic, the stolenbase was viewed less as an achievement bythe runner and more as a failure by the de-fense. The 1880s and 90s showed wildlyhigh totals, including Harry Stovey record-ing 156 stolen bases in 1888.

The modern definition of the steal came in1896, although caught stealing was notmeasured until 1920. Prior to that, stolenbase percentage was calculated by the per-centage of steals per game for a team.

This, it was decided, was not an accuratemeasure, and was later changed to the num-ber of steals divided by attempts. The playerwith the highest stolen base percentage withat least 300 stolen bases is Tim Raines with84.7.

In the early 1900s, one player’s anticsforced a rule change to the stolen base.

The Detroit Tigers had men on first and thirdin the ninth inning against Cleveland. DavyJones, a player with good speed, was onthird, and Germany Shaefer was on first.The team tried a delayed double steal tosneak the runner home, but the Clevelandcatcher did not throw down to second.

On the next pitch Shaefer stole first base togo back and try itagain. After an argu-ment, the umpire al-lowed it and Shaefertried to steal secondon the next pitch. TheCleveland catcherthrew the ball into cen-ter field and the runscored to win thegame. Shortly after-ward, the rule waschanged so that oncea player reaches sec-ond base, he cannotreturn to first, outlaw-ing the steal of firstbase.

Henderson, the most successful base thief ofall time, turned the stolen base into one ofhis greatest weapons on the baseball field.

"You got to creep, creep. You got to playgames with them,” Henderson said of theopposing pitchers. “You got to make themknow you're back there. Once they knowyou're back there, they’re going to panicand a lot of time they’re going to give thathitter a great pitch to hit."

The base stealing gloves of Ricky Henderson

Base stealing champ, Hall Of Famer, Ricky Henderson


Members of the National Baseball Hall ofFame and Museum receive free admissionto the Museum, as well as access to exclu-sive programs, such as the Voices of theGame Series. Additionally, members receivea subscription to the Hall of Fame's bi-monthly magazine, Memories and Dreams,the 2009 Hall of Fame yearbook and a10% discount and free shipping on retailpurchases. For information on becoming amember, please visit baseballhall.org or call607-547-0397

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum isopen seven days a week year round, with the ex-ception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’sDay. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, theMuseum is open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. seven daysa week. The Museum observes off-season hours of9 a.m. until 5 p.m. from the day after Labor Dayuntil Memorial Day Weekend. Ticket prices are$16.50 for adults (13 and over), $11 for seniors (65and over) and for those holding current member-ships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans,American Legion and AMVets organizations, and $6for juniors (ages 7-12). Members are alwaysadmitted free of charge and there is no charge forchildren 6 years of age or younger. For more in-formation, visit our Web site at baseballhall.org orcall 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or 607-547-7200.

Left: Mickey Mantle - If he only had two good legs....Below: Tim Raines - 5th all-time for steals


FALL BASEBALLFALL IS A GREAT TIME TO EXPERIMENT, SHOWCASE YOUR SKILLS AND BUILD STRENGTH

Fall Baseball Is A Great Time To Learn!

Ball is over for the summer! Take a break. En-courage your sons to go to the beach, golf oranything but baseball. Let them recharge. Butnow is the time for you to plan for Fall Ball.Fall ball is a wonderful season. Some refer tothis season as a developmental season, butnot for the right reasons. This is not a time tojust goof off, but a time to work on specificthings. If they will be moving up to a differentage group with a larger field and older play-ers, it is a great time to get acclimated. Thisis a great opportunity to play for another ad-mired coach or play a different position. Ifhe’s considered trying to switch hit, now isthe time to try.

Fall is a great time to experiment. If he is apitcher the Fall is a great time to work on anew pitch like the splitter or circle change. Heshould not be particularly concerned with hisstats, but focus on expanding his game. If hiscoach is consumed with winning the FallLeague to the exclusion of this kind of exper-imentation, you are on the wrong team.

For a high school junior or senior, Fall ball is

an extremely important time to showcase hisskills for pro and college scouts. This is thetime that college recruiters have to actuallyget out and see the potential prospects with-out their coaching duties interfering.

For players 15 or so and up, the fall is whenyou get strong. From here on, only the strongsurvive. They must workout in a strength train-ing program designed to increase baseballstrength, not a program designed by somefootball coach designed to build hulking,knuckle dragging linebackers.

There are dietary supplements that are safeand will help build strength and lean musclemass. Creatine is the most popular and ef-fective. I would not recommend using crea-tine until a young man is 16, maybe 15depending on how mature his body is. It willhelp them get strong. It will help them getbigger.


A Great Time To Really Coach!By Coach John Peter

Here's a few random thoughts on making Fall Balla better experience!

*You may want to read the note at the end of thisarticle

I believe that your ability to communicate will al-ways make your life and your team a better expe-rience. Nothing new so far, right?

Fall baseball is the time when teaching and learn-ing, hopefully in a fun environment, may fight thedemons of your competitive side. We like to saythat it is fall ball so we are not going to win at allcosts, BUT it is hard not trotting out your stud pitch-ers at every opportunity... especially if you havehistory with some of your competition! The risk oflooking like a weenie or your team getting crushedcan be overwhelming!

Well coach, here's a few thoughts to keep you onthe straight and narrow and possibly allow you toretain some of your dignity (and your won-lossrecord).

1st - You Need To Have The Reality-Check Presea-son Meeting! You have dads in the stands (andplayers, dependant on age) who are just as com-petitive as you. Your goals for this fall season mustbe outlined in an initial meeting with parents andplayers (this is two separate meetings for someteams).

You must be abundantly clear regarding yourthoughts on winning, which I would always en-courage. Even the younger players know that win-ning is simply more fun. But it is the playing welland with marked improvement between the firstgame to the end of the season that are the realbarometers of a fall seasons success!IF THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE TO ANY PARENT...They just don't get it! Good advice may be to re-ad-dress and attempt to salvage the situation with noresolution, (see number 2 below). Some would bebest-advised to consider a "better situation" else-where.

2nd - You Are The ManYou, coach, are the guy who is giving your timeand doing your best to help an entire team of otherpeople's kids to do their best. And trust me on thisone, if the kids aren't having fun, you had betterchange your ways fast, or you are missing thereason you should be doing this in the first place!So, in general... keep it fun!

And to a player, what could be more fun than tofinally have a coach who gave them a chance toearn the position they have dreamed about. Learnto pick your spots, be honest with the younger kidswho you know may be in harm's way, and beaware of when you can and can't do this. If yourheart is in the right place, you will know!

We talk about how kids simply don't play gamesanymore... by themselves, without adults. Well, oneof the great things about the pick up games weused to play was that kids eventually got to playmost or all the positions. Today, without fall ball,when and how are they going to learn these posi-tions? We Play Baseball - We don't work baseball!

FALL BASEBALLFALL IS A GREAT TIME TO EXPERIMENT, SHOWCASE YOUR SKILLS AND BUILD STRENGTH


3rd - Players, Positions & Having Fun!If it isn't fun, why would any kid want to play thisgame at all? They are kids! No matter what the ageand skill level, especially as they get older, they willhave a lot of choices and options. Let's keep 'em inthe game!

Face it. Most of the world doesn't think baseballwith autumn in the air. It's football, back to school,new friends etc. So, any kid who is on a baseballfield in September is telling you "I REALLY LIKE (orlove) THIS GAME!" Don't you chase them away!No matter what their present skill level, those skillsmay change... and fast!

I cannot tell you how many kids I have had in theFall who grow and get stronger by Spring. What ashame it would be if I was the one who discour-aged a kid just as he grows physically able to dowhat he couldn't just a few short months ago!

So, again, play 'em where they think they can play,along with where you already know they can play.If they stink, don't worry, they will know it beforeyou do.

Always remember: players only get better. Helpthem to make it happen!

Tough Tip - Consider not starting your own son ingame 1 and maybe other games too. Many ama-teur coaches have their own son-- their "favoriteplayer" on the team. If you simply keep your son onthe bench for the first innings of your first game, itwill display to all that you are indeed sticking toyour guns about playing time, new position op-portunities, etc.

Hint - Consider making your son your bench coach.It will show him that sitting is not punishment. (Youcan simply make this a pact between him and youalone.)

Sit him right next to you in the dugout and give him

a real duty such as helping position your defensesor maybe giving you a few quick tips on upcomingbatters he may know - get creative. Show him youtrust and need him! - Build a memory along with ateam.

You can even hold out starting another of your bet-ter players too. Refrain from also placing your front-line players in the positions they always seem toplay in the first inning. Your less-skilled players willreally play hard for you and may pay huge divi-dends come spring!

The fact is... you may not make all-stars out of all-stars. They will do much of that by themselves. Butyou sure can turn the lousy player into an averageplayer, and you can turn the average player into avery good player. This even happens in pro ball,just check out Marcus Giles, a former 53rd rounddraft pick, who is now an all-star second basemanfor the Atlanta Braves.

Finally, remember that almost every World Serieswinner has one guy who unexpectedly made a dif-ference. Team guys who were not all-stars or su-perstars! Remember the names Bucky Dent, CraigCounsell, Gene Tenace, Aaron Boone, MarkLemke, David Eckstein, and Jim Leyritz?So, take the high road, even if and when others donot. It is their loss... and their players are who ulti-mately pay the price with a lack of improvement orleaving the game prematurely. It's not "daddyball,"it's just smart fall ball!

Take some risks, show some courage, park yourego, then kick some butt on the scoreboard! Youmay end up getting more out of this experiencethan your players!

*Note: This article is aimed and read by manycoaches and players of many age and skill levels.If your fall schedule is a win-at-all-cost league,some of this article is not for you. With that said,enter these leagues knowing that your players maybe missing some very important instructional timefor the long term, possibly even contributing to theirpremature departure from this greatest of games.After all, when do you allow a player to try a newposition or switch hit or break out a new pitch... ifnot in the fall? Exceptions - If you are coaching agroup of prospects looking to the coming year's prodraft and/or college ball, your goals are obviouslydifferent. Much of the above still applies, howeveryou certainly will play these players at their posi-tions of greatest potential.

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Baseball Player Magazine recently sat down withJim Clark to talk about the new home of the SalAgostinelli Baseball Academy at Center IslandSports in Ronkonkoma... Here’s 10 questionswith Jim...

BPM: Why did you and Sal decide to move the SalAgostinelli Academy to Ronkonkoma?Jim Clark: The oppportunity came up for us to moveto a bigger facility, more centrally located on the is-land and keep up with the ever increasing demandfor a better training facility. Once we saw the 21,000sq foot space - which is the largest facility on LongIsland - we knew that the benefits for baseball wouldbe tremendous. The newer facility is easyier forTeams to get in and out and it’snear the LIE / LIRR so we canoffer organizations from boththe North and South tremendousaccess.

BPM: What is Sal’s involvementwith the facility and CenterIsland Sports?Jim Clark: Although Sal travels extensively for thePhillies, he is one of 4 partners and is involved withall decisions regarding the facility and our futureplans. Sal loves the new facility and is very excitedabout the future opportunitiies for baseball on LI.

BPM: What kind of comparison is there to the oldfacility?Jim Clark: There isn’t any. The space is unobstructed- offering 2 full infields with double the amount of hit-ting and pitching cages. Teams will be allowed year-round access to training. It’s great to offer outfieldersthe chance to make 200’ throws!

BPM: What about your Staff?

Jim Clark: Nothing changes with that - the same qual-ity top notch instructors will be available at CIS: TomCaputo, Mike Parisi, Tom Downey, Kevin SalmonFrank Daversa and Chris Sipp. Our goal is to main-tain the quality lessons and instruction that in the pastmade the LIBA a household name.

BPM: Is there a Pro shop?Jim Clark: Yes - Lou Maietta who owns High LevelBaseball will run and maintain the shop - offering topnotch equipment and uniforms to all organizations.

BPM: Is CIS just for baseball?Jim Clark: Obviously we want as much baseballat the facility as possible, but with the size of thefacility we will give All Sports access year-round.Soccer, Lacross, Softball, and Birthday Parties, etc.

BPM: What organizations will be utilizing thenew space?Jim Clark: Organizations like the L I Ducks, L I Titans,

Ronkonkoma Cardinals, Smith-town Bulls and Three VillageBaseball will be joining us thisyear.

BPM: Where does Blue ChipProspects fit in?Jim Clark: Blue Chip will now

be able to host showcases year round - and becauseof the facility - we will be able to invite qualitycolleges and universities to look at our kids.

BPM: How can you sum up the CIS facility?Jim Clark: We can now offer a ‘True Team’ work outand practice, year round!

BPM: What’s upcoming for the Fall at CIS?Jim Clark: Besides the interior upgrade of the facility,we have on Oct.11th a Blue Chip Prospects Pitchingand Catching Showcase and on Dec 5th and 6th, aNorth East College Coaches Baseball workoutfeaturing many top college coaches/instructors. Infocan be found at www.centerislandsports.com

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Fall is a very tricky time of the year to pitchsuccessfully, mainly because most teams areplaying part time in the fall. In other words,they only play on weekends or maybe onceduring the week.

The other problem is that teams do not prac-tice every day as they would in the spring orthe summer, so pitchers tend to be a little bitout of shape because they are pitching oncea week and not doing a whole lot in betweento stay fresh. So here are a few tips that youcan use to pitch successfully in the fall.

1. The obvious, stay in shape. Keep your armstrong. This can be easily done by getting out-side every day. Just throwing for ten minuteswill go a long way to making your weekendoutings a lot better. You can also go througha typical 5-day workout rotation. In someways, pitching in the fall can actually be areally good time to get intoa consistent rotation.

For instance, you may do:Day 1 - light tossDay 2 - long tossDay 3 - throw down to a catcher in a bullpenDay 4 - another light tossDay 5 - take offOn Day 6 you would pitch again.

Or you could add in another short bullpensession on flat ground. But if anything, this isa real good opportunity to get into a rotation.What is important is to stay in shape andtake care of your arm.

2. The second thing is take care of your armbefore and after games. Because it is a littlecolder in the fall (at least here in New Jersey),make sure that you are properly warmed upbefore the game. I try to tell the pitchers tothink like a boxer. You never see a boxercome into the ring without a sweat going.With fall ball, make sure of this because theweather's a little bit cooler. Make sure thatyou take that extra time to do some extrastretching, loosening up, warming up,

running, even some sprint work wouldn'tbe bad.

After the game, make sure that you are icingand doing your aerobic flush just like youwould if you would pitch any other day. If youare going to get on a good cycle, this is thestart of the cycle. So if you go back to tipnumber one, if you are going to be on a 5-day cycle, the minute you stop pitching iswhen that cycle begins. So you ice, you cando 20 minutes on a bike, a brisk 20-minutewalk, some light jump rope, a light jog, any-thing that gets the blood flowing after that. Itis important to take care of your arm physi-cally, because that is the start of the cycle.

3. The other thing you can do for successfullypitching in the fall is monitoring pitch counts.I think what happens is that teams are not asstaffed in the fall as they are in the summerand in the spring. So make sure that you arenot being overused. Pitch counts are a trickysubject, because you can think of it a fewways.

Here is how I like to think of pitch counts.Some people measure pitch counts in innings,some people measure pitch counts in totalpitches thrown. I do not like to do either ofthose. I like to measure total pitch counts athow you arrived at the total.

For instance, if you threw one 40-pitch inningin the first inning, you may not have even 75pitches in you. You may only be able to haveone more inning in you, or not even that. Youcould be in muscle failure.

So let us say that you threw five 15-pitchinnings and you are at 75. And in betweeninnings your team was fairly productiveoffensively - they got guys on base and theydid not go down 1, 2, 3 - and you had anadequate rest in between innings. Well nowyou can go beyond your 75-pitch count, aslong as you are getting to that total inmanageable workloads and not getting tothem all at once.

FALL PITCHINGTIPS FOR PITCHING SUCCESSFULLY IN THE FALL

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A baseball player’s diet is a very important part of histraining program. Poor nutritional habits can prevent apitcher from reaching his full potential on the mound.There are three parts to a complete baseball pitcher's train-ing program: workouts, nutrition, and rest. Each of thesecomponents has equal importance. A pitcher cannottrain at maximum intensity if he is not properly fueled orproperly rested.For the most complete and up-to-date program for condi-tioning the pitcher available today, check out TheTUFFCUFF Strength and Conditioning Manual for BaseballPitchers. It contains training calendars, nutrition charts andfood recommendations to help you eat well, so that youplay to the best of your ability.Proper nutrition is essential for competing at the highestlevel and performing at the highest level. Sure you'veheard stories of great baseball players like Babe Ruth andMickey Mantle who paid little attention to their health andwellness while playing. The fact is, had they maintained aproper diet and trained correctly they would have beeneven better.In today's competitive atmosphere an athlete needs tomaintain a healthy edge which means eating right. Base-ball is a combination of balance, agility, and concentrationwith bursts of physical activity. For power, speed, andgood reaction time, what and when one eats can improveor worsen performance. If we add in the length of games,weather conditions, and long season, the player who isbest nourished will be the one who finishes strong, andhealthy!The nutrition goals for baseball are designed to optimizeperformance. Food choices, adequate fluid intake, fre-quency of meals, and timing of meals to activity can pro-vide the edge in practice, games, and recovery. Manyathletes are interested in losing body fat, or adding mass,but every player can benefit from a boost in energy, beingoptimally hydrated, and having the fuel for mental con-centration and physical activity.Every baseball player should make it a point to do thefollowing daily:Consume plenty of fluidsDetermine fluid loss during practices and games by weigh-ing before exercise begins and again after exercise hasfinished. This gives a good estimate of how much fluid islost during physical activity, and lets you know how muchfluid you need to replace! Monitor urine output. See yourpee. The goal is light in color and a large volume, espe-cially in the first void of the day. Drink enough fluid.The guidelines are as follows: Weight ( pounds) x 0.67 =number of ounces of fluid required dailyRecommended fluid intakeDrink 2 cups of fluid 2 hours before a game or practice.Drink 6-8 ounces of fluid every 15-20 minutes duringgames or practices.Drink 24 ounces of fluid for every pound lost during prac-tices or games.Best fluids for pitchers?

BEFORE: Water or sports drink.DURING: Water, sports drink.AFTER: Sports drink, water.Worst fluids for pitchers?Juices may cause stomach upset during exercise.Carbonated beverages can cause bloating, and can causefullness before fluid needs are met.Caffeine-containing beverages may have a slight diuretic,or fluid-losing effect.Alcohol can affect reaction time and is also a diuretic,causing valuable fluid loss. In addition, alcohol after exer-cise, before the body is optimally refueled will delay thebody’s recovery from activity and may decrease perform-ance!Fueling strategiesEat something within 1 hour of waking up to jumpstart yourbody. Good choices are: Bagel with peanut butter, bowlof cereal, eggs and toast, waffles with syrup and fruit, avegetable omelet.Try to eat a meal or snack every 3-4 hours to give yourbody an energy boost. Make it a point to eat somethingwithin 15 minutes after the end of a practice or game.Good choices are: Sports drink, granola and cereal bars,trail mix of cereal, pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, pretzels andorange juice, banana, bagel.Meal-time food choicesThe body uses carbohydrate as the primary fuel source forbaseball, so each meal and snack should include carbo-hydrate-containing foods such as: rice, pasta, bread,bagels, cereal, crackers, tortillas, fruits, veggies, sportsdrinks, corn, potatoes.Protein and fat-containing foods are not used as much bythe body during practices or games, so they don’t have tobe used in large quantities. In addition, pre-game or prac-tice meals should be lower in fat, since high fat foods stayin the stomach longer and may cause an upset stomach.Some high-protein foods are: beef, pork, lamb, veal, fish,shellfish, milk, cheese, eggs, poultry, yogurt, nut butters,nuts, dried beans, soy, tofu.Before games, try to limit the use of the following foods,which are higher in fat and may not sit well in the stomach.Late-night food choicesSince many baseball games end late, and the stomach iscrying out for food, here are some ideas that won’t keepyou up all night, but still help you to refuel: grilled chickensandwich, roast beef sandwich, turkey sub, ham sub,cereal, pancakes and waffles, eggs and toast, fruitsmoothies, cheese pizza.Nutrition should be part of your play book. Eat at regularintervals to keep your body energized all day long. Beingwell hydrated boosts performance and decreases the riskof injury. Make sure that every eating episode has a mixof foods with an emphasis on grains, fruits and vegetables.Try to wait until exercise is done to eat higher fat food.And remember, eating well translates to a quick mind anda strong, fast, lean and healthy body.Eat well to play well. Work on it.

AHEALTHY EDGENUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR PITCHERS BY STEVEN ELLIS, FORMER CHICAGO CUB

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