Pitch count strategy in Little League

[Dave Hensley]

Originally Posted by PWL

I don't know if you remember a pitcher named Jimmy Jones from Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas in the mid 80's. He was coached by one of the most obnoxious high school coaches, Gerald Turner. Jones once pitched every inning in a seventeen inning loss to Texas (Texarkanana) High School. that he eventually lost. He eventually was drafted in the first round and signed by the Padres (not sure of the team).

He threw 286 pitches that game. The next day against the same team, he went out to warm up and make throws from short stop and he couldn't even throw the ball half way across the infield no matter how hard he tried. He just sat out that day. He had a serviceable career, but nothing like quite possibly could have been. He still plays in the mens leagues, but you would be hard pressed to tell he was a one time number draft pick.

I am not suggesting there should be NO limitations on pitchers; certainly, I understand that overthrowing can lead to injury. I am suggesting, however, that Little League's switch to a pitch count limit instead of inning count limit is a fix for something that is NOT broken.