Columnist Ron Kantowski: A call for arms in Legion

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

In this day of erring on the side of caution, what in the world are the teen-age pitchers in this week's American Legion state baseball tournament doing throwing nine-inning games?

Probably hurting their arms, that's what.

But first, an observation and a history lesson: Today's major league pitchers are wimps compared to their bionic-armed counterparts of yesteryear. In 1902, for instance, the great Cy Young compiled a 32-11 record in 43 starts -- 41 of which he completed. He logged 384 2/3 innings that year, which wasn't even his career high in that department (he had endured 422 2/3 some nine years earlier).

Given that Jon Lieber led the majors last season with 251 innings pitched, it's no wonder they named an award after ol' Cy, who also should have had his mug plastered on a tall bottle of liniment.

Through the 1960s, it was not uncommon for premier pitchers to log 300 innings every season. But then some trainer, doctor or Peter Gammons decided that limiting starting pitchers to around 100 pitches was the best way to insure their longevity and, more crucial to today's way of thinking, for owners to protect their investment.

Not that trainers, doctors or even Peter Gammons always know what's best. Still, it's hard to condone physically immature 16- and 17-year-olds throwing 150 pitches a game when their big-league counterparts generally head for the showers at the century mark.

So if you see Shaun Taylor and Kameron Francom walking around the Durango High diamond dragging their arms like Cro-Magnon men, there's a reason for it. Taylor threw 149 pitches in eight-plus innings for Western in a Legion game earlier this week. Francom, who toils for Bonanza, threw 145 in a complete game, nine-inning affair a couple of nights later.

In a worst-case scenario, a Legion team could fall into the loser's bracket in the first round and battle back to play as many as six games in seven days. That's essentially a major league schedule.

The difference is that major league pitching staffs go 11 or 12 deep, with a full complement of starters, set-up men and closers. These are full-grown men, professionals who have benefited from the best instruction, physical training and nutrition regimens that money can buy. And yet most of them still can't make it past the fifth inning.

An American Legion staff, conversely, may consist of a starting pitcher, a kid who fancies himself a starting pitcher, a shortstop, an outfielder and the pimply-faced, long-haired kid who forgot his stirrups. Their idea of nutrition might be a sno-cone and a hot dog between games. They are conditioned to throw no more than seven innings -- the length of their high school and regular-season Legion games.

Besides turning pitchers' arms into angel-hair pasta, these nine-inning affairs usually degenerate into walk-filled games with roller derby scores. This week's tourney is only half over, but already has produced 14-4, 14-5, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 and 14-9 results. Many of the games have ended after 11:30 p.m.

The American Legion could save some midnight oil -- not to mention a few arms -- if it would just shorten the games to seven innings.