Looking for advice ...

My son is 12 and is in his last year of LL. He has played Allstars all three years. The AS coach approached my husband and I to let us know that he would like him to be on his team. The coach also inquired about his shoulder injury from 3 weeks ago. He said he would like him for 2nd base.

3 weeks ago my son injured his shoulder (he heard a pop) but when we took him to the doctor the xray was fine. We sat him out for 2 wks but now that it is close to AS picks the coaches are inquiring about his arm. His arm has full mobility and does not hurt except when he has a ball in his hand and throws a long distance. It doesn't hurt to bat or anything else. We have an appointment with an orthopedic specialist on Friday and AS picks are Sunday.

We have prepped our son that we may withdraw his name from consideration and of course he is extremely upset, as we are.

Has anyone experienced anything like this injury? All advice welcome. Thank you.

12 is a tough age - they are growing and changing, and lots of stuff going on with bones and soft tissue as well, and if yours is like mine was, it's baseball 24/7/365. Bottom line, listen to the ortho...Get a second opinion if you don't like the first, but listen to the experts and err on the side of caution. Second base is pretty easy on the arm, but he'll still have to make the occasional long throw to home, and could re-injure it doing that. There is plenty of baseball yet for the young man. Best case, it's something simple that can be managed with RICE. Worse (but not worst) case, complete rest, PT and he'll miss being on this All Star team this year. It will feel like the end of the world, believe me, 2B has been through it, but it's not. I promise! Even if your son can't throw, he may be able to still hit, field, and run, so he'll be ready for the big field next year.

my .02
Get him ready for football season and take the year off from AS. August is just around the corner.

Baseball is a game of throwing and catching. If it hurts to throw, there's an issue there.

On a related note, see if your insurance covers an MRI. You have to be assertive to get your HMO doctor to refer to MRI because those cost big bucks. I seem to recall my insurance company was billed $1500 for an MRI that I had when I broke a bone. (An xray didn't show the fracture.) The MRI seems to catch things the xRay doesn't.

I agree with Brian and 2Bmom... At 12, missing one AS season will not effect his development. Take the rest of the season off and let him heal.

Does he pitch?

Yes, he pitches and plays 2nd or SS but we haven't let him pitch at all since the injury but we have let him play first a few innings after we benched him. I'll be glad when we know exactly what the injury is when we meet with the specialist.

Just my .02.....as usual...

My son just ended his last season of NCAA baseball.......he will be 22 in July.....On August 8th he will have surgery to repair a torn labrum and a frayed rotator cuff.......

If I had the opportunity to turn back the clock 10 years and reduce the amount of strain and wear and tear on his shoulder would I do it.........absolutely I would....

One less all-star season or a few months off may add many long years of pain free play in the future....

It has been very hard to stand by and watch him suffer through his senior season with cortisone shots and therapy to finish on his terms.....

Now that his college playing days are over, he is heading into the surgery and pending rehab with a good attitude looking forward to his grad assist coaching position next season.......

I am left with the wonder if I could have prevented this..........

The box of plastic trophies he may collect from this all star season arent worth it.......

again just my .02........

quote:

Originally posted by Go Yankees:
Yes, he pitches and plays 2nd or SS but we haven't let him pitch at all since the injury but we have let him play first a few innings after we benched him. I'll be glad when we know exactly what the injury is when we meet with the specialist.

If it's in the shoulder area there is a possibility you won't know exactly what the injury is simply by meeting with the specialist (see the shoulder injuries, etc... threads).

piaa-ump,

Good post.

I once coached a 12 under team and had a young man who could have been a great pitcher. He was head over heels better than any other 12 yo in the city. We monitored his pitch counts and tried to keep him from throwing breaking pitches. Without our knowledge his parents were taking him up to Colorado Springs (about 40 miles away) to pitch on another team (yes he was that good). Long story short, he blew out his arm when he was 13 and never set foot on a HS diamond.

His claim to fame... He can say he was one of the best 12 year olds around.

piaa,
That was good advice and worth a whole lot more than 2 cents worth.

I don't think there is one parent here (whose son is about same age as yours), who would admit that if they could change things, limiting playing time would be one of them.

I am not understanding why parents continue to place their very young players in situations when there is discomfort.

Trophies won remain shiney (you can wipe the dust off occasionally) and new forever but arms don't, no matter which position (s) one plays.

Good points here. I didn't know any better when 2B was that age, and loved nothing more than watching him play (still do!). When he finished pitching, he moved over to SS or 3B. It's amazing how my perspective has changed - I see that at the HS level now and it makes me cringe. He aggravated the growth plate in his throwing arm (shoulder) at Cooperstown two days before he turned 12. It's been nearly 3 years of waiting, growing, and recovering, hence the move to 2B. Now the arm is fine, he wants to pitch again, and his HS coaches want him to pitch, and he has done very well for the HS team this summer. They are keeping a close eye on pitch counts and are being very careful. But it still makes me nervous. This spring, he led his HS varsity team in innings played, so I got to watch him a lot! He can do that at 2B, but not at P! Thankfully, he is an infielder only on the summer travel team.

I do understand that at this time in the boy's life, All-Stars seems monumental. I remember. And those tournaments are so much fun. But when he gets to the big field, what he did on the little field just doesn't matter. It's hard to put into perspective until you get there.

Today is the appointment, right? Please let us know what the doc says.

Do what the doctor says.

It's always difficult to do the RIGHT thing.

My son got hurt as a 12U in LL. Nothing serious, Doctors said no throwing for 2 weeks. He played lefty in centerfield until he was released. Coach still wanted his bat and the Doc said OK. It was the funniest thing you ever saw. A big kid trying to throw left handed from the outfield.
Just saying, if the kid wants to play and the team wants him, there are ways to get on the field until the arm is OK.

This is where I disagree. If a young pitcher is having some issues, until it resides, all activity should be shut down.
Young pitchers use their arms more than anyone. When not pitching they are usually playing another position, and that may be a position where the arm is used the most. Then they hit. Then they practice. That's till using the arm. Looking back, if I had a crystal ball, would have told them to only stick the little guy in the outfield. I know that's no fun and pretty hard to do, but if any player has any issues, they should be designated to the bench until someone figures out what's happening.
Too often young pitchers with complaints are taken to their pediatrician that tells them to stop pitching, but continue playing without really knowing what's going on inside.
While I am not sure if this is what eventually causes major injuries, it certainly seems that when a pitcher reaches HS, college or beyond he's put some miledge on the shoulder. arm and elbow.

It's really hard to tell at 12 what lies ahead for a young player. All I advocate is that if your son, even at 12 has a passion for the game and shows ability mentally and physically, a parent should do what they have to keep him healthy for when it really counts later on.

I am assuming that those who have stumbled onto the HSBBW did because they wanted to learn and understand the process, remaining healthy is one very important part of the whole thing.

JMO.

quote:

I am not understanding why parents continue to place their very young players in situations when there is discomfort.

It appears that it must be that competitive drive or "one upmanship" in the competitive parent. At first glance it looks as if they are either ignorant of the facts or knowingly sacrificing their child's health to satisfy that competitive drive. On the other hand we parents are taught to push the envelope in everything we do. “No pain ---- no gain”. “Just do it”. “Give your all”. “No fear”! We try to instill that into our kids. Ever hear the crowd yell down to the player that just took a 90 mph fastball off the shin --- “Don’t rub it”. Kids are taught at a very young age that they need to endure pain and discomfort. If they don’t then they will be called a sissy. We have to rethink how we look at certain pain and discomfort. Tell them it’s OK to hurt and heal. TPM I’m in agreement with you when it comes to arm discomfort. We parents need to say ---- DON”T throw until you are well! Period.
Fungo

Don't even consider letting him play.

If your leagues allstar team practices 2 times a day, as ours does. That will be alot of throwing for a kid with a shoulder that already is hurt.
Take the summer off from ball head to the lake/the beach.

My .02...let him sit this one out and make sure he is truly healthy.

My son has a best-friend who felt a "pop" in his shoulder last summer during a tournament in Omaha. He played through the discomfort for the rest of the year, played football in the fall, and rested during the winter months. The entire time he felt discomfort when he threw a baseball. This year the discomfort became pain. His parents took him in for x-rays and an MRI. It turned out he had a stress fracture through his growth plate. He's been out for almost the entire season, and will need some serious rehab before he can play. Moral of the story? He should have been checked last year, and then rested accordingly. However, his parents had no idea his injury was that serious.

Your son missing one AS season at this age shouldn't affect his HS baseball future. However, aggravating an injured shoulder, and possibly causing it to become a "chronic" injury, would.

Again, just my .02

My guy and friend of 2B (above) went through the same thing as 2b at roughly the same time. Same type of player ...Middle-infielders who were expected to be "horse" pitchers for their 10U-12U teams.

Having said that, take 2bmom's advice. We all did the same thing...switched positions, reduced/quit pitching ...and it has worked out wonderfully.

In addition, we had to sit-out some allstars and like tournaments, it was tough. The best part was playing for a former college football player...who helped us and our player understand that playing and winning at age 12 isn't nearly as meaningful as doing it in HS and beyond...it was a tough pill, but again it has workd out very well.

If I'm not mistaken, LL requires mpr at a position. There's no point in playing if an injury hinders any or all parts of the game. LL has no DH so that kind of makes the decision clear. See the doctor and no all-stars.

As for the advise from parents of older players who say LL means nothing compared to high school and beyond, having a kid myself who played t-ball thru high school varsity understand this but keep one thing in mind:

Parents of many 12 yr old all-stars don't know if their kid will even make a high school team at that point in their baseball life and 12 yr old LL majors might be the biggest stage they play on since many if not most typical LL all-stars from their town teams never make it to the varsity level in high school, they'll do whatever they can to get their kid on the field without thinking 2-3 years ahead to high school.

It's not justifying it but understanding why there's this conflict of shutting down an injured player as opposed to coming up with creative ways to get them in the game when realistically, these things only hurt the player in the long run.

I don't think their should even be a discussion. If a doctor you trust tells you to shut down for a period of time you should do it. Regardless of the age and especially at 12 or younger.
I know it is hard for parents and kids but it is obviously in the players best interest.
My son was in the same position. 12 yo shut down with elbow pain at the beginning of season. He missed all stars and Cooperstown. While the team was in Cooperstown (mid August) he was cleared to play. To see the joy in his face brought tears to my eyes.
He played fall ball that year and has not missed a game from elbow trouble since (3 years).