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MLB.com
February 4, 2010
Baseball in China has been hard hit by the sport's removal from the Olympics but the Yankees also brought some good news with them when it was confirmed that the Beijing Games stadium would be rebuilt in the southeastern port city of Xiamen.
"We feel it is a great opportunity here in China to continue to grow the game of baseball," Brian Cashman, general manager of Yankees, told a news conference.
"And hopefully one day a citizen of China will participate and help a Major League Baseball team win a world championship, just like many members who have already done so from other countries now."
by Mark Newman
MLB.com
PHILADELPHIA -- Damitryus Allen is 10 -- going on 11 -- and he has this new thing for baseball.
"It's fun. I like throwing," he said, wondering what it might be like to be a pitcher someday, like one of those grownups on the Phillies playing just down the street and on his TV.
"Right now, I'm just trying to get him out" of the house, said his mother Connie. "And I think it's good to show him and other kids that there are other sports out here besides the usual, football and basketball. But as a mom, really it got me to get him out today. That was a plus."
DETROIT, MI -- Detroit Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson has won the Marvin Miller Man of the Year award.
The award is named for the founding executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association and awarded to the player whose on- and off-field performance most inspires others.
In 2008, Granderson established the Grand Kids Foundation to focus on improving education and youth baseball opportunities for inner city youth. He also recently released a children's book, "All You Can Be: Dream It, Draw It, Become It!", which encourages children to chase their dreams and is an active member of the Action Team national youth volunteer program.
by PR Staff
Angels.com
September 10, 2009
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter was named the winner of the Branch Rickey Award in recognition of his work with kids in the community.
Created by the Rotary Club of Denver in 1991, the Branch Rickey Award honors individuals in baseball who contribute to their communities and are strong role models for young people.
"It means a lot," Hunter said. "That's something that you should do, whenever you can. My grandmother always instilled in me to treat people like you should be treated, and if you can do anything to make people's lives better, you've got to do it. That's part of your responsibility as a human being, and especially as a ballplayer."
by Kyle Finck
Daily News
July 14, 2009
"We're in the first inning of what could be an extra-inning ball game." - House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, referring to the fight against steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in youth sports.
Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Gary Sheffield and Manny Ramirez are all members of a special club. Unfortunately, they all belong to the "Future Hall Of Famers tarnished by performance-enhancing drugs" club. Thanks to unrelenting journalists, congressional probes, and former players, the public is beginning to know the truth behind the rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs during what many call "The Steroid Era" in baseball.
Major League Baseball is not the only party affected by this disgraceful controversy. For decades, youth all across America had looked up to these players in their dream of becoming big league ballplayers. Kids and adults who had grown up saying, "I want to do everything my favorite player does," were now saying, "If my favorite player is taking steroids, then it's okay if I do."
Ryan S. Pugh
The Clarion News
June 18, 2009
Where is the cutoff line when it comes to touting a young talent as the next great athlete without that player ever having played above the high school level?
There was a story a couple of weeks ago in a national publication about a high school sophomore baseball player named Bryce Harper. Harper made the cover of the publication and the feature story went on to detail how he hits the ball over 500 feet, has a 96-mile-an-hour fastball, etc... The article went on to detail how baseball scouts believed he would be a top-five pick in this year's draft if he were eligible.
The problem I had with the article is the fact it puts a lot of pressure on a kid who is barely old enough to drive. It just seems irresponsible to me that a player who has never seen a pitch at the Major League level would be given this kind of media attention.
When former Major League Baseball pitcher Tommy John opted to replace a ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974, the procedure was considered extremely risky. Doctors warned the pitcher that his chances of recovery were 1 in 100. Fortunately for Tommy John he was able to recover from the injury and pitched for an additional thirteen seasons. In the decades following John's landmark arm reconstruction surgery, the procedure now referred to as "Tommy John Surgery" is commonly performed on professional pitchers. However, medical experts are now concerned that the still risky procedure will become as normal to youth athletes as filling a cavity. According, to Medscape, over one-third of all Tommy John Surgeries performed in 2005 were on high school athletes. This alarming stat supports the argument made by nearly all of my baseball coaches growing up; throwing breaking balls will mangle the arms of young pitchers. Unfortunately, today's coaches in large part do not warn their pitchers of the risk of throwing breaking balls and their failure to offer the precaution will only increase these alarming numbers.
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