New York City Councilmen Louis Fidler and Oliver Koppell got what they wanted all along.
The PSAL instituted a pitch count rule for its baseball teams that will help ensure the safety of young arms across the five boroughs and the two politicians got a photo op at a Wednesday morning press conference at Long Island City High School in Queens.
The regulations for the PSAL are sound – 105 pitches for one game with four days of rest, 76-90 pitches and three days of rest, 51-75 pitches and two days of rest and 26-50 pitches and one day of rest. But this does not solve the problem Fidler and Koppell picked up on.
The Catholic league doesn’t plan to follow the PSAL – to those in the know, that’s no surprise (the two never see eye to eye) – and the Ivy League, the largest of the city’s many private school leagues, have yet to discuss a similar measure. Poly Prep athletic director Bill McNally told The Post the league’s ADs would talk about it in Tuesday’s meeting, but feels their coaches are capable of monitoring their players’ health.
Koppell said the idea of legislation last February was to get the PSAL and the other leagues to move. The bill, in the Committee on Youth Services last February asking for pitch-count limits in all baseball leagues across the city, he said, was met with resistance from other politicians who felt the leagues should govern themselves. He and Fidler seemed satisfied by their work on Wednesday, that the PSAL – the largest high-school league in the country – will become one of the first to limit the amount of pitches a kid can throw.
I applaud the PSAL for listening to the public officials and recognizing there is a problem, which, believe me, there is. I’ve seen kids throw well over 100 pitches in late March when the weather is cold and they are more susceptible to injury. And I’ve seen kids come back the day after going the distance to close out a game.
Health Professions pitcher Michael Corona pitched in each of the Vipers’ five playoff wins, going the distance in four of them, en route to a city championship back in 2008. Last year, School of the Future freshman Craig Batchelor tossed 160 pitches on Apr. 19; junior Henry Harris of Chelsea tossed 147 pitches Apr. 16; and Jose Quelix of Morris threw 130 pitches on Apr. 20.
But this isn’t just a PSAL problem. What about the Archbishop Molloy pitcher, Chris Franzese, who threw 193 pitches in a 14-inning game two years ago? Catholic league pitchers often go on two- or three-days rest during their multi-layered postseason tournament.
So, as it stands, it is just the PSAL that will be closely watching its pitchers. The other leagues have fewer teams and so maybe there isn’t the worry about those coaches lacking insight and intelligence in how to deal with the pitchers.
Point being, everyone in attendance at LIC on Wednesday acted like they had just pitched his or her team to a championship, doing so, of course, on those 105 pitches. It was a minor win, if you ask this reporter. The system has its flaws, but more importantly, the other leagues don’t plan to follow suit.
That’s not the PSAL’s problem, but Fidler and Koppell shouldn’t stop here. Push through legislation if they have to, if that’s what it takes for the other leagues to come around. If it was important enough to eradicate metal bats three years ago with a bill, isn’t this safety issue as meaningful, if not more so?
Then – and only then – should a celebration be in order.