The Arm

The arm is the most fascinating piece of equipment in all of sports. This is especially true in baseball, where a fairly recent epidemic of arm injuries in major leaguers, minor leaguers, and kids has hit the sport extremely hard. Eager to find the causes behind the uprising in arm injuries and a way to solve the problem, Jeff Passan went on a three year journey across the United States and abroad. His book, simply titled The Arm, compiles events from the trip and takes a look at possible causes of the surge of injuries. In addition to pitchers discussed in the book, Passan followed around two pitchers who were trying to come back from Tommy John surgery, the procedure used to replace the UCL, the ligament in the elbow which has stress put on it in the action of throwing. He is therefore able to give the reader an inside look at the experiences of those under the grueling rehab in their attempt to return to doing what they love most.

Passan does an excellent job at telling the story of two pitchers who were trying to return from Tommy John surgery, namely Todd Coffey, who was on the Dodgers at the time of his injury, and Daniel Hudson, who was on the Diamondbacks. He shadowed these two for years, and tells over the …show more content…
He finds that one of the biggest culprits is Perfect Game, a scouting organization which holds showcases for kids all over the country, and also has a ranking system of the best youngsters in the nation. This leads kid pitchers to throw way too much, and the fact that there is a side focus on velocity pushes them to throw as hard as possible. Being that humans were not meant to throw so often, despite the fact that throwing is a natural motion, this system of overworking kids with the best intentions in mind is likely behind the rise in arm