Regardless the affiliation the youth league your town aligned with, the arm of a young pitcher is under the care of the coach.

If you’re lucky, the coach is a former pitcher with some experience actually doing the damn thing.

It doesn’t matter how far up the chair they’ve gotten. It just matters that they’ve actually done it.

They’ve stood on the hill with the lights spotlighting the thousands of insects attracted to the glow. They’ve felt the strain on their arm as they battle through a tough inning and know the feeling of both success and failure.

If a kid is lucky, they’re trained by a coach that understands the delicate line between strengthening an arm and overuse. A coach that instills simple lessons like the best pitch to start any batter is strike one. That there’s nothing wrong with batters making contact, in fact it’s inevitable even if they’re overpowering their opponents.

This lucky kid would then also be directed on what pitches to throw. Coaches can dictate a game plan between innings, but most are calling the game from the dugout, relaying signals that the catcher then puts down.

It’s a time that seems to call for the most freedom since the arm is an unknown. But it’s the time of the most restriction, especially now with modern science and technology telling everyone that the actions of those before us were wrong; that man’s ability to pitch nine innings without harm is a fallacy and the assurance of a future without pain means taking kids out early.

How did we go backward as a nation?