Major League Wiffleball
Wiffleball photos, tips, and product reviews

The latest report of Mets ace Johan Santana possibly needing surgery reminds me of the dangers of throwing a wiffleball too hard. After taking their turn on the mound, some MLW players would complain of a sore arm or shoulder. Over the years, a few players even had to miss some games to give their pitching arm rest because it hurt too much to throw.

The likely reason is that we were throwing around a practically weightless plastic baseball, often as hard as we could. Since we had to cram in a 20-game regular season in about a 7-week span, we were pitching 3 or 4 times a week. After a few weeks, the pain started to develop.

On two occassions, my left shoulder hurt so bad, I needed to see my doctor. He determined that I had bursitis, and gave me 8 shots of cortisone the first time, and 6 shots the following year. That stuff works great, at least temporarily.

If your throwing arm starts to hurt, you probably need to work on your pitching mechanics. I noticed by slowing down my wind-up, and by putting more weight on my back leg and shifting my weight forward as I threw the ball, I was relying less on my arm and didn’t sacrfice any velocity on my fastball. Plus, this is the right way to pitch anyway, but it wasn’t as easy for us to push-off since our “mound” was a flat 3′x3′ section of carpet.

This isn’t how Johan Santana hurt his elbow; at least I hope not. Santana, a huge wiffleball fan, was having a rough season anyway. He was getting hardly any run support, and the Mets have been plagued with injuries all season. The team is highly doubtful to make the playoffs, and it just makes sense to shut down Santana, and have him healthy enough to pitch on opening day next year.

If you’ve got a sore arm, and you’re really determined, do what Mets reliever Billy Wagner did at a young age and learn how to throw with your opposite arm.

Update: Johan Santana has been officially reported out for the rest of the season.