May 28, 2002 By Steve Infanti Scripps Howard News Service 2 min read

Is baseball a safe sport for kids? Q: I always thought baseball was a safe sport for children. But I recently read that hundreds of thousands of children are injured each year. How safe is baseball?

A. Statistics from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons say more than a quarter of a million will have to be treated for an injury sustained on the ball field. The unfortunate thing is that many of those injuries can be prevented, according to a Washington University sports medicine specialist.

“The problem is that kids often start throwing as if they’re throwing competitively, right away, without appropriate preseason preparation or pre-activity warm-up,” says Dr. George Paletta Jr., an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and director of the sports medicine service at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Before young ballplayers start throwing hard they need to warm up by soft-tossing and to do some gentle stretching exercises, particularly stretching the rotator cuff muscles and back part of the shoulder.”

tta, also the head team physician for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, sees and treats injuries from athletes at all levels of competition. He says that even with very young children, stretching and flexibility exercises are important.

“Other than the bumps and bruises that kids get from running into each other or getting hit with a misplayed ground ball, most injuries involve either the shoulder or the elbow,” he says. “Some injuries are inevitable, but many are preventable if kids and their coaches take time to stretch and warm up, learn proper mechanics and avoid overuse.”

Paletta’s other tips for injury prevention include teaching young players the rules of the sport, using appropriate protective equipment such as batting helmets and keeping players aware of those around them when throwing a ball or swinging a bat.

It also is important that children don’t try to play through pain. Sometimes professionals play with injuries, but those people are making a living at their sport. Paletta says pain is the body’s signal to stop.

(Send your questions to Steve Infanti, A Fit Life Column, 801e BAB, University Park, PA 16802 or via e-mail to SCInfanti(at)compuserve.com.)

SHNS