re: ULL let their pitcher throw 142 pitch complete game

I mean. I could throw 65 when I was 12 and I had natural movement on my fastball and I had a variety of other pitches.

Nobody could hit me. The 10 and 2/3rd innings thing was an aberration. Normally I would only pitch 3 innings a game, but this was all stars and there were no rules about innings or pitch counts.

I was damn good. I never blamed anyone. I made one more run at baseball in high school, but truth be told, once I couldn’t pitch anymore, I just didn’t like the sport as much anymore.

I don’t know if I had big league upside or not. Your arm has to be able to handle a lot to throw the ball 90 plus. And mine couldn’t really handle throwing it 65.

Today, I can throw a few pitches in low 80’s as I’m a lot bigger and stronger than I was at 12, but I only have a few throws in me every once in awhile. My arm/shoulder just can’t handle the repetition.

If I could go back and do it again, I’d probably try to specialize as a closer and just keep it to 1 inning a game.

But hindsight is 20/20 and there is no guarantee I would’ve developed into even being a college level closer. It Would’ve been fun to try though.