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American Morning

Look at Science Helping to Make Great Pitchers

Aired July 09, 2002 - 08:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, if Ted Williams son gets his way and science does catch up to cryonics, the great baseball player might be back some day, or some of his clones might be, but since the science to make great hitters hasn't arrived just yet, you might consider becoming a great pitcher in the meantime.

Our Renay San Miguel take a look at some technology that's already taking the mound.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sometimes a curveball won't curve, a sinker won't sink, a fastball loses a few miles per hour. When that happens to a pitcher, many of them come here, to the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama.

Brian West is a prospect with the Birmingham Barons, the Chicago White Sox farm team. His pitching coach has brought him here to see if he has an all-star pitching motion.

JUAN NIEVES, BIRMINGHAM BARONS PITCHING COACH: He has all the requirements we're looking for to having a championship pitcher on the mound every five days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hoping to iron out a few flaws in my mechanics.

SAN MIGUEL: Glenn Fleisig, the institute's research director, gives West a new uniform, one with reflective markers to help a computer create a digitized stick figure of west. That and high speed cameras that shoot 500 frames a second will help Fleisig determine if West is putting too much stress on his elbow, his shoulder. Is he getting enough power from his lower body?

GLENN FLEISIG, AMERICAN SPORTS MEDICINE INST.: There are really two reasons to do biomechanics. One is to improve performance, and one is to -- for injury prevention.

SAN MIGUEL: Barry Zito, the Oakland A's all-star, calls the institute's work "pre-hab."

BARRY ZITO, OAKLAND A'S PITCHER: It helped me a great deal by letting me know that there are certain flaws in the delivery you can't always see or feel when you're pitching at regular speed. SAN MIGUEL (on camera): The American Sports Medicine Institute has been studying pitching for the last 12 years. But for the first time this year, it's studying each style of pitch, how much stress a fastball, a curveball, a slider or a change-up can put on a pitcher's arm.

Fleisig is concerned that little leaguers who idolize high-heat hurlers like Roger Clemens or the Major League curve-ballers may try to imitate their heroes before their bodies are ready.

FLEISIG: A boy shouldn't throw a curveball until he can shave. It sounds unrelated, but what we're getting at is we really don't want you to throw a curveball until your bone and your growth plates start to seal up.

SAN MIGUEL: That advice, and the data collected by the institute, could help young pitchers go from wild throwing rookies to Major League all-stars.

Renay San Miguel, CNN, Birmingham, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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