Every pitch counts

Once you get past the payroll disparity at the major-league level and the steroids use, the biggest change in baseball over the last 15-20 years has been pitch counts. They're everywhere. The major leagues, minor leagues, colleges, high schools, youth leagues. Even Frontier League teams put pitchers on pitch counts.

With the next shoulder or elbow injury potentially an awkward pitch away, teams have become diligent about safeguarding their young assets, er, pitchers. Some people - minor-league personnel directors and major-league general managers in particular - love pitch counts. Others believe they do more harm than good, often slowing a pitcher's development.

Why do I bring this up?

The dreaded pitch count came into play Friday night in a Class AA Eastern League game between the Altoona Curve (Pirates) and Erie SeaWolves (Tigers). Altoona pitcher Jared Hughes, a 6-7 right-hander with a 19-26 career record in the minors, had a no-hitter going in the bottom of the seventh inning of his first outing of the season. He had issued only one walk. The game was tied 0-0.

Hughes was in complete control, working the best game of his pro career. But he reached his pitch count. At this point in the season, even after a month of spring training, the thinking is pitchers haven't built up enough stamina to work deep into games.

Hughes was replaced by reliever Shawn Nottingham. The first pitch Nottingham threw was ripped into right field to break up the Curve's no-hit bid. It was followed by a walk and two-run triple. Erie won 2-0.

The easy thing would have been to let Hughes finish the game, or at least stay in until Erie got a hit. After all, Hughes earned it. It was his game, right? Why shouldn't Curve manager Matt Walbeck leave Hughes in? Who knows, he might have a nice memory to look back on when his career ends.

But in baseball these days, a rule (even an unwritten one) is a rule. If Hughes was throwing a perfect game, it wouldn't have changed what Walbeck was thinking. It was time to take Hughes out of the game.

How many times have we seen a Frontier League game in which a pitcher is in complete control but taken out after four, five or six innings because of pitch count, then the bullpen blows the lead? Too many to count.

If you want to get former Washington High School athletic director and minor-league pitcher Bob Wagner fired up, just mention pitch counts. You'll need to free-up the next two hours because that's how it will take for Wagner to finish his rant against pitch counts.

Those who believe in pitch counts have their reasons. Some tell the story of Cleveland Indians closer Kerry Wood. In high school, Wood pitched for Grand Prairie during the Texas State Playoffs. On the day Grand Prairie won the state title, Wood pitched all seven innings in the first game of a doubleheader and, after a 30-minute break, pitched the first two innings of the second game. His pitch count for the day was a staggering 175.

Sure, Grand Prairie won the title, but at what cost? Less than four years later, Wood had ligament damage in his elbow. Then shoulder problems. Who knows if those problems are related to pitching in high school, but the Chicago Cubs were so disturbed by Wood's pitch counts that they practically shut him down after drafting him.

West Virginia was one of the first states to put innings limits on its high school pitchers. That move was the result of Don Robinson, who would go on to an injury-plagued career with the Pirates, pitching all but (I think) two of his high school team's games one season. Pennsylvania went to innings limits after the 1983 season, when California High School pitcher Brian Zanardelli posted a 14-3 record (think about that, a high school pitcher having 17 decisions in one season). Zanardelli also had injuries derail his career at a young age.

Not everybody likes pitch counts. Longtime major-league pitching coach Leo Mazzone once said of pitch counts "I don't want to see them. My eyes are gonna tell me more than any (expletive) number."

Pitching greats Bob Feller, Don Sutton and Tom Seaver each has said young pitchers do not throw enough these days because of pitch counts and five-man rotations. Supporters of eliminating pitch counts often mention 22-year-old Greg Maddux throwing 167 pitches in a game for the Chicago Cubs, and the 241-pitch game by Nolan Ryan during his days with the California Angels. Both Maddux and Ryan had long careers.

The divisive issue of pitch counts, whether they are good or bad, are here to stay. You'll see pitchers removed at odd times this year, even if they're throwing a no-hitter.

You can count on it.