How Will Tommy John Surgery Effect Homer Bailey ?

[kevin]

Even the name Tommy John Surgery. I saw Tommy John pitch. Mostly I remember a Dodgers at the Reds Double Header in 1974 in late June. Dodgers also pitched Don Sutton, of the great curve ball. Great double header and Riverfront full of about 50 thousand people. I remember Big Red Machine couldn't do anything against Tommy John. It was amazing because he wasn't throwing fast at all. The surgery made him become a pitcher and not a thrower. He would hit his spots inside, outside, up, down, mixing up his different slow pitches. ....Lets talk Reds Gary Nolan who had a great fastball early as a Red. One of the leaders in strikeouts with the likes of Hall Of Fame types like Bob Gibson. Then Nolan hurt his arm bad and was out for a year. When he came back, he no longer had that fastball as before. He stayed in the game becoming a pitcher, not a thrower. Hitting his spots, mixing up his pitches. He had a little more of a fastball than Tommy John, but mostly Nolan had to learn to pitch without his great fastball. ....I saw Ted Aberenathy pitch in relief for the Reds. The crowd was amazed at how he threw underhanded. That came out of him having a career ending arm injury. He came up with this strange wind up and body motion to where he was actually releasing the ball as if bowling, the ball coming from his hip, not his shoulders. So his injury made him come up with The Submarine Pitch, a pitch I've never seen before or since. His arm coming out from below like a person bowling. ...Luis Tiant had the great fastball and then a terrible arm injury. He went from being an All-Star pitcher to being down in the Minor Leagues. In the Minors, he changed completely, going from a fastball pitcher of the Cleveland Indians and turning into the Luis Tiant of the Boston Red Sox. He came up with an assortment of junk pitches and the wild wind-up of looking back to center field and such. He adjusted in the Minors to the injury taking away his fastball....

So we wait for the return of Homer Bailey. Homer Bailey of the fast ball and two no hitters. Tommy John surgery.....Yes, Tommy John and a few others have came back from this surgery, often because they learned other pitches than the fastball. ....There is a good chance Homer Bailey won't have that fastball that made him a top pick by the Reds, and had Joe Nuxhall raving about the teenagers fastball. ..Very good chance that Bailey will have to get by now more on pitching than throwing. ...Some have made the transition, but most just retire from the game. I've seen Soto, and Rijo and many very good Reds pitchers never come back from arm injury. Reds pitchers coming back from arm injury pitching for the Dayton Dragons to see if they have anything left, the answer often being no......So the wait for 2 No Hitter Homer Bailey, well, there is a good chance he isn't going to have that fastball even if he makes it back. He may have to become more of a pitcher than the teenager thrower he came up as. ....I always root for these guys to come back from these injuries. So I'm rooting for Homer Bailey to return......Just don't BOO if he can't throw as fast as before, and has to learn how to pitch without that fastball.......Heck, The Reds had Jim Kaat before he retired, he of the quick pitch and about a dozen golden gloves. Sometimes his pitches couldn't break glass, but as soon as the catcher threw it back to him, he was pitching it, never giving the hitters time to get ready, but he was a many times Gold Glove fielding from the mound on those hit balls. ......Nolan came up with a nice curve ball......Homer will probably have to come up with other pitches, and instead of the fastball being his out pitch, he will really have to hit his spots and pitch. ...I am rooting for him to make it back, many don't.

[grampahol]

I remember as a kid we all tried in vain to throw like Ted Abernathy. The real sad one was Mario Soto.. He was said to have had the greatest off speed pitch to go with that fastball..something to watch for sure. I remember an article about him standing at home plate throwing balls to the outfield bleachers one after another.
Funny thing that growing up I always wanted to throw a knuckle ball, but never could. Then years later when my son was a teenager I had torn something in my shoulder, but would toss ball with him and darned if the very same pain in my shoulder forced me to push the ball rather than fling it gave it the knuckle ball effect. I never had any kind of fastball, but I could throw all kinds of weird stuff and get people out. I doubt that I could make water ripple now..