The Arm (40 page)

Sandy Koufax, one of the greatest pitchers in history, was forced to retire at age thirty because of arm injuries. (
Malcolm Emmons/USA TODAY Sports
)

Super-agent Scott Boras, who represents Matt Harvey and Stephen Strasburg among many other top pitchers, has called Tommy John surgery “almost a rite of passage.” (
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
)

Nolan Ryan's near-unparalleled durability was hardly as easy as it seemed. He suffered from arm pain throughout his 27-year career but never underwent Tommy John surgery despite doctors' recommendations to do so. (
USA TODAY Sports
)

Dr. James Andrews remains the biggest name in orthopedic surgery, and his think tank, the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), the center for some of the most cutting-edge research on arm injuries. (
John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports
)

Scouts believe that if Riley Pint can stay healthy, he will be a first-round draft pick and a multimillionaire at eighteen years old. (
Scott Kurtz
)

Jon Lester with Chicago Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer (
left
) and president Theo Epstein (
right
) at his introductory press conference on December 15, 2014. The Cubs paid $155 million for Lester despite the risk of long-term deals for pitchers. (
Steve Green/Chicago Cubs
)

Todd Coffey brings to life the cliché that he was throwing a baseball while still in diapers. He never stopped, even as people doubted him all the way to the major leagues. (
Todd Coffey
)

Even pushing 300 pounds, Todd Coffey still managed to confuse hitters with a heavy sinker and a biting slider. He's even better known for his sprint to the mound than for his work on it. (
Todd Coffey
)

Parents of children like Harley Harrington struggle to balance winning with arm health. Baseball's broken youth system incentivizes winning, even if it means putting young arms at higher risk for injury. (
Martin Harrington
)

JEFF PASSAN
is a baseball columnist at Yahoo Sports, where he has worked for the past decade. He is the coauthor of the critically acclaimed
Death to the BCS
. He lives in Kansas with his wife and sons.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
hc.com
.

THE ARM.
Copyright © 2016 by Jeff Passan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN: 978-0-06-240036-9

EPub Edition APRIL 2016 ISBN 9780062400383

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