- Ross Kaplan
Baseball has always been a huge part of my life and something I have found great joy in. But before I knew it, throwing became an aspect of the game that caused great pain for me. One day I was throwing perfectly with no pain, but the next I couldn’t even move my arm. This would start a long and tough road to an unpromised recovery.
After pitching in a game in the middle of the 7th-grade middle-school season with no pain, I woke up the next morning with no concerns nor feelings of agony. It was only until practice that day that the pain set in. When I tried to throw the ball it felt like it the ball was weighted and I instantly felt a tenderness in my elbow. It wasn’t a sharp pain, but I certainly felt it. After that first throw, I grabbed my arm in a sort of confused agony. I tried to throw it again and got the same result. My arm felt tired after only two throws and I realized something was wrong. Frightened by this revelation, I stopped throwing and waited until we started hitting. Unfortunately, when I tried hitting, it felt like my elbow had a block on it that inhibited my swing, and I felt the same soreness as when I was throwing. Despite my strong belief that something was off, my parents decided to wait to see if it got better and not say anything. However, it never did get better. I continued the season but it severely limited my participation and longevity on the field. At the end of the season and in no better state than before, we finally went to the doctor. X-rays confirmed that I had “Little Leaguer’s elbow”: a fractured growth plate in my elbow. I had to wear a cast for the next two months to limit movement and after that started I started physical therapy. After tons of PT, I felt good with all of the exercises and strength that I had been building up, and got the okay to play again. It had been a full year since I threw a baseball and I couldn’t wait for a second longer. When I threw I was met with dissatisfaction and fear of a return of the injury. I continued to throw but the soreness from the prior injury was still there. I kept trying to throw for about another week but nothing got better. We didn’t wait to go to the doctor, and this time I took an MRI. The MRI revealed that I had stretched my UCL, the famous Tommy John ligament. It turns out that the stretching was a result of the fracture of the growth plate. The unfortunate thing about this was that to qualify for the Tommy John surgery, the ligament needed to be torn. In my case, it was only stretched, so I did not receive the surgery and all I could do was not use it and do PT with the hopes that I would continue to grow and it would eventually even out. In a tough position, I continued on with my PT in the hopes to throw again and was ready for the next season. In the beginning of my sophomore season last year, my arm had been feeling good and it was only until around the middle of the season that I started feeling the soreness. I was overcome with anger and disappointment and although it wasn’t nearly as bad, I still felt it. I pushed through the pain for the rest of the season as I tried to limit its effect on me, although there were certainly periods where I would have to sit out due to the inability to throw the ball more than 20 times.
I am going into this year with my arm feeling good and optimistic about the season. This will be a crucial year for our Fieldston Baseball program as last year we did not live up to our usual expectations. I will have to play a large role as catcher this year, a role that will require a strong and healthy arm, but I am confident that with the continued support of my teammates, that I will be back, and our team will be better than ever.
Σχόλια