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HWN Suggests

“Going Home” by A. Bartlett Giamatti (On Baseball, The Odyssey, and Returning Home)

There is no great long poem about baseball. It may be that baseball is itself its own great long poem. This had occurred to me in the course of my wondering why home plate wasn’t called fourth base. And then it came to me: Why not? Meditate on the name for a moment. Home.

Home is an English word virtually impossible to translate into other tongues. No translation catches the associations, the mixture of memory and longing, the sense of security and autonomy, the accessibility, the aroma of inclusiveness, the freedom from wariness, that cling to the word home, that are absent from ‘house’ or even ‘my house.’ Home is a concept, not a place, a state of mind where self-definition starts;…

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Featured

  In Baseball, the Flashiest Slide May Not Be the Fastest

Head-first slides were responsible for 43.7% of the injuries, while feet-first slides were responsible for 56.3%. Because of the greater risk of neck and shoulder damage, head-first slides are considered more dangerous (especially for children). But in this group, the portions of injuries that required surgery were nearly identical

 Baseball players outlive most of us, but some positions are better than others

Want to live longer? Be an MLB player.

 Do You Get Any Health Benefits Playing Baseball

Baseball has been there for quite a long time, and it's one of the best-regarded games that help the players keep fit and reveal unanimous health benefits that cannot be considered or achieved anywhere else.

 Improving the lives of those with dementia – by using memories of baseball

Simply hearing others talk about a sport they love clearly triggers enjoyable memories; by tapping into a shared passion, the participants become more engaged, and it seems to improve their self-esteem.

 What You Can Learn From MLB’s Mental-Skills Coaches

Baseball’s psychology specialists explain how the advice they give All-Star players can also work at the office.

Articles of Interest

Are heavier baseball players better hitters? Basically, no, says physics

It seems intuitive: larger bodies should be able to hit a baseball harder. But do the physics and physiology agree that increased size yields better performance?

Baseball’s Elbow Problem Starts With Young Pitchers

Increasingly, baseball players of all ages are turning to "quick-fix" surgery to keep their pitching skills strong.

Five Lessons U.S. Healthcare Can Learn From Baseball

I can see important parallels between U.S. healthcare and this revered American pastime. Both touch the lives of many of us. Each depends on teamwork to achieve the best outcomes. And though both medicine and baseball have changed over time, each is also somehow timeless, retaining the essence of its origins.

For Our Kids, Let’s Take Tobacco Out of Baseball

With at least 28 cancer-causing chemicals, smokeless tobacco causes oral, pancreatic and esophageal cancers (and other health hazards) - and can lead to nicotine addiction. Meanwhile, roughly 15 percent of high school boys and 9 percent of all high school students currently use smokeless tobacco.

Is Softball Sexist?

The conventional wisdom is that baseball is for boys and men, and softball is for girls and women. But women have been playing baseball since long before they had the right to vote. As the national pastime went professional, women were forced out of it — and into softball.

Let Baseball Players Take Steroids

The ban on PEDs is serving no one — not the fans who have to watch their stars get deemed cheaters, not the players who created this crisis on their own, and certainly not the game of baseball, which finds itself perpetually damaged and publicly shamed. It’s time Major League Baseball declares it’s arbitrary war on PEDs a failure, and allows baseball’s healing process to begin.

Let’s Play Ball! The Future of Baseball is Tracking Health Data

According to the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference, the new frontier of baseball data is not just about scouting players, but keeping players healthy and injury-free.

Shohei Ohtani and the Cruelty of Baseball

In only two months of Shohei Ohtani, two-way player, baseball fans got to experience a generational talent in action, but that's been put on hold for now.

Smokeless Tobacco Is Gone From the Ballpark, if Not the Clubhouse

One theory, perhaps an optimistic one, is that once the current generation of players leaves the game, baseball will move close to being tobacco-free because the new players filtering in will be under a total ballpark ban.

The Most Dangerous Game

Is baseball really more hazardous to players’ health than football?

Why Do So Many Lefties Play Baseball? It's Built for Them

But why are there so many lefties in baseball in the first place? Twenty-five percent of baseball players are left-handed, as opposed to only 10 percent of the general public. Are lefties naturally more athletic? No, says David Peters from Washington University in St. Louis. Rather, he argues, the science of the game, right down to the dimensions of the diamond, favors left-handed people.

Why Should Your Family Play Baseball? Fitness And Health Benefits Of Playing Baseball

Baseball is arguably one of the most popular social sports across the globe. In addition to the sport being very entertaining, it is also quite beneficial in terms of health and fitness.

Resources

Baseball Health Network

The Baseball Health Network is a warehouse of information, hosted by industry experts, world-famous physicians and former professional baseball players who have walked in your shoes.

Society for American Baseball Research

SABR is a nonprofit membership association whose purpose is to help people do baseball research, provide a place to share baseball research and to preserve baseball research information.

Beyond the Box Score

Beyond the Box Score is the place for intelligent baseball commentary and cutting-edge sabermetric analysis.

Extra Inning Softball

Our mission is simple: we exist to grow the game. Led by Brentt Eads, we are bringing the softball community the latest in softball news from high school to select teams, from pro teams to Team USA, we make sure the game *never* ends as we take you beyond the diamond and behind the scenes.

Fastpitch Softball TV Network

The Fastpitch Softball TV Network has more FREE softball programming than any other site on the Internet. If you love softball, you are going to love Fastpitch TV!

Life in the Fastpitch Lane

Thoughts, ideas and musings on fastpitch baseball.

Little League

From local communities around the world to Little League International in Williamsport, learn about the world’s largest and most respected youth sports organization.

Pitch Smart

A series of practical, age-appropriate guidelines to help parents, players and coaches avoid overuse injuries and foster long, healthy careers for youth pitchers.

SABR Blog Roll

We list SABR members or friends with regularly updated websites/blogs on baseball topics.

Softball is for Girls

A website geared at empowering the girls who take on the diamond! And who play other sports.

Softball Journey

The mission of this web site is to help parents through the Softball Journey, from the youth recreational leagues to school ball to college. Softball is a journey, not a destination.

Softball Strong

Softball Strong is more than simple workouts for softball players. Softball Strong is a lifestyle, an all encompassing chance for players to learn about becoming the best player they can be in all aspects of their performance training.