Arizona Fall League 2010

If your not already aware, the 2010 season of the Arizona Fall League is in progress. This is my 16th year serving as the Medical Director of the AZ Fall league. The fall league games are a great way to enjoy the cooler weather and check out new talent in baseball.
Below is a article about Bryce Harper, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 First-Year Draft and Washington Nationals player. Bryce will be playing in the Arizona Fall League as a member of the Scottsdale Scorpions. Definitely a player to watch now and in the future of baseball.



Nats' Harper to play in Arizona Fall League


By Bill Ladson / MLB.com

The Nationals have decided that outfielder Bryce Harper, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 First-Year Draft, will play for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League. He will report on Tuesday.

Harper will be on the taxi squad, which means he will play twice per week. When he doesn't play, Harper will work on his swing and his skills in the outfield.

The news comes after Harper hit .319 with a .407 on-base percentage for the Nationals in the instructional league. He also led the team in several offensive categories, including hits, homers, RBIs and walks.

"He performed admirably in the instructional league," general manager Mike Rizzo said. "He got his feet on the ground and he was immersed in baseball, which he embraced greatly. He is what we call a baseball rat."

Rizzo said he thought about putting Harper in the AFL before the young slugger started playing in the instructional league, but he didn't make the decision until recently. Rizzo said Harper's performance on and off the field reinforced his decision.

"He's 17 years old and he doesn't even turn 18 until Saturday," Rizzo said. "He is very excited. What I had to decide on was: 'Is he going to be over his head in the AFL?' It's a very advanced league, but I think he is going to handle it. It's going to be very valuable to him."

The club did not want Harper to be idle for the next two months, so they believed it was better for him to continue playing baseball under Randy Knorr, who is managing the Scorpions. Knorr is considered one of the best teachers in the Nationals' organization.

Rizzo, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman, hitting coach Rick Eckstein and Phil Rizzo, a special advisor to the general manager, will also be in Arizona to help develop Harper.

"There is a high level of baseball going on," Mike Rizzo said. "Two months of this guy working out, practicing and playing will only benefit him. He is going to be fine in the [AFL]."

Harper is expected to begin the 2011 season at Class A.

"He is going to A-ball, make no mistake about it," Rizzo added. "He is not going to be a rushed guy. We are going to let his performance and development dictate where this guy goes."

Harper, after putting up monster numbers in high school, received a lot of publicity last year when Sports Illustrated referred to him as the "Chosen One," and baseball's version of LeBron James.

Shortly thereafter, he turned more heads when he received his high school equivalency in lieu of becoming a junior in high school, then headed to the College of Southern Nevada to join a junior-college program that plays in a wooden-bat conference.

Having been used primarily as a catcher in the past, Harper is currently playing right field. Rizzo believes that Harper will get to the big leagues faster if he plays somewhere other than behind the plate. He is considered an above-average outfielder with a great throwing arm and speed.

In addition to the physical tools, Harper had the stats to warrant being taken No. 1 overall. In 2008 as a freshman at Las Vegas High School, Harper had a .599 batting average with 11 home runs and 67 RBIs in 38 games. He followed that up with a .626 batting average, 14 home runs and 55 RBIs the next season.

Playing against a high level of competition and hitting with a wooden bat didn't present much of a challenge to Harper. The 17-year-old hit .442 with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs during the 2010 regular season.



Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, All Nats All the time. He also can be reached on twitter -- @washingnats. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101013&content_id=15613880&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&partnerId=ed-4229999-55422965&source=ed-4229999-55422965

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 9

Team USA defeated Cuba (one of their toughest opponents), 4-1. This win earned USA a spot in the semifinals and the #1 ranking so far in the tournament. The first game of the Semifinals was held on Oct. 12th, with the USA playing the Dominican Republic.
Team USA undefeated record in this tournament earned them a spot in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, tentatively scheduled for next October. And a spot in the 2011 IBAF Baseball World Cup, date and location TBD.

*Highlights from the game are below

GOLDEN ARCHES: U.S. starter and Chicago Cubs 2010 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Chris Archer was dazzling Monday night, authoring six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, walking none and striking out 10. Archer kept the Cuban lineup off-balance all night, not allowing a runner past first base in his final four frames.


BARD HITTIN’: With an infield hit in the first inning, Brian Barden moved his hit streak to six games (8-22, .364). The veteran of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team has played three positions for Team USA in the Pan American Qualifier, seeing time at left field, shortstop and second base.

OLD AQUAINTANCES: Kansas City Royals prospect Mike Moustakas was no stranger to Cuban starter Vladimir Garcia, having faced the righty just over four years ago in the quarterfinals of the COPABE Junior (18U) Pan American Championships. Moustakas played left field and batted clean-up for the 18U National Team, and finished the day 3-for-4 with two runs scored. As for Garcia, he came on in relief in the seventh inning and failed to record an out, allowing two earned runs on two hits. Moustakas slapped a two-run double down the left field line to get the U.S. on the board first Monday night, giving his team a lead it would not relinquish.

QUALITY QUALIFYING: By finishing in the top seven of the Pan Am Qualifier, the United States has punched its ticket to the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, tentatively scheduled for next October. Additionally, Team USA’s top-six finish guarantees it a spot in the 2011 IBAF Baseball World Cup, date and location TBD.

FAMILIAR FOES: Monday marked the ninth time a USA Baseball Professional Team and Cuba have met since 2000, including the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The U.S. moves to 6-3 in those games. Prior to Monday’s game, Team USA had most recently faced its intercontinental rival last September in Italy, as it took home gold from the 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup.

SEMIFINAL BREAKDOWN: With the win, the U.S. is the No. 1 seed advancing from Round 2, while Cuba finishes the round as the No. 2. Earlier today, Venezuela defeated the Dominican Republic, 12-4, to finish third. Although both teams completed play with 4-3 records, Venezuela earned the tie-breaker with Monday’s win. Team USA will face the Dominican Republic in the 1 vs.4 game at 7:30 p.m. ET at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan on Tuesday night.



TODAY’S OTHER ACTION (Round 2 records):
2:00 p.m. ET (Ponce) – Panama 5 (3-4), Nicaragua 2 (0-7)
2:00 p.m. ET (San Juan) – Venezuela 12 (4-3)*, Dominican Republic 4 (4-3)**
7:30 p.m. ET (San Juan) – Canada (2-4), Puerto Rico (2-4) (Late)

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 8

Team USA defeated Canada, 4-0, to Stay an Undefeated 8-0 in Pan Am Qualifying on October 10, 2010. The game was held at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

*Highlights from the game are below.

K MACHINE: With his two strikeouts in the fifth, starter Mike Montgomery finished with eight for the game, pushing his tournament total to a team-leading 14. The lefty overtook fellow Kansas City Royals prospect Everett Teaford (13).


HIT PARADE: By going 1-for-3 Sunday, Brian Barden has logged at least one base hit in each game he has played in the tournament (7-for-19 in five games). His .368 average is good for second on the team (Brett Jackson, .667). Barden is a two-time USA Baseball alum, having previously donned the red, white and blue for the bronze medal-winning 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team.

MOOSE BREAKS LOOSE: Mike Moustakas, who entered Sunday’s tilt with a .200 average, despite being tied for the team lead with six RBIs, found his stride at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored to raise his average 50 points.

QUITE THE OPENING ACT: For the second day in a row, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim prospect led off the game with a home run. Sunday’s shot to left was the 19-year-old’s team-leading third of the tournament and came on an 0-1 count.

FAMILIAR FOES: Sunday marked the 14th time since 2008 that a USA Baseball Professional Team has faced Canada in international competition, including exhibitions. Team USA is 12-1-1 in those games.

UPCOMING OPPONENT PREVIEW: The U.S. will face intercontinental rival Cuba on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET in Ponce’s Paquito Montaner Stadium to conclude Round 2 play. Cuba is 6-1, 4-1 heading into Sunday’s game against Puerto Rico, its lone loss coming Saturday night against the Dominican Republic, 9-6. Cuba and the U.S. have a long history of competition, with USA Baseball’s Professional Teams holding the advantage five games to three since 2000, including the Sydney Olympic Games. Most recently, Team USA defeated Cuba, 10-5, to take home the gold medal from the 2009 World Cup in Italy.

TODAY’S OTHER ACTION (Round 2 records):
1:00 p.m. ET (Ponce) – Venezuela (3-2), Panama (1-4)
5:00 p.m. ET (Ponce) – Dominican Republic (3-2), Nicaragua (0-5)
7:30 p.m. ET (San Juan) – Cuba (4-1), Puerto Rico (2-3)

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 7

Team USA defeated Venezuela, 6-3, on October 9th in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This win meant that Team USA moved to 7 game wins - 0 losses in the Pan Am Qualifying games.

*Highlights from this game are below

FORMIDABLE OPPONENT: Team USA faced off against Venezuela today. Venezuela, the IBAF 9th ranked team in the world, is the last team to beat Team USA at the professional level when it outlasted the U.S., 13-9, in 11 innings on September 10, 2009 at the IBAF World Cup in Regensburg, Germany. Since then, Team USA professional teams have won 21 straight games in tournament play.


ANDRE THE GIANT: Milwaukee Brewers prospect Andre Lamontagne pitched three shutout innings in relief for Team USA. Lamontagne yielded just two hits while striking out four for the red, white and blue. Andre pitched at the Double-A level in Huntsville for the Brewers in 2009.

TROUT POWER: Mike Trout led off the game today for Team USA with his second home run of the tournament. Trout’s homer was a blast to centerfield that traveled approximately 415 feet. Trout, 19, hit 10 homers this season during stints in the Angels’ High and Low-A affiliates.

RAINING K’s: After a two-hour and two-minute rain delay, Team USA and Venezuela pitchers combined for 24 strikeouts with Venezuela striking out 13 U.S. hitters and the U.S. fanning 11.

TIEBREAKER RULE IN EFFECT: The international extra-inning tie-breaker rule, which was established by the IBAF in 2008, was put into play in the 12th inning of today’s game. The rule has each team start its half of the inning at any point in their lineup and with runners on first and second base. In the top half of the 12th, Team USA scored four runs, two coming on a Cord Phelps double, while Venezuela plated one in its half.

TODAY’S OTHER ACTION:
Canada 9 – Panama 5
Nicaragua vs. Puerto Rico – 7:30pm
Cuba vs. Dominican Republic – 4:00pm

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 6

On October 8th, Team USA shutout Nicaragua with a final score of 5-0 in the opening game of Round 2 of the Pam Am Qualifying games. USA now holds 6 wins and zero losses in the tournament. The victory over Nicaragua qualified the USA team for 2011 Pan American games in October.

*Highlights from this game are below

PAN AM BOUND: With today’s victory the U.S. clinched a spot in the 2011 Pan American Games which will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico next October. The U.S. took silver at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio De Jainero, Brazil. Since 1951, with teams comprised mostly of collegiate level players, Team USA has won gold only once (1967), while winning the silver medal nine times (1951, 1955, 1963, 1971, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007) and the bronze three times (1959, 1983, 1991).


COACHES CORNER: Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Manager Roly de Armas is in his fifth stint as bullpen coach for Team USA. Roly, a member of the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies coaching staff that won the World Series, has been with team USA since 2006. de Armas has helped lead the U.S. to World Cup gold medals in both 2007 and 2009, a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and first place at the 2006 COPABE Olympic Qualifier in Havana, Cuba.

REDMOND DOMINANT: USA starter Todd Redmond moved to 2-0 in tournament play, pitching seven shutout innings while holding Nicaragua to just four hits and striking out six. Redmond, a member of the gold medal-winning 2009 World Cup squad moves his record to 5-0 with a 1.25 ERA in his two seasons with the Team USA.

ELECTRIC CORD: U.S. second baseman Cord Phelps went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead Team USA to victory. Phelps, a prospect in the Cleveland Indians organization, played his college baseball at Stanford.

TODAY’S OTHER ACTION:
Dominican Republic 5 – Canada 2
Cuba 4 Panama 1 – 7th inning
Venezuela vs. Puerto Rico – 7:30pm

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 5

On October 6th, Team USA finished 5-0 in Pan Am Qualifier Pool Play. USA defeated Panama in the final qualifying game with a final score of 10-2. With this win, Team USA advanced to round 2 of the Pan Am Qualifying games in Puerto Rico.

*Highlights of this game as well as the schedule for Round 2 are below.

DUFF’S ENOUGH: Left-hander Danny Duffy started for Team USA tonight and turned in five solid innings for the victory, giving up four hits and only a single run over that span. Duffy (1-0) pitched in Northwest Arkansas (AA) in the Kansas City Royals organization this season. Royals GM Dayton Moore was in attendance for the second night in a row.


COACHES CORNER: Chicago White Sox Minor League pitching coordinator Kirk Champion begins his fourth stint as pitching coach for Team USA. Champ, as he is known, won gold at the 2009 IBAF World Cup in Europe, took home silver at the 2001 World Cup in Taiwan, and he helped lead the U.S. pitching staff at the 2006 COPABE Olympic Qualifier in Havana, Cuba. Champ enjoys pretzels and Werthers caramel candies on team bus rides.

TROUT BREAKS OUT: USA center fielder and Angels farmhand Mike Trout continued his torrid hitting. Trout went 3-for-6 with a HR, 2 runs, 3 RBIs and a stolen base. In four games, Trout is 9-for-16 with six runs scored and four RBIs, good for a .563 average. The 19-year-old Trout, the Angels 2009 first round pick, hit .341 in 131 minor league games this year, stealing 56 bases and scoring 106 runs.

WHATTA RELIEF: Three U.S. relievers combined to pitch the final four innings. Bryan Henry (1 ER), Bruce Billings and Justin De Fratus scattered just three hits over the final four frames to lead the U.S. to its fifth straight victory and first place in its pool.

TODAY’S OTHER ACTION:
Canada 10 – Netherlands Antilles 1
Dominican Republic – Aruba – PPD
Argentina – Nicaragua – Late

ROUND 2 SCHEDULE SET FOR PAN AM QUALIFIER

Team USA to open against Nicaragua at 7:30 p.m. EDT in Ponce

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The local organizing committee for the 2010 COPABE Pan American Qualifier released the event schedule for Round 2 and the medal rounds, Thursday night. The schedule for Team USA is as follows for Oct. 8-13:

Round 2

Oct. 8 - Nicaragua, Paquito Montaner Stadium, Ponce, Puerto Rico, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Oct. 9 - at Venezuela, Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2:00 p.m. EDT
Oct. 10 - at Canada, Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2:00 p.m. EDT
Oct. 11 - Cuba, Paquito Montaner Stadium, Ponce, Puerto Rico, 7:30 p.m. EDT

Medal Rounds

Oct. 12 - TBD, Semifinals, Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Oct. 13 - TBD, Finals, Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The United States enters Round 2 action 3-0, as it brings with it only the victories against the other three advancing teams from its preliminary pool (Domincan Republic, Puerto Rico and Panama). The eight advancing teams (four from each of the two opening round pools) will take these three-game preliminary records and add them to their four-game records from the second round to create a new, seven-game record. From there, the teams are ranked 1-8. The top four advance to the medal rounds, Oct. 12-13. Additionally, the top seven finishing teams will join host Mexico in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara.


Please visit www.USABaseball.com for more information. As a note, Internet availability is expected in Ponce and San Juan, and therefore live scoring for each game can be followed at www.USABaseball.com as well.

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 4

Team USA beat the Dominican Republic tonight, October 5th, 8 - 3. This win means that Team USA is 4-0 in the 2010 Pan Am Qualifying Tournament. Key points to this win: USA beat Dominican former Major league pitcher Bartolo Colon. and our winning pitcher 1st Lieutenant Nick Hill is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It was a proud day for all the members of Team USA.

Read below for highlights from tonight's game or visit www.usabaseball.com for more information.

Arch Ally: Team USA starter Chris Archer pitched four solid innings for Team USA, limiting the Dominican Republic to three runs on four hits while striking out five batters. Archer, a top prospect in the Chicago Cubs system, was named the organization’s pitcher of the year this past season and was presented with the award last month in Chicago.




COACHES CORNER: Former Major League Manager Carlos Tosca is making his Team USA debut as third base coach. After serving as the third base coach for the Toronto Blue Jays, Tosca was named manager and served in that capacity from 2002-2004. Tosca also held the job as bench coach for both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Florida Marlins.



CY NONE: 2005 American League Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon lasted just 2.1 innings tonight for the Dominican Republic. Colon gave up six runs on seven hits and walked a batter. Colon, now 37, was a two-time All-Star, winning 153 Major League games over a 13-year career that saw him pitch for five teams.



HILL ON THE HILL: Team USA pitcher Nick Hill (1-0) pitched three shutout innings in relief to record the victory. Hill, a graduate of West Point, scattered three hits and struck out three to earn the win. It was Hill’s second appearance in the tournament.



HOS STAYS HOT: USA first baseman and Kansas City Royals prospect Eric Hosmer went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Through the first four games of the tournament, Hosmer is hitting .455 with six walks, five runs scored and two RBIs.

TODAY’S OTHER ACTION:

Venezuela 3 – Nicaragua 2

Argentina 4 – Netherlands Antilles 3

Panama 12 – Aruba 4

Puerto Rico – Colombia – Late

Cuba vs. Canada – Late

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 3

Team USA defeated Columbia in the 3rd game of the Pan Am Qualifying Pool Play, October 4th. The game was held at the Roberto Clemente Stadium in Puerto Rico. Team USA was able to win the game over Columbia with a final score of 13-6.

Read below for highlights from the game or visit www.usabaseball.com for more information on Team USA & the 2010 Pan Am Qualifying Pool Play.

ROYAL FLUSH: Team USA was led to victory today over Colombia by a trio of Kansas City Royal prospects. Lefty Mike Montgomery (1-0) gave up two runs and scattered five hits over five innings while striking out six for the victory. He was helped out by fellow Royals future stars Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer. Moustakas went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs and a run scored, while Hosmer, also 2-for-5, scored 2 runs and knocked in one.




COACHES CORNER: Former major leaguer Leon “Bull” Durham begins his first stint as Team USA hitting coach. “The Bull,” as he was known, played 10 seasons in the Major Leagues and was named to the National League All-Star Team in 1982 and 1983. Durham was a member of the 1984 N.L. East Champion Chicago Cubs. He is currently a coach in the Detroit Tigers organization.



RAINING RUNS: The seven runs scored by Team USA in the third inning against Colombia are the most in a single inning since Team USA scored seven against Chinese Taipei at the 2009 IBAF World Cup in Torino, Italy.



BALANCED ATTACK: Team USA pounded out 19 hits against Colombia pitching today. Every member of the U.S. starting lineup collected at least one hit and each scored at least one run, including outfielder Todd Frazier who replaced Brett Jackson in the 5th inning.



TROUT FISHIN’: USA outfielder Mike Trout reached base four times, going 3-for-5 with a walk, while knocking in 2 runs and scoring two more. The 19-year-old, who was a first round draft selection of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft, is the youngest member of Team USA.

TODAY’S OTHER ACTION:

Venezuela vs. Netherlands Antilles – 1:00pm

Canada vs. Argentina – 1:00pm

Nicaragua vs. Cuba – 7:30pm

Panama vs. Puerto Rico – 7:30pm

Aruba vs. Dominican Republic – 7:30pm

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 2

This past Sunday, October 3rd, Team USA played Aruba in game 2 of the Pan Am Qualifying Pool Play in Puerto Rico. Team USA defeated Aruba 14-0 in a 7 inning game. Below are some highlights from the game.

OLYMPIC BLAST: Team USA shortstop Brian Barden crushed a two-run homerun to right-center in the third inning to put the U.S. up 2-0. Barden went 2-for-4 on the night with 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored. This is Barden’s second stint with Team USA. In 2008 he was a member of the Olympic squad that won bronze in Beijing. In eight Olympic Games, Barden hit .265 with a homer and five RBIs.


COACHES CORNER: Former major leaguer Jay Bell begins his first stint as first base coach for Team USA. A two-time All-Star, Bell played 18 seasons in the majors, compiling 1,963 hits for five different teams. His teams reached the postseason five times, and in 2001 while with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bell scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 7 of the World Series to beat the New York Yankees in one of the most thrilling World Series games in MLB history. Bell won the Rawlings Gold Glove award in 1993 as a shortstop with the Pittsburgh Pirates.



DOCTOR K: Tonight’s U.S. starter Everett Teaford, currently in the Kansas City Royals organization, surrendered a single to Aruba’s first batter then pitched a five perfect innings, striking out 10 of the 15 batters he faced, to record the win and push Team USA to 2-0 in pool play.



GOOD EYE: U.S. first baseman Eric Hosmer has walked six times in nine plate appearances over the first two games. Hosmer walked 59 times in 579 plate appearances in the Minor Leagues this year.



GOOD GENES: USA reliever Bryan Henry entered the game in the sixth and retired the side in order, striking out two. Henry’s grandfather Larry Callaway is a member of the Senior Softball Hall of Fame. Callaway holds 35 national softball titles.



WELL TRAVELED: USA outfielder Jaime Hoffman of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization went 3-for-3 with 3 runs scored. Hoffman was selected by the New York Yankees in the 2009 Rule 5 Draft and was sent back to the Dodgers after Spring Training.

TODAY’S OTHER ACTION:

Nicaragua 8 – Netherlands Antilles 4

Venezuela 5 – Canada 3

Panama 5 – Colombia 3

Cuba vs. Argentina – Late

Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic – Late

Dr. Mattalino's travels with USA Baseball in Puerto Rico, October 2010- Entry 1

I am currently traveling with USA baseball, as the team physician, as they compete in the 2010 COPABE Pan American Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico. Yesterday, October 2nd, was our first game in the series against team Puerto Rico. Team USA defeated Puerto Rico (7-4) in front of a friendly, partisan baseball savvy crowd in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Tonight, October 3rd, we play Aruba, once again in Ponce, Puerto Rico.


U.S. DEFEATS PUERTO RICO, 7-4, IN PAN AM QUALIFYING OPENER


Team USA to face Aruba, Sunday, at 7:30 p.m. EDT in Ponce

PONCE, Puerto Rico -- The USA Baseball Pan American Qualifying Team (PAQT) defeated host Puerto Rico, 7-4, Saturday night, in its opening game of the COPABE Pan American Qualifying Tournament. Saturday marked the first of five pool play games for the U.S., as it took its first step toward attempting to qualify for the 2011 Pan American Games.

Brett Jackson led all U.S. hitters, going 3-for-4, including a three-run home run in the sixth inning with Team USA leading, 4-3. Todd Frazier also hit a three-run shot, his highlighting a four-run second inning for the United States.

U.S. starter Todd Redmond (1-0) picked up where he left off as an ace with the gold medal-winning 2009 World Cup Team, going five and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs (two earned) and striking out four for the win. Tim Collins and Justin De Fratus combined for three and one-third innings of three-hit, one-run (none earned) relief.

The three-run blasts from Jackson and Frazier were the headlines for Team USA, as all of its runs came in the decisive second and sixth innings. Brad Eldred opened the second frame with a stand-up triple, and first baseman Eric Hosmer followed with a four-pitch walk. Frazier, a top prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization, then hit the first pitch he saw from Puerto Rico starter Hiram Burgos over the left field fence to put the U.S. ahead 3-0. Later in the inning, Mike Trout lined a shot to left-center – hitting the wall in nearly the same place Eldred did earlier in the inning – and legged out a triple of his own on a close play at third, eventually scoring on the play via an errant relay by the shortstop.

Puerto Rico came back to within one, pushing a run across in the top of the fourth and two more in its half of the sixth, but in the bottom sixth frame, the U.S. put the game away for good. Frazier and Kratz led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and Trout executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance both runners. Two batters later Jackson unloaded on an Efrain Nieves offering to right-center to push Team USA to a 7-3 lead.

De Fratus allowed one unearned run in the ninth as Puerto Rico attempted to mount a rally, but the right-hander got Neftali Soto to ground out to first to end the game.

Burgos (0-1) took the loss for Puerto Rico, and Jorge Padilla and Gabriel Martinez led all hitters for the host nation, both going 2-for-4.

The U.S. (1-0) next faces Aruba (0-2) at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday night in Ponce.

Live scoring for all U.S. games will be available at www.USABaseball.com, the online home for USA Baseball. Please visit the site for schedule and roster information, tournament updates and more. Overall tournament information can be found by clicking here. Saturday night’s box score, cumulative stats and play-by-play are attached.

NOTES:

OPENING GAME TRENDS: Team USA lost the opener of the 2009 IBAF World Cup, a 13-9 loss to Venezuela, in extra-innings. Team USA went onto win its next 14 games en route to the 2009 IBAF World Cup gold medal. Team USA is 4-2 in its last six professional team tournament openers dating back to 2006.

COACHES CORNER: Former major leaguer Ernie Young begins his first stint as Manager of Team USA. Young was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team that won gold in Sydney, Australia and also served on the Team USA coaching staffs at the 2009 IBAF World Cup in Europe (gold) and the 2003 Olympic Qualifier in Panama.

ACTION JACKSON: Brett Jackson, who led Team USA with a .545 batting average during training camp in Cary, N.C., continued his torrid hitting going 3-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and a three-run home run in the sixth inning. Jackson is an outfield prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization and attended and played baseball at Cal-Berkeley.

SMOKIN TODD FRAZIER: Cincinnati Reds prospect Todd Frazier put Team USA on the board with a three-run blast to left in the second inning. Frazier finished the night 2-for-4 with a HR, three RBIs and two runs scored. Frazier was the winning pitcher in the 1998 Little League World Series for champion Toms River, N.J., in Williamsport, Pa.

ACE RETURNS: U.S. starter Todd Redmond who went 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA in three starts for the 2009 World Cup gold medal team pitched 5.2 innings giving up 2 earned runs while striking out four and walking only one in his second stint with team USA.

NOTEABLE FANS IN ATTENDANCE: Former scout and Puerto Rican League star Jorge Posada, Sr., father of Yankee catcher and Puerto Rico native Jorge Posada, and former Chicago Bulls GM Jerry Krause were in attendance at tonight’s game.


TODAY’S OTHER ACTION:

Colombia 9 – Aruba 2

Venezuela 4 – Argentina 0

Canada 7 – Nicaragua 6

Cuba vs. Netherlands – Postponed

Panama vs. Dominican Republic – Late



*Follow Dr. Mattalino updates as he travels in Puerto Rico with USA Baseball this month.*

In Defense of Physician Autonomy

By SAUL GREENFIELD
September 7, 2010


The auditorium was filled with young, newly minted physicians sitting nervously in white jackets. When the chairman of surgery mounted the stage to address me and my fellow surgical interns, we immediately hushed and gave him our attention. I don't now recall most of what he said, but one remark has stayed with me through my 25 years of surgical practice: "You can't practice medicine by committee."

He didn't mean that we shouldn't listen to associates or seek their advice, or that we shouldn't be aware of scientific literature conveying the opinions and research of others. He meant that every physician must, at some point in the patient-care process, make decisions and take responsibility for them. And unless the doctor does so, the outcomes will be compromised. He was warning against groupthink and telling us that patients often present challenges that cannot be solved by easily consulted algorithms.
The chairman's admonition was a succinct definition of the parameters of the doctor-patient relationship. And in the eyes of many contemporary medical thinkers—those who seek to reorder the universe of medical care in this country—it would be heretical.
In recent political debates, the autonomous physician has been portrayed as a problem to be solved, an out-of-control actor motivated by greed—and a major cause of rising health-care costs. Insurance companies and the federal government have sought to control physician behavior with the dual aim of decreasing costs and improving care. In their view, individual and regional disparities in rates of medical testing, hospitalization and surgical procedures are ipso-facto demonstrations of physician autonomy run amok.
In the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE) provides guidelines for clinical care in order to ensure greater uniformity of practice and, it claims, better care. In this country, the recent health-care reform law established a Comparative Effectiveness Institute with the same aims.
Such institutions are illegitimate and undesirable. My field of pediatric urology is only a small subset of medicine, but recent experience demonstrates the dangers of bureaucratic, committee-based practice.

In 2007, NICE published guidelines for the care of children with urinary tract infections. A committee of diverse specialists reviewed the literature and voted on the final recommendations. Without going into great detail, these guidelines enacted a significant departure from then-current practice by recommending against thorough radiographic evaluation in many instances.

One member of the committee who was out-voted on the final guidelines publicly castigated NICE and accused the committee of misusing statistics, failing to involve the proper specialists, and seeking mainly to decrease costs. The criticisms were correct.

Since the NICE recommendations were promulgated, publications in peer-reviewed journals have shown that many children with significant underlying conditions—some leading to serious kidney disease—would go undiagnosed if the NICE guidelines were followed.

Over a decade ago, researchers at Dartmouth College documented disparities in rates of tonsillectomy in children. They famously asserted that certain high rates of tonsillectomy were inappropriate and did not improve health outcomes. To do this, they relied only on insurance claims and hospitalization rates; they had no data on the prevalence of recurrent tonsillitis or long-term cardiovascular morbidity from obstructive sleep apnea. In fact, they had no data comparing the quality of life of individuals denied the procedure with that of individuals who underwent surgery. Their broad statistical overview was simply unable to answer many important questions.

Physician autonomy is a major defense against those who comfortably sit in remote offices and make calculations based on concerns other than an individual patient's welfare. Uniformity of practice is a nonsensical goal that fails to allow for differing expression of disease states.

This is not to say that clinical research, randomized controlled trials, literature meta-analyses and guidelines are not necessary and useful. They are all essential. It is also not an argument against rigorous oversight of physician behavior, licensure and training. But we must recognize that many physicians will often make decisions that deliberately do not conform to "community standards"—and that patients will be better for it.

Dr. Greenfield is director of pediatric urology at the Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo and a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Why Trainers Say, 'Slow Down'

The Wall Street Journal
September 7, 2010
By KEVIN HELLIKER

When his running coach implored him to take rest days, Bill Carr didn't listen. Slated to run a 100-mile ultramarathon this month, the 36-year-old cranked up his workouts over the summer, running more and harder miles than his coach recommended.

"I wanted to make sure that I got to the event fully prepared," he says. But Mr. Carr won't get to the 100-miler at all. Last month, his ankle sustained an over-use injury during a workout, sidelining the Rancho Cordova, Calif., project manager for a vision-benefits company.
"Type A personalities will increase their training load until something backfires," says Julie Fingar, Mr. Carr's running coach, who says her biggest challenge is convincing her clients to take an adequate amount of rest. "In their minds, taking rest means they're not working hard enough."
Today, says Mr. Carr: "I'm taking Julie's advice and starting to cross train."
Roughly 10% of athletes preparing for an endurance event are training too hard, estimates Jack Raglin, director of graduate studies at the Indiana University's department of kinesiology. Research in the field has shown that injury rates rise as runners increase their weekly mileage. Besides injury, excessive training can contribute to or cause major depression, loss of sleep, anorexia and sometimes death.
"The overtrained athlete is so fried by race time that he either performs very poorly or can't perform at all," says Dr. Raglin, who specializes in overtraining problems.
A more-is-better mentality permeates the endurance-exercise culture. Novice runners in particular tend to think that finishing a marathon requires no end of training. In fact, however, under-training is rare. After all, more than 95% of marathon starters reach the finish line.
Statistically, the harder line to reach is the start line. Of the tens of thousands of Americans who pay as much as $180 to register for marathons, as many as 25% fail to make it to the race. Injury, illness and loss of motivation as a result of overtraining are major reasons for this.
But moderation is a hard message to promote among runners determined to reach extremes. For such athletes, no matter how conclusively science may prove the value of rest and recovery, the culture of endurance sports lionizes those who seemingly never rest.
"In running circles, there is huge pressure to do big mileage, to do the big training, to do the biggest races," says Sandra Ross, a 47-year-old runner in Auburn, Calif.
It also can be difficult for runners to know when they are training too hard. One red flag, sports-medicine specialists say, is an intensifying obsession with performance. Exercise, after all, is supposed to be stress-reducing, and amateur competitions by definition are recreational. Yet marathon fields are populated with runners who are visibly stressed out about whether they'll set a personal record or win their age group.
To head off overtraining, some coaches urge athletes to remain alert for the point at which greater doses of exercise cease to produce improvement.
"The body responds beautifully to the right schedule of training stresses," Lynn Bjorklund, who in 1981 set the still-standing female course record for the Pikes Peak Marathon, wrote in an email. "However, too much stress and not enough nutrition or recovery pushes your body toward injury and illness. You need to stay in that zone of just enough, and that takes a very high tuned and honest appraisal of yourself."
Ms. Ross, the California runner, says that for years she would suffer injuries while training for marathons. To help pace herself, Ms. Ross hired Ms. Fingar, the running coach, who enforced rest days, cross-training and trail-running as a lower-impact alternative to pavement.
The discipline paid off, and this summer Ms. Ross completed a 100-mile race. That accomplishment wouldn't have been possible if she hadn't resisted the impulse to match the weekly mileage of her younger running partners, she says. "If I ran as much as they do I'd be faster. But as an older runner I need more rest, and I also have a child, a husband and a career," says Ms. Ross, who works as an environmental consultant.
Overtraining can contribute to exercise-related anorexia, a potentially fatal syndrome that strikes nearly half of all women in so-called lean sports such as running, according to a book published this year, "Eating Disorders in Sport."
"I was diligent about cutting down the calories and increasing my workout schedule. The pounds fell away and it seemed to result in better racing," recalls Ms. Bjorklund, who says that soon after setting a Pikes Peak Marathon record she entered a hospital near death from anorexia.
"It is easy to think that if a little is good, more should be better. After a period of time, however, I would always crash and be forced to cut back," the 53-year-old wrote in an email.
Ms. Fingar, the running coach, says that early in her athletic career she was prone to overtraining and exercise-related anorexia. As a result she says she studies her clients and friends for signs of chronic fatigue, depression, compulsive training or privation. "It can be really destructive," the 35-year-old says. "When someone becomes addicted in a non-healthy manner, all other things suffer—work, family, friends and of course their performance."
Ms. Fingar says she tries to set an example for her clients. She refrains from aerobic exercise one day a week. Often, if she listens to her body instead of her mind, "I'll realize that I'm tired and I'll take another day," she says.

When training for an ultramarathon, Ms. Fingar runs about 70 miles a week, far fewer than the 100 miles that many other ultramarathoners log weekly. But unlike some other runners she is rigorous about cross-training weekly in the pool, on a bicycle and in yoga and Pilates studios. She says this training offers a break from the monotony and physical pounding of running, and provides flexibility, enhanced aerobic fitness and a strengthening of core muscles.

"Especially with trail running and endurance events, you need upper-body and core strength to ascend and descend the hills," she says.

Click Here to Access Article Online

Mesquite High School 2010 Football Opening Night Win

Dr. Mattalino attended the opening night football game of Mesquite High School on Friday, August 27th. The game turned into yet another great performance by the Mesquite Wildcats as they faced off against their rival No. 5 Desert Ridge. The game was close, similar to the game the teams played last year against each other where Mesquite beat Desert Ridge and knocked them out of the 2009 Playoffs. Mesquite was not the favored team for this game, but they were still able to pull out a 28-27 win against Desert Ridge in the final minute of the game.

Dr. Mattalino served as the Mesquite HS team physician for the past 2 years and is excited to continue in this position for the 2010-2011 season.

Check out game highlights at http://www.azfamily.com/sports/high-school/Opening-Friday-high-school-football-highlights-101700643.html

Or read more about the team's win at http://varsity.evtrib.com/story/154576

What are PRP Injections?

Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy, more commonly known as PRP, is an emerging, non-surgical biological tool for patients with severe elbow, shoulder, knee or tendon injury and/or pain. The procedure is done by drawing the patient's blood and placing it in a centerfuge to concentrate platelets. Once this process is complete, the platelets are ready for injection. The PRP is then injected into the injury location under the guidance of an ultrasound. After the injection is complete, the patient is ready to go home and continue their daily activities.


PRP Therapy has shown to be an alternative to cortisone injections and surgery for patients with tennis elbow, Achilles tendon repair and may be helpful in arthroscopic surgeries such as rotator cuff repair.

To learn more about PRP and see if it is the correct treatment for your injury, visit our website's PRP information page at http://mattalinoorthopaedics.com/services/553.html

New Hip Replacement Technology

I recently attended a lecture about the recently released Stryker ADM X3 mobile bearing hip replacement system. I was very intrigued by this product and thought I would pass some information on this new technology along to my patients.

The Stryker ADM X3 hip replacement system is the first anatomic mobile bearing hip system from Stryker. This device is designed to offer the benefits of a large diameter bearing without metal-on-metal articulation. Meaning that the combination of a mobile bearing hip design and the advanced bearing technology allow this hip replacement system to wear better and offer more stability for the "active" patient.

With the implementation of the ADM X3 hip replacement device, the patient exhibits a greater range of motion, may reduce the risk of groin pain caused by iliopsoas tendon impingement, designed to help minimize the risk of wear and consequently may prolong the life of the implant (X3 laboratory testing shows a 97% reduction in wear compared to conventional polyethylene), and based on laboratory testing, ADM allows more than 3 times greater jump distance than competitive hard-on-hard bearings.

To see an animation of this new technology please visit the following link: http://www.stryker.com/en-us/products/Orthopaedics/HipReplacement/PrimaryAcetabular/mobilebearing/ADMX3Animation/index.htm

To find out more information on the ADM X3 hip replacement system visit http://www.styker.com/

NEW 2008 Summer Olympic Game Pictures

Dr. Mattalino recently received some NEW photos of the 2008 Summer Olympic Baseball Games in Beijing from USA Baseball. There are some really cool action shots and pictures of President George W. Bush's visit with Team USA.

To view the photos, visit our facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scottsdale-AZ/Southwest-Sports-Medicine-Orthopaedic-Surgery-Clinic-LTD/130684298186?v=info#!/pages/Scottsdale-AZ/Southwest-Sports-Medicine-Orthopaedic-Surgery-Clinic-LTD/130684298186?v=wall

ObamaCare and Immigration Reform

by Jason L. Riley
The Wallstreet Journal, March 29, 2010

Now that Congress has passed ObamaCare, some are pressing the White House to turn to immigration reform. Only hours before House Democrats voted on March 21 for a federal takeover of the U.S. health-care system, thousands of demonstrators led by liberal activists gathered on the National Mall to demand more open immigration policies and "Legalization Now!" for undocumented aliens.

But a larger welfare state is not conducive to comprehensive immigration reform. If foreigners start coming for handouts instead of economic opportunity, tighter restrictions will be justified.

American liberals have advocated the creation of a European-style welfare state since at least the 1960s. Yet according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Europe still spends twice as much as the U.S. on social programs—20% of gross domestic product versus 10%—and assistance aimed at the poor and the unemployed is especially generous. Also more generous, in the main, are European public pensions—wealth-redistribution mechanisms that effectively take from the affluent young and give to the old.

The U.S.-Europe welfare disparity to a large extent reflects different attitudes and preferences. Europeans tend to view the poor as hard-luck cases who aren't personally responsible for their situation, while Americans perceive welfare recipients as shiftless cheats. A 2005 World Values Survey found that 71% of Americans see poverty as a condition that can be overcome by dint of hard work, while only 40% of Europeans share that viewpoint.

As voters came to understand ObamaCare for what it is—another enormous, underfunded entitlement program that will expand the welfare state and increase dependency on government—it's no wonder that they turned against the bill. (A CNN poll on the day of the climactic House vote found that 59% of respondents opposed the legislation, versus 39% who favored it.)

And as taxes rise to subsidize higher health-care premiums, the program's unpopularity is likely to grow. The White House and Democrats in Congress don't seem to care what the polls show, but attitudes toward ObamaCare could bode ill for passing any immigration reform that includes legalizing the undocumented or lifting immigrant quotas to reduce pressure on the border.

Belief in social mobility has informed welfare and immigration policy from colonial times. In 1645 the Massachusetts Bay colony was already barring paupers. And in 1882, when Congress finally passed the country's first major piece of immigration legislation, it specifically prohibited entry to "any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge."

A problem that immigration reformers face is the public perception—fed by restrictionists and exacerbated during economic downturns—that the U.S. welfare state is already a magnet for poor immigrants in search of government assistance. It's true that the U.S. attracts poor people, but it's also true that they come here to work, not to go on the dole. We know this because the data consistently show that foreign nationals in the U.S. are more likely than natives to be employed and less likely than low-income natives to be receiving public benefits.

During the recent health-care debate, uninsured illegals were scapegoated for crowded emergency rooms and rising costs. In fact, the uninsured use the ER in rough proportion to their percentage of the population. It's a myth that undocumented immigrants are driving U.S. heath-care costs.

Even Harvard economist George Borjas, a prominent immigration restrictionist, concedes that the welfare magnet argument for sealing the border can't withstand scrutiny. "[T]here exists the possibility that welfare attracts persons who otherwise would not have migrated to the United States," he writes in "Heaven's Door," his influential book on immigration policy. "Although this is the magnetic effect that comes up most often in the immigration debate, it is also the one for which there is no empirical support."

While there's no evidence that immigrants come here for public assistance, that could change as the U.S. welfare state grows. And one consequence could be less-welcoming immigration policies. The European experience is instructive.

In countries such as France, Italy and the Netherlands, excessively generous public benefits have lured poor migrants who tend to be heavy users of welfare and less likely than natives to join the work force. Milton Friedman famously remarked, "you can't have free immigration and a welfare state." There is a tipping point, even if the U.S. has yet to reach it.

Due to the growth of existing entitlement programs to accommodate retiring baby boomers, the U.S. welfare state was destined to expand even before ObamaCare's excesses. And large-scale immigration reform this year was always a long shot with unemployment pushing 10% and midterm elections in November. But left-wing immigrant advocates should be mindful that the two issues aren't unrelated.

Immigrants to the U.S. historically have been significant contributors to the growth and vitality of our labor force because the vast majority come for the right reasons. Don't change the incentives.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704094104575143661044721230.html

Cuba's Major-League Cachet- Dominican players have risen in U.S. baseball, but Cubans still hold sway

Given my recent trip in 2006 to Havana, Cuba with USA Baseball for the Olympic Qualifying Games this article was of great interest to me. The Cuban and USA baseball teams have always had a strong rivalry, often playing each other in final rounds of Tournaments, most recently the 2009 International Baseball Federation's World Cup in Europe. I had the honor, as team physician for the USA baseball team, to watch these two rivals play for the tournament win. Team USA won in this case but as always, Cuba was a tough competitor.

Anyone interested in the future of Dominicans in Major League Baseball might cast a worried look at one of the most talked-about prospects for the 2010 season, a young left-handed Cuban pitcher named Aroldis Chapman. Left-handers are always in demand, and Mr. Chapman has thrown his fastball at a burning 100 miles per hour. Anything he throws faster than 95 seems virtually unhittable. But he rarely throws that fast and is usually at about 90. He has a pretty good slider and a very slow curve. In other words, he has not mastered many pitches for a starting pitcher. He also has control problems, and some days has trouble finding the strike zone. He also has back spasms, was sent down to the minors before the season even opened and began the season on a Triple-A team.


So why is everyone in baseball talking about him? Why were half the ball clubs in the major leagues interested in him, and why did the Cincinnati Reds pay $30 million for him? The answer, at least in part, is because he is Cuban—so not only does he come from a fabled baseball tradition, but he is also a defector, which is a popular political story.


The history of Cuban baseball is almost as long as the history of baseball itself. And despite a half-century embargo—or maybe because of it—Cuba still has a cachet that no other country can match in the American major leagues. That includes the Dominican Republic, which has produced the largest group of foreigners in major league baseball, at more than 470 players.

The Dominicans have John F. Kennedy and Fidel Castro to thank for their place in the major leagues. The first American baseball games probably took place in the 1830s. Cubans have been playing on their island since at least 1866, and are the only foreigners who have consistently played in American major league baseball since the 1870s. They played winters in Cuba and summers in the U.S. The first Cuban player, and the first Latino, in the major leagues was Esteban Bellán, who played third base. From a wealthy Havana family, he learned baseball while studying at Fordham University in New York and later became one of the organizers of the sport in Cuba.

Dominicans have been playing baseball since the 1880s, after it was imported by American and Cuban sugar executives. By the late 1890s, when Dominicans had reached a level where they might play in the U.S., the major leagues—as well as the minor—had adopted an unofficial policy of not letting blacks play. This limited Cuban participation, though a few lighter-skinned athletes "passed." A number of white Cubans had distinguished major league careers, such as Dolf Luque, called "the pride of Havana," a right-handed pitcher with an incredible 21-year run in the majors.

But only 15% of Dominicans are white and most of those belong to a wealthy upper class that rarely turns to professional athletic careers. While Dominican baseball became some of the best in the world, it was confined to playing in Latin America.

All that changed in 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians signed Larry Doby. Once black players were in the majors the search was on for more black talent. As of 1948 there had already been 32 Cuban major leaguers, so Cuba was a logical place to look. In 1949 Minnie Miñoso, the speedy outfielder nicknamed "the black comet," moved from the Negro League to the Cleveland Indians, and became the first black Latino player in the major leagues.

The first Dominican to play in the majors was Osvaldo Virgil, who made his debut in 1956 and was known to baseball as Ozzie Virgil. He had been discovered not in the Dominican Republic but in the Bronx by the great Cuban scout, Alex Pompez, who had found Mr. Miñoso and many other Cuban stars.

The next Dominican was Felipe Alou, a power hitter who played both infield and outfield. He dreamed of becoming a doctor but dropped out of medical school in 1958 because he desperately needed the $200 the Giants offered him. He went by Rojas Alou, Felipe Rojas Alou or Felipe Rojas, but the scout that recruited him did not understand and called him Alou. All the Rojas boys—Felipe, his brothers Matty and Jesus, and his son, Moisés, all major leaguers— changed their last names to Alou rather than contradict the Americans. In 1992 Felipe Alou became manager of the Montreal Expos, one of the first Latino managers in major league baseball.

There was a steady trickle of Dominicans into the majors in the 1950s and early '60s, including pitcher Juan Marichal, to date the only Dominican in the Hall of Fame. Dominicans probably would have remained a trickle if Kennedy and Castro had gotten along better. But then Eisenhower banned the import of Cuban sugar and the Soviets stepped in to buy it. From 1962 to 1963, Kennedy, angry about the Soviet Union's increasing role in Cuba, laid down embargo measures cutting off economic relations between the two countries.

By the time of the embargo, 96 Cubans and only 12 Dominicans had played major league baseball. It was no longer possible for a Cuban to work in the U.S. and return to Cuba. No longer could a baseball player play in the Cuban leagues in the winter and the major leagues in the summer.

Now, for a Cuban to play in the U.S. he had to defect, denounce his country, desert his family and neighbors and never return. Few Cubans were willing to do this. Even today, with the tantalizing possibility of earning millions in the major leagues, few Cuban players have been willing to defect as Aroldis Chapman did in July 2009 while playing for the Cuban national team in the Netherlands.

The 60 Cubans who have come to play in the major leagues since the embargo represent a fraction of the Cuban players with major league talent. Those who have come have had to face a major adjustment. In the Cuban leagues a player spends his entire career on his hometown team. The fans are his family and friends. When the team plays an away game, the local fans climb into the beds of trucks and take the bumpy ride across the island to the game.

The Cubans disappeared from the major leagues just as the demand for players—including foreign players—was greater than ever. Beginning in 1961, as baseball switched from rail transportation to planes, the leagues expanded. In the 1970s the free agent, a player who could turn to the highest bidder, was created along with a restrictive system of drafting players. Foreign players are not included in the draft and so teams are allowed to sign as many foreigners as they are willing to pay for.

All of this would have sent top scouts—many of them Cuban, such as Rafael Avila for the Dodgers—to Cuba. Instead they went to the Dominican Republic. And Dominicans became top scouts as well. In the 1970s and '80s intense scouting operations in the Dominican Republic grew into large training academies, and soon major league clubs were maintaining an extensive presence in the Dominican Republic.

Today, more than 400 Dominican teenagers sign with the major league system every year, and Major League Baseball is handing out more than $40 million annually in signing bonuses in the Dominican Republic. Major League Baseball says that it generates $76 million in business annually in the Dominican Republic, and that its teams spend $14.7 million on academies that directly and indirectly provide 2,100 jobs in the country.

But baseball is hungry for top players and the major leagues have created an organization called Major League Baseball International, which hunts the world for players. So far programs in many places, such as Germany and Great Britain, have not yielded much. They have had greater success in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea—where baseball has been played for almost as long as in the Dominican Republic—as well as a number of Latin American countries. Currently there is great excitement about Nicaragua.

The entire international equation could be changed once again by Cuba. It seems a matter of time until the U.S. embargo ends and Cuban players, like Dominicans, will be able to spend part of the year at home and part in the major leagues.

Despite little contact with the major leagues these past 50 years, Cuba has maintained extremely high standards of baseball, producing some of the best players and some of the best teams in the world. Major League Baseball seems certain to welcome them. It remains uncertain where the Dominican Republic would be without a Cuban embargo.

By MARK KURLANSKY
The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303720604575170171909416204.html?KEYWORDS=cuba+baseball

Lacrosse Growing in the Valley, State of Arizona

His hands couldn't quite grasp the stick. The ball coming toward him wasn't quite as big as his eyes.

Kyle Klein was like any kid in his neighborhood. He grew up playing in a field with a stick in his hands trying to annihilate a ball being thrown toward him.

Now 21, not much is different for Klein. He's still  playing in a field with a stick and a ball. But this time, the stick feels like an extension of his hands, and the ball is more like a friend.

Klein is a key player for one of the top NCAA Division I lacrosse programs in the country.

"I was playing baseball most of my life; when I first started playing lacrosse, I had no idea how to play the game," said Klein, a Scottsdale Desert Mountain graduate who is a junior defender at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. (His twin brother Konner plays lacrosse for Grand Canyon University's club team.) "But as soon as I had a (lacrosse) stick and a ball in my hands, I fell in love with it."

Klein is a product of the Arizona Lacrosse Foundation leagues, which is helping shepherd what some believe is the fastest-growing sport in the West at the youth, high school and college level.

Though college lacrosse in Arizona can trace its roots to 1960 when Arizona formed its club team, lacrosse is primarily considered an East Coast sport.

Arizona State club lacrosse coach Chris Malone, who also is the director of the elite youth lacrosse program Arizona Burn, said he has seen the growth.

"When I first got here (in September 2007), there were 75 kids in my youth program. Now there are 225," said Malone, who was an All-American at Maryland. "In my first season at ASU we averaged about 300-400 fans in the stands. This season we he had 5,050 in our first game, and we sold out our second game with 1,300 people. It's an attractive sport. Kids like it, and those who are playing are introducing the sport to their friends."

Nick Cavanez, a senior captain for the Scottsdale Chaparral club lacrosse team, began playing the game in the fifth grade.

"When I first got into high school there were 40 guys on the team; now there are at least 60," he said. "At (Phoenix Brophy Prep), they had 100 people come out for their team. It's definitely growing really fast."

There are 25 high school boys clubs in the Valley and 15 high school teams in the Arizona Girls Lacrosse Association.

The number of elite players from Arizona has grown as well. In 2004, Scott Hochstadt founded the Starz Lacrosse Organization, which is the largest elite club lacrosse organization in the country. The Burn are a member of the organization.

"The talent there (in Arizona) is stronger than any other area, believe it or not," Hochstadt said.

Along with Klein, there are a handful of players playing Division I lacrosse on the East Coast. Hunter Rodgers, a sophomore midfielder, and Pierce Bassett, a freshman goalie, are believed to be the first Arizona products to play for Johns Hopkins, which has won nine Division I titles and is considered the premier program in the nation.

Malone said his goal is to increase the number of elite players who are athletically and academically equipped to earn scholarships from big-time college programs every year.

Klein said it's only a matter of time.

"Kids are starting to play the sport when they're a lot younger now," Klein said. "By the time they get into high school, the sport will there will be bigger, and Arizona will be a hotbed for lacrosse."

 

by Odeen Domingo - Mar. 20, 2010 04:42 PM

The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/preps/articles/2010/03/20/20100320arizona-lacrosse-growing.html

NEW.....Patient Education Videos

When I started creating a new website for Southwest Sports Medicine I wanted to improve our Patient Education. Our new website has just that, animated videos of any orthopaedic elbow, shoulder or knee condition/ procedure.

Check them out on our NEW website:
http://mattalinoorthopaedics.com/education.html

Check out our NEW WEBSITE!!

Southwest Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Surgery Clinic has a NEW WEBSITE. The new site contains updated pratice information and an extensive amount of patient education.

Check it out!!

www.mattalinoorthopaedics.com

Your Catholic Priest: Fr. Thaddeus McGuire -- Love for Eucharist, parents’ example inspire priesthood

FR. THADDEUS MCGUIRE
Love for Eucharist, parents’ example inspire priesthood


      The first thing a visitor to Fr. Thaddeus McGuire’s office notices is a long, rectangular table laden with holy cards, framed portraits of the saints, holy books and a single, illuminated candle.
     This priest is passionate about spreading the Gospel. He wants to pray and inspire, but most of all he wants others to know that the Eucharist stands at the center of the Catholic faith.
     He wears the cord of St. Philomena about his waist and has fervor for telling others of the third-century virgin martyr’s powerful intercession. He credits his parents with enkindling in him a love for the Eucharist.
     Fr. McGuire grew up in Ohio as one of eight children in a devout Catholic family that made it a priority to attend the first Mass every Sunday morning.
    “We always sat right up front and we were always the last people in the church, too,” Fr. McGuire said. “My parents would make an act of thanksgiving. That really did have an impact on me.”
     The McGuire family had a sturdy devotional life, too, praying the rosary on car trips and making the Stations of Cross during Lent.
     After earning an MBA, Fr. McGuire worked for five years with a consulting firm and traveled to many major cities in the United States, often testifying as an expert witness.
    When he was 30, he began to think seriously about the priesthood. He found himself doing a lot of spiritual reading, learning about the lives of the saints and wanting to receive the Eucharist daily. He also discovered a desire to serve somewhere apart from family and friends so as to better discern what God wanted for his life.
     He wound up spending three years working among the poor in Jamaica with the Mustard Seed Communities, an apostolate in the Archdiocese of Kingston. Amidst vermin and the absence of running water, he lived humbly, praying and working alongside the people of the tiny island nation.
     He eventually approached the bishop of Mandeville about becoming a priest and was sent to study in Rome at the Angelicum, where he earned a licentiate in sacred theology.
    With Phoenix growing steadily, the need for priests in the United States became apparent and he was ordained for the Phoenix Diocese in 1999. Fr.
    McGuire became pastor of St. Daniel the Prophet Parish five years ago and said he loves being a spiritual father to his parishioners.
    His love for the Eucharist means that the children who attend the parish school attend Mass daily. “It has been a huge blessing in leading the children in our school to a great love for our eucharistic Lord,” he said.
    While serving at Corpus Christi parish a few years back, someone gave him a book about St. Philomena and told him, “St. John Vianney and St. Philomena have a lot in store for you.”
    Since then, he has helped spread devotion to the saint and serves as the spiritual director for the arch-confraternity of St. Philomena for the western United States. He said the saint’s intercession is powerful and has led to many healings and prayers answered.

What are you passionate about as a priest?

The Eucharist. This is the Church’s thinking: the extent to which we come to love, appreciate and hunger for the Eucharist — everything else springs from that. In the Eucharist, we encounter the face of Christ. That’s what we were created for — to see God face to face. And in the Mass, through God’s word and the gift of the Blessed Sacrament, we come to see the face of our Lord Jesus more clearly. Doing that enables us to see the face of Christ and to encounter Christ truly present in our brothers and sisters. It’s not by accident that we hear time and time again that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith life.

Did someone invite you to consider the priesthood?

No. I would say it was the great high priest our Lord Jesus and my personal prayer with Him. I don’t have any memory of anyone ever saying that to me. I think every young man says, ‘I wonder what it’s like to be a priest?’ My mom and dad never encouraged or discouraged us in terms of any vocation or profession. It was a progressive journey to the priesthood.

What can families do to encourage more vocations to the priesthood?

Moms and dads, through their word and example, how they witness to their children their appreciation for the gift of our faith and the way in which they invest themselves in the practice of it by attending the perfect prayer of the Mass regularly and joyfully and with grateful hearts. By their participating in the Mass and in serving their local parish community and beyond — that’s the way.

 
By Joyce Coronel
Feb. 16, 2010
The Catholic Sun
http://www.catholicsun.org/2010/february/16/ycp-mcguire.html

Olympic Training to Become Doctors, Professors

Olympic athletes can discover that they retire from the sport that has consumed their lives at an age when most people are just starting out in their careers. Winning medals was just the end of the first act for the following athletes. In their post-Olympic careers, they didn't simply discard one career for the next. They've found ways to apply their experiences as athletes to become better at their new jobs.

Eric Heiden
Hometown: Madison, Wis.

Olympic Games: Innsbruck 1976, Lake Placid 1980 in speed skating.

Second Career: Chairman of the department of surgery Intermountain Healthcare in Park City, Utah.

Long Midwestern winters brought out the best in Eric Heiden, who was recognized as a good hockey player around the neighborhood. But it was his speed-skating that really made him stand out. His coach, Dianne Holum, was an Olympic medalist who drove him to train five hours a day. The schedule netted Mr. Heiden a string of racing victories and a spot on the junior world championship team at 17.

He went on to compete in the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics in Austria. He didn't medal, finishing seventh in the 1,500 meter and nineteenth in the 5,000 meter.

He was more determined to win in the following year, where he became the first American to win the World Speedskating Championship. He captured the title in 1978 and 1979, setting the stage for the Lake Placid Olympics. "I wasn't super confident I was going to [win] gold," says Mr. Heiden. "But once you get the first medal under your belt, it opens the floodgates and allows you to focus."

He ended up sweeping every individual event, winning an unprecedented five gold medals. He also broke five Olympic records and one world record. The skating world was stunned when he retired shortly afterward. At 21, he felt he was ready to move on. "I wanted to get back to school and try something else," he says.

Hunting for his next challenge, Mr. Heiden, scaled back on his pre-med schedule at Stanford University so he could become a professional cyclist. He won the U.S. Cycling Championship in 1985. He also captained the 7-Eleven Cycling Team, which became the first American team to be invited to the Tour de France in 1986. He crashed within sight of Paris on the final mountain stage.

Mr. Heiden finished his medical degree at Stanford University in 1991, and went on to become an orthopedic surgeon. He is currently a partner at the Orthopedic Specialty Clinic in Salt Lake City, where he specializes in ACL reconstruction and arthroscopic surgery. He has treated speed skater Apolo Ohno and Cadel Evans, a pro cyclist. Mr. Heiden, now 52, is also acting medical director for the U.S. Speedskating and Cycling Teams, and is on call in Vancouver.

He often calls on his sporting days to treat patients. "Being an athlete, I see athletes feel confident that I understand where they're coming from," he says.

Debi Thomas
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.

Olympic Games: Calgary 1988 in figure skating.

Second Career: Orthopedic surgeon.

Most aspiring figure skaters live and breathe the sport, but Debi Thomas never wanted to give up her dream of going to medical school. "People used to tell me that you can't win World [Figure Skating Championships] and go to Stanford at the same time. Of course, the more they said 'impossible,' the more I wanted to prove them wrong," she says. Indeed, Ms. Thomas was the first African-American figure skater to win the U.S. National and the World Championships—all while going to school.

Ms. Thomas went into the 1988 Olympics in Calgary with high expectations. She had repeatedly fought for the World Championship title with East German skater Katarina Witt, and their rivalry was billed by the media as the "battle of the Carmens" since both women planned to skate their long routines to Bizet's tragic opera. She says she didn't have the right mindset going into the competition and had lost confidence at the last minute. She had even considering quitting. "Even if you're well trained and you're physically ready for a competition, your body is not always going to go out there and perform," she says.

She faltered early in her free skating routine after two-footing a landing on a combination. She never recovered, winning a bronze behind Elizabeth Manley and gold winner Katarina Witt. It was a very disappointing loss, she says. She had planned to retire from skating whether she won or not. "Knowing I had my medical career to look forward to made it easier to take," says Ms. Thomas, who graduated from Northwestern University's medical school in 1997.

Specializing in adult reconstructive surgery, Ms. Thomas works as an orthopedic surgeon at the Bone and Joint Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The 42-year-old says her days as a skater provide her with helpful insight in diagnosing patients with sports-related problems.

"Figure skating was a pretty individual sport," she says. "I've grown up a lot since those days and enjoy being part of a team now. Being a doctor is about working with nurses, therapists, anesthesiologists, and I've learned more about team play being a doctor than when I was in sports."

Karlos Kirby
Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa

Olympic Games: Albertville 1992; Lillehammer 1994 in bobsled.

Second Career: College professor and Navy reserve officer

A three-time All-American track and field star and a talented football tailback, Karlos Kirby had his pick of 35 colleges. He gave up his scholarship at Long Beach State University to become an Olympic bobsledder.

He had been fascinated by the sport since seeing it on television. Something just clicked, he says. "I had to give it a shot." He persuaded the executive director of the U.S. National Bobsled Team to give him to tryout in Lake Placid.

At 5-foot-10 and 175 lbs, Mr. Kirby says he was smaller than many competitors at the tryout. Mr. Kirby failed to impress on his first day of fitness testing. The coach told him he could go home.

"I didn't know if I'd make the team, but wasn't going home until I finished," says Mr. Kirby, who returned on the second day. By the end of the year, he was one of the top three pushers in the U.S.

After transferring to the University of New Mexico in 1989, Mr. Kirby completed his bachelor's in University Studies, a multidisciplinary degree, and his master's in physical education.

Five years and five U.S. National Push Championships later, Mr. Kirby competed in his first Olympics in Albertville, France, in 1992. "It was over in a flash," he says. His team finished 9th in the four-man bobsled event. He did better the following year, becoming the first American in 28 years to win a World Championship bronze medal. He didn't medal in Lillehammer in 1994 and retired.

He soon decided to return to education and has been an instructor at William Penn University, as well as Duke and Drake Universities. He's also made time for military service, as a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve. Mr. Kirby, 41, serves as a public affairs officer and is preparing for his first tour in Afghanistan, where he will be working with NATO.

By Dennis Nishi
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, February 16, 2010