The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports

Jeff Passan digs deeply into the question of why pitchers' arms fail them so often. He discusses research, experiments, and observations. Why do some pitchers go for decades without major injury while others seem to be as fragile as Nabatean glass? The book is quite fascinating and includes detailed stories of individual pitchers, some of whom had success and others of whom did not. Despite all the hard work of everyone Passan interviews and reports on, and despite his own hard work, the answer still isn't clear, but that in itself is interesting. One has to conclude that pitching major-league baseball is hazardous to one's health. My own view is that we're not on the cusp of figuring out how to prevent or even substantially reduce pitching injuries, and the game's evolution toward more strikeouts, more home runs, and harder-throwing pitchers is an important part of the context needed to understand this problem. This book helps understand this context. Highly recommended.

Excellent analysis of the biggest mystery in baseball--namely, how to keep pitchers from blowing out their arms. Having the stories of two different pitchers dealing with the aftermath of Tommy John put a human face on the problem. Perfect Game and the ways that very young kids are throwing too hard and too often ends up in the indictment of organized professional baseball. It's sad that the cutting edge research that could make a real contribution to prevention of the epidemic of broken players is being brought in-house and will be proprietary.If you've ever wondered why pitchers simply can't stay healthy these days, or why 'back in the day,' pitchers were so tough they could pitch complete games at will in a four man rotation, well, you need to read this book.

Always interesting to get behind the scenes in the rehab process. Passan takes us into the rehabs of both a near-star like Daniel Hudson but also into the process of journeyman player (Todd Coffey). All tendons are equal (and liable to failure) under the lord, regardless of star power. The weakness of the book is in how much it jumps around from interest group to interest group. Passan looks at Japan, at youth travel ball, at elite training centers, at individual players, and at MLB. It's interesting to get looks at these various centers of the game, but it prevents Passan from fully developing any single viewpoint. Does Japan -- for all its crazy emphasis on working pitchers arms -- have a better or worse arm injury rate than the United States? Passan never makes the determination. Are Perfect Game pitcher/participants any medically worse off than non-participants? Passan never makes the determination. So, the book is an interesting survey of the problem, but it doesn't make the effort to draw much in the way of useful conclusions.

Very well written. Significant research. Great read! Jeff Passan is a serious Sports Writer. Arm care is a significant issue for pitchers at every stage of development. Passan has proven his bon fides with this book. Well done! Next, I'd like to learn about potential solutions to the problem. I closely monitor my son's arm use. But you need buy-in from coaches, parents, and league leadership too. I have my son do core exercises and he is beginning to use cables to strengthen his arm and shoulder area.

Let's start with the positives, this book is well-reported, factual, objective and quite well-written. Passan is a fine story-teller who manages to inject his personality into the narrative but without making himself part of the story. And he tackled a question that is troubling baseball at every level, the increasing number of pitchers' arm injuries, so it was worth attempting.But I thought this book had two issues: First, it spent a great many pages outlining the depth of the issue, and its impact, in great detail, then answered it with a shrug, saying no one knows why it's happening or how to fix it. I was expecting some sort of insight and felt extremely let down. Second, given this lack of resolution, it seemed to me Passan took what could have been an excellent long-form-journalism piece - perfect for The Atlantic or The New Yorker, for example - and forced it to become a book.

Outstanding read if you like the game of baseball. An in-depth look at the role of arm health in the game. From a super-detailed description of what Tommy John surgery entails to the history of the procedure to the rehab process to what causes arm injuries to what the future looks like, it's a fantastic multi-perspective view. My only issue was the way Perfect Game baseball was portrayed - parents and over-zealous coaches are the issue, not tournament organizers in my opinion. My son plays in a few PG events a year and if we allowed him to be over-used or exploited that's on us, not the company that sponsors events. I highly recommend the book though.

Did Jeff write this book for me? It sure felt like it as I read it. As the father of a 6 year old who loves playing baseball and has advanced skills, I also am his team's head coach. I worry about how I can teach these boys to throw and pitch correctly so they don't blow their arms out as teens. Jeff covers all areas surrounding arm care including history, science, and technology. Moreover, his style of writing and weaving stories alongside his opinions are engaging and entertaining. I purchased the Kindle version, and I half-regret not buying the hardcover version so I could pass it onto my baseball dad and coaching brethren. My one hope is that this book continues to garner national press to put pressure on MLB to actively seek research based solutions to arm problems.

Brilliant , well researched book . Couldn’t put it down .

I devoured this book. Jeff goes deep into maybe the biggest question in baseball today. I came out knowing way more about the state of our understanding, but ultimately knowing more about what we really do not understand. The tug of war between safety and money and draftability is nearly impossible to reconcile. It is a well written view with lots of insight.

I own almost 100 baseball books and some times I wonder if there is anything left that will surprise me and that I will really get into while reading well this book is just that book!! Very well written and the subject matter is very important for all baseball fans!!

Jeff did a tremendous job of explaining the problem with elbow injury and the UCL. The fast growing rate and the root of the problem. He exposes a lot of reasons as to why this might not end soon. For any player, parent or coach, this is a must read to understand the arm better.

A book that is very important in today's game.