The evolution of limiting pitchers to protect arms

In 1976, Huntington left-handed pitcher Pete Thackston completed an 18-0 season in leading Coach Toby Holbrook’s Pony Express to the Class AAA state baseball championship. He concluded his perfect campaign with a 7-3 semifinal victory over Sherman in 11 innings at Huntington’s St. Cloud Field before pitching Huntington to a 4-3 defeat of Morgantown at Parkersburg’s Bennett Stump Field. Every outing was a complete game and he added three relief appearances.

As the Huntington star walked around the state American Legion tournament with his arm in a sling during the summer of the nation’s bicentennial, the “Thackston Rule” was awaiting implementation for the 1977 season. It would prohibit pitchers from throwing in three consecutive days and no more than five innings in back-to-back days. In 1976, Thackson threw 111 innings.

Officially, the rule explains that “a boy shall be required to take two calendar days rest after he has pitcher five or more innings in one day and/or five innings over a two-day period. Under no circumstances may a pitcher appear on three consecutive days. The additional inning provision would apply in a tie game where he is the pitcher at the point of his limited inning. He would be allowed up to 10 innings in one day, but not more than eight innings in two consecutive days.”

A pitcher would need to face just one batter for the rule to be applied.

Rules used to safeguard arms continued to evolve in 2017 when the number of pitches, not innings, would determine usage. A pitcher would be allowed a maximum of 110 pitches in a game, only to be exceeded to finish with a batter. It is the duty of the coaching staffs, not the umpires, to track the number of pitches using a pitch count chart for every game. Hard copies of pitch counts for each game are expected to be available until season’s end.

No rest is required for a pitcher throwing 30 pitches or fewer. However, 31-50 pitches require on day rest, 51-75 requires two days rest, and 76-110 requires three days rest. Under no circumstances will a pitcher appear in a game four consecutive days.

As for the 6-foot-3 Thackston, he was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 18th round of the 1978 draft and was rookie league roommates with Cal Ripken Jr. while with the Bluefield Orioles of the Appalachian League . Thackston later told Charleston Daily Mail sports writer Chuck Landon that he lost “8-10 miles per hour” off his fastball.

Thackston resided in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, upon his death in 2024 at the age of 64. He is interred at Woodmere Memorial Park in Huntington.