Who We Are
The Professional Baseball Chiropractic Society (PBCS) is an organization of highly skilled chiropractors whose mission is to provide the highest quality of chiropractic health service to the individual player and staff members of the team in which they serve. The PBCS serves its members by providing continuing education for the professional sport chiropractor, as it relates to the profession, helping his/her understanding and knowledge of sports medicine. The purpose is to elevate the health of those that he/she serves.
The PBCS also serves as a resource to educate those outside the professional baseball chiropractic community about the profession and the chiropractor’s integral role within the sports medicine team.
It is our goal to enhance the health and performance of each and every individual athlete and staff member, so they may express their optimal health potential.
For many years professional athletes have utilized Chiropractic care to help them get through the rigors and physical demands of the season in a variety of sports. Athletes on the men’s and woman’s professional golf tour have chiropractors available to them at all of their tournaments. Just about every team in the NFL has chiropractors on staff to provide Chiropractic care to their players each and every game.
Now, professional baseball organizations have come a long way in providing Chiropractic to their players. Chiropractic care has been a vital component to helping many of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball keep themselves on the field and avoid injuries, but also enhance their performance throughout the long and tedious MLB season.
Players such as Barry Bonds and Cole Hamels have been major supporters of chiropractic and have expressed their own personal success stories in many media outlets in recent years. The multi-disciplinary approach that was integrated within CEPA along with the cooperation and work of the athletic trainers, like Mark Letendre, has built the bridge to where we are today.
In 2008, the Professional Baseball Chiropractic Society came to fruition and the first annual PBCS Directory was created. The directory, with the assistance of each Head Athletic Trainer in MLB, consisted of Chiropractors from all but three Major League teams. After the 2008 MLB season, the PBCS became inactive until it was given life again in 2012 when Pittsburgh area Chiropractor, Dr. Rick Bishop, along with Arizona Diamondbacks Chiropractor, Dr. Alan Palmer were appointed to head the PBCS and get it up and running. A PBCS Directory was once again published midway through the 2012 MLB season and distributed to each Head Athletic Trainer in Major League Baseball in order to assist the training staff of teams who may need the chiropractic services while on the road.
History
Even before hooking up with The Arizona Diamondbacks, Dr. Alan Palmer had, for many years, adjusted the San Francisco Giants during their spring training in Scottsdale, AZ. This relationship led to the founding of the Chiropractic Association for the Elite and Professional Athlete (CEPA) and ultimately to Palmer’s association with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Giants’ head athletic trainer at the time, Mark Letendre, and Palmer co-founded CEPA in 1995 to integrate chiropractic into professional sports and build a network of practitioners to call on. In 1998, Palmer sent the Arizona team information about CEPA and used Letendre as a reference. As a result, he soon found himself adjusting Diamondbacks.
“CEPA started as a certification program,” Palmer explains. “Mark wanted us to educate the doctors about certain standards and protocols, how to prevent chiropractors from stepping on toes, and how to build relationships with athletes and trainers and the team medical staff.” The “continuity of care” concern figured mainly in the birth of CEPA. Inconsistencies in care and communication when interacting with the team sports medicine specialists by some chiropractors left many head trainers wary of allowing chiropractors entry into players’ health care. CEPA was born out of these frustrations.
The first-ever PBCS annual meeting was held in Las Vegas in December 2012 during the annual ProSport Conference at the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Conference Center.
In attendance was PBCS Director, Dr. Rick Bishop, PBCS Assistant Director, Dr. Alan Palmer (Arizona Diamondbacks), Dr. Patrick Hammond (Kansas City Royals), Dr. Brian Prieto (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), Dr. Doug Roche (San Diego Padres), Dr. Mickey Cohen (Miami Marlins), former Chicago Cubs Chiropractor, Dr. Alden Clendenin, and Los Angeles Dodgers Chiropractor, Dr. Eric Blum.
Many topics were discussed during the meeting, but the major item of discussion consisted of voting on a Board of Representatives. The PBCS Board of Representatives consists of one Chiropractor from each division in Major League Baseball. This will allow a “Point Man” of sorts to help facilitate communication between the training/medical staff as well as the other team chiropractors within each division.
Recognizing that chiropractic is a valuable asset that complements the expertise of the team medical physicians and athletic trainers, the PBCS strives to educate those professionals as to the separate and distinct services and talents that a doctor of chiropractic can provide. This inclusion will create a synergy where everyone benefits, the sports medicine staff, the team, the organization, especially the athlete!
Pro Baseball Chiropractic Society
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, PO BOX 601, PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA 15767 | 814-299-9767 | INFO@PROBASEBALLCHIROS.COM
