Another look at baseball player initials and longevity

Abel and Kruger (2007) reported that Major League Baseball players whose names have positive initials (such as ACE or GOD) live an average of 13 years longer than do players with negative initials (such as ASS or BAD) or players with neutral initials (such as GHR or TSW). However, this conclusion is based on a very small sample, selective initials, and a flawed statistical test. There is no statistically significant relationship between initials and longevity for Major League Baseball players when a correct test is applied to independently selected initials.     

Evaluating the heat‐aggression hypothesis: The role of temporal and social factors in predicting baseball related aggression

We examined the role that season progression and social threats play in the heat‐aggression hypothesis within Major League Baseball put forward by Reifman, Larrick, and Fein (1991). Box score data from 38,870 Major League Baseball games between the years of 2000 and 2015 was used to test the heat‐aggression relationship, while accounting for temporal and social factors that may be simultaneously exerting influence on player behavior. Controlling for a number of other variables, we observed that the effect of temperature on aggressive behavior is partially contingent on the point of the season in which the game took place. Aggressive behavior was also more likely to occur when teams played divisional (compared to league and inter‐league) rivals, however this relationship was contingent on season progression. We provide potential boundary conditions relating to the heat‐aggression relationship, indicating this may not be a ubiquitous phenomenon.

     

"It was a thought pitch": personal, situational, and target influences on hit-by-pitch events across time

This study tested the possibility that hit-by-pitch events in Major League Baseball could be explained by theories of aggression. Consistent with the general aggression model, personal and situational characteristics interacted to predict these events. Pitchers were more likely to hit batters in situations that allowed them to restore justice and protect valued social identities. Higher order interactions revealed that the likelihood of being hit by a pitch in these situations depended on the background of the pitcher and the race of the batter. Consistent with the culture of honor theory, pitchers from the southern United States were more likely to hit batters in these situations, but primarily if the batter was White.     

Manual laterality and hitting performance in major league baseball.

Asymmetrical hand function was examined in the context of expert sports performance: hitting in professional baseball. An archival study was conducted to examine the batting performance of all Major League Baseball players from 1871 to 1992, focusing on those who batted left (n = 1,059) to neutralize the game asymmetry. Among them, left-handers (n = 421) were more likely to hit with power and to strike out than right-handers (n = 638). One possible account, based on the idea of hand dominance and an analogy to tennis, is that batting left involves a double-handed forehand for left-handers and a weaker and more reliable double-handed backhand for right-handers. The results are also interpretable in the light of Y. Guiard's (1987) kinematic chain model of a between-hands asymmetrical division of labor, which provides a detailed account of why left batting is optimal for left-handers.     

Stefan Lux (1888–1936): a calculated suicide before the Second World War

In 1936 Stefan Lux, a Jew born in Vienna, and naturalized in Czchoslovakia, shot himself during a session of the League of Nations in Geneva. The situation would become much more dire for German Jews in the coming years, and few sensed that anything akin to the Holocaust was in store. Lux believed he had timed his suicide precisely to bring attention to, and counteract, the problem of “statelessness” that was on the agenda of the League. Lux also feared that the defences Jews had utilized before 1933 to ward off antisemitism were no longer viable, as they were under assault by the entirety of the arts and cultural apparatus in Germany. This case illustrates both the prescience and limits of Lux’s carefully orchestrated suicide.     

Temper, temperature, and temptation: heat-related retaliation in baseball

In this study, we analyzed data from 57,293 Major League Baseball games to test whether high temperatures interact with provocation to increase the likelihood that batters will be hit by a pitch. Controlling for a number of other variables, we conducted analyses showing that the probability of a pitcher hitting a batter increases sharply at high temperatures when more of the pitcher's teammates have been hit by the opposing team earlier in the game. We suggest that high temperatures increase retaliation by increasing hostile attributions when teammates are hit by a pitch and by lowering inhibitions against retaliation.     

The contract year syndrome in the NBA and MLB: A classic undermining pattern

We assembled National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball player performance data from recent years, tracking 3 year periods in players’ careers: pre-contract year (baseline), contract year (CY; salient external incentive present), and post-contract year (salient external incentive removed). In both sports, we examined both individual scoring statistics (points scored, batting average) and non-scoring statistics (e.g. blocked shots, fielding percentage) over the 3 years. Using extrinsic motivation theories, we predicted and found a boost in some scoring statistics during the CY (relative to the pre-CY), but no change in non-scoring statistics. Using intrinsic motivation theories, we predicted and found an undermining of many statistics in the post-CY, relative to both the CY and the pre-CY baseline. Boosted CY scoring performance predicted post-CY salary raises in both sports, but salary raises were largely unrelated to post-CY performance. The CY performance boost is real, but team managers should know that it might be followed by a performance crash—the CY “syndrome.”     

An exploratory analysis of the contexts and circumstances of filicide‐suicide in Chicago, 1965–1994

Filicide is the killing of a ward by a parent. Relative to many other types of homicide, filicide is an infrequent event. Filicide followed by the offender's suicide is less frequent still. The contexts and circumstances surrounding filicide‐suicide may nevertheless provide insight into parental psychology. Some research suggests, for example, that filicidal genetic parents are more likely to commit suicide than are filicidal stepparents. Five hypotheses are tested for this study, using a database that includes incident‐level information on over 22,000 homicides committed in Chicago during the years 1965–1994. Findings do not support the hypothesis of differential risk of suicide following filicide by genetic parents and stepparents. Previous work is replicated, indicating that: (1) filicides that include multiple victims are more likely to end in the offender's suicide than are filicides that include a single victim, (2) parents are more likely to commit suicide following a filicide of an older child than a filicide of a younger child, (3) older parents, relative to younger parents, are more likely to commit suicide following filicide, and that (4) fathers, relative to mothers, are more likely to commit suicide following filicide. Discussion suggests future directions for research that can inform our understanding of filicide and of filicide‐suicide. Aggr. Behav. 00:000–000, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

On precipitating factors: cancer as a cause of suicide

This case-control study provides individual-based data describing the impact of being a cancer patient on the odds of suicide. 5,009 suicides and 17,064 controls are compared. The data indicate that cancer patients are 50 to 100 percent more likely than nonpatients to commit suicide. This and other studies indicate that health status should be considered in future attempts to relate suicide to social environment.     

A Game of Inches: Spontaneous Use of Counterfactuals by Broadcasters During Major League Baseball Playoffs1

We tested whether counterfactuals are made spontaneously outside of the laboratory by coding sportscasters’ online verbalizations during 1998 and 1999 Major League Baseball (MLB) playoff broadcasts, and we assessed whether naturally occurring game features relating to closeness (score closeness, series closeness, game end, and playoff end) delineated some conditions under which counterfactuals were more likely. Sportscasters made counterfactuals quite frequently during these MLB playoff games. In addition, sportscasters uttered greater numbers of counterfactuals as games progressed from early to late innings, which was particularly true when scores were close. Counterfactuals were also uttered in greater numbers with closer scores when series were tied than when one team had a lead. Results are discussed in terms of spontaneous counterfactuals, closeness as an antecedent, and the ecological validity of such thoughts.     

Relation of handedness with season of birth of professional baseball players revisited

We reexamined the relationship between month and season of birth and handedness in male professional baseball players listed in Lahman's Baseball Archive Vol. 4.5 database. The sample of 8,016 individuals (left-handed = 1,658; right-handed = 6,358) played major league baseball between 1900-2001. A slightly higher, but statistically significant, percentage of left-handed players were born in June compared to other months, and in the winter-spring months, but we were unable to corroborate Rogerson's spring and early summer categorization of handedness as related to birth season. The data did not support the hypothesis that the prevalence of left-handedness is related to season of birth.     

Perception of behavioral contagion of adolescent suicide

In order to assess perceptions of behavioral contagion of suicide (what people thought a disturbed adolescent would do if the teen knew about a suicide in the community), and to assess actor-observer differences in such perceptions, 142 college students were asked to view a videotaped vignette of a distressed high school student, and then to assess her potential for committing suicide, running away, entering therapy, or abusing alcohol. Subjects who were told that the teenager knew of two recent suicides in the community (contagion group) rated the young woman as more likely to commit suicide or run away than did the subjects who were not told of the suicides (noncontagion group). Subjects who were instructed to imagine that they were the teenager (actors) blamed situational factors, and in particular the teen's parents, more for her distress than did subjects who were instructed just to rate the teenager on the videotape (observers). Contagion/actors rated suicide as more likely than did any other group. Apparently, people believe that behavioral contagion occurs when a suicide is reported, and they especially perceive themselves to be influenced by such information.     

Gender and Suicide Method: Do Women Avoid Facial Disfiguration?

This study hypothesizes that women are less likely than men to use suicide methods that disfigure the face. Gender differences in the use of suicide methods that disfigure the face were examined using medical examiner??s files of 621 suicides covering a 10-year period from Summit County, Ohio in the U.S. Results showed that while firearms are the preferred method for both women and men, women were less likely to shoot themselves in the head. A series of logistic regression analyses revealed that gender, age, stressful life events and prior suicide attempts were predictors of methods that disfigure the face/head. Significant differences between men and women in correlates of suicide method emerged when the sample was split by gender. The results support the position that women who commit suicide are more likely than men who commit suicide to avoid facial disfiguration.     

Method choice, intent, and gender in completed suicide

Women who commit suicide use less violent methods, such as drugs and carbon monoxide poisoning, than do men, who more often use violent methods such as guns and hanging. Theories that attempt to explain this finding focus on gender differences in suicidal intent, socialization, emotions, interpersonal relationships, orientation and access to methods, and neurobiological factors. Data from a psychological autopsy study were used to test the theory that women who commit suicide use less violent means because they are less intent on dying. Although women were significantly less likely to use a violent method than men, there was no difference in the lethality of their suicidal intent.     

Birth month and suicide among major league baseball players

We examined the association between month of birth and completed suicides among major league baseball players (N = 76). More than twice as many players born in August committed suicide (N = 19) than any other birth month. This association was statistically significant when birth month was corrected for differences in days of the month. The differences were even larger when expressed in terms of birth month for those committing suicides divided by number of major league players born in each month. The association between birth month and suicide raises the possibility that prenatal factors may influence the inclination for suicide later in life.     

Methods of Suicide Among Cancer Patients: A Nationwide Population‐Based Study

A 3‐year nationwide population‐based data set was used to explore methods of suicide (violent vs. nonviolent) and possible contributing factors among cancer patients in Taiwan. A total of 1,065 cancer inpatients who committed suicide were included as our study sample. The regression shows that those who had genitourinary cancer were 0.55 times (p = 0.047) less likely to use violent methods to commit suicide than those who had respiratory cancer. Among those who committed suicide out of town, the odds of using violent methods were 1.39 (p = 0.015) of their counterparts who had committed suicide in their hometowns. Those who had income between NT$15,841～NT$25,000 were 0.70 (p = 0.042) times less likely to use violent methods to commit suicide than those who had no income.     

Gender differences in reaction to psychological pressure: evidence from tennis players

Using data on about 35,000 professional tennis matches, we test whether men and women react differently to psychological pressure arising from the outcomes of sequential stages in a competition. We show that, with respect to men, women losing the first set are much more likely to play poorly the second set. This suggests that women are more discouraged when facing the pressure of falling behind and receiving negative feedback. The gender differential is stronger in high-stake matches. On the other hand, when players are tied in the third set we do not find any gender difference in players’ reactions suggesting that women are as able as men to handle pressure if they do not lag behind. These results are robust controlling for measures of abilities and fitness of players, such as players’ rankings, players’ ex-ante winning probability, players’ rest, monetary prizes, players’ and tournaments’ fixed effects.     

Suicide intervention trainees' knowledge of myths about suicide

The responses of 70 trainees in suicide intervention to 10 Suicide Opinion Questionnaire items were evaluated for accuracy of their knowledge about suicide myths. Participants were Canadian adults (62 women, 8 men, M (age) = 35 yr.) representing a wide variety of occupations and educational backgrounds. Analysis indicated knowledge for most items was high but less accurate for items concerning the most common method of suicide and suicide risk across the lifespan. Those trained in suicide intervention were more knowledgeable on four items than those awaiting training; they more frequently knew that most suicides are not triggered by an argument with a spouse, people who are depressed are more likely to commit suicide, a person whose parent has committed suicide is at greater risk for suicide, and that shooting is the most common method of suicide in Canada.     

Suicide and Religion: New Evidence on the Differences Between Protestantism and Catholicism

Suicide has remained a persistent social phenomenon and now accounts for more deaths than motor vehicle accidents. There has been much debate, however, over which religious constructs might best explain the variation in suicide rates. Our empirical analysis reveals that even though theological and social differences between Catholicism and Protestantism have decreased, Catholics are still less likely than Protestants to commit or accept suicide. This difference holds even after we control for such confounding factors as social and religious networks. In addition, although religious networks do mitigate suicides among Protestants, the influence of church attendance is more dominant among Catholics. Our analysis also indicates that alternative concepts such as religious commitment and religiosity strongly reduce suicide acceptance.     

Why Athletic Doping Should Be Banned

So long as a ban is enforceable, large private athletic institutions—such as Major League Baseball and the National Collegiate Athletic Association—should not allow their athletes to take performance‐enhancing drugs. The argument I present is game‐theoretic: though each athlete prefers unilateral permission to dope over a universal ban, he also prefers a universal ban over universal permission to dope. That is because, while doping improves absolute measures of performance, it does not improve relative performance if many athletes dope. Large private athletic institutions should honour their athletes' preferences and should not enact any policy that gives only some athletes but not others permission to dope. Thus, they should ban doping. My paper examines and defends this game‐theoretic argument. After explaining the argument, I compare it (favourably) to other arguments for the same conclusion. I then discuss whether the game‐theoretic argument counterintuitively fails to justify banning some forms of doping (no), and whether it counterintuitively justifies banning things other than doping (also no). After arguing that a doping ban on game‐theoretic grounds is neither wrongly paternalistic or nor wrongfully coercive, I end by discussing some limitations of the argument.