Study: umps racists re: pitchers but not hitters.

[RShack]

Time Magazine reports on a study about umps. It seems that umps are slightly racist towards pitchers but not hitters. FWIW:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1652338,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

[BaltimoreTerp]

Yeah, they just hate those damn Canucks!

[scOtt]

Meh, 1% either way is even less than a statistical anomaly. You ask me, I'd say it's proof that umps aren't racist. 99% proven. ;)

[DrungoHazewood]

Yeah, they just hate those damn Canucks!

How can they tell? Canadians walk among us undetected!

[BaltimoreTerp]

How can they tell? Canadians walk among us undetected!

Not when they're standing on the pitcher's mound in Baltimore! :p

[square634]

How can they tell? Canadians walk among us undetected!

I believe you can tell because their heads are split at the mouth. Exhibit A (http://www.mwctoys.com/images/review_sp4_1.jpg) courtesy of South Park. :p

[RayFink1e]

Its because Maddux pulls it so heavily in one direction.

[Baltimoron]

Meh, 1% either way is even less than a statistical anomaly. You ask me, I'd say it's proof that umps aren't racist. 99% proven. ;)

Yeah, and its not even that extreme. Here's an insightful commentary:


To go back to the batters issue, if umps were biased I think it’s just as likely that batter race would mattter, based on physical proximity and fact that hitters more obviously complain about ball/strike calles. And where I’d most expect to see it is where ump is same race as hitter but not pitcher, or vice versa, so the ump has to “choose sides” in racial terms. (The greatest racial bias against black defendants by white jurors is when victim is white.) Yet the authors tested for that and found no impact. To me, that is strong evidence that the pitcher-only bias they find is a statistical artifact, not real.

I also find it very troubling the way they exaggerate the impact of their finding, describing it as about one pitch per game (and calling the .0034 impact a “1% increase” based on average strike% of .30). Even if they are right, a .0034 difference and about 70 called pitches per game means that a black or Hispanic pitcher is losing about 1/5 of a call every complete game compared to a white pitcher. (You don’t double-count the impact, because the .0034 is already compared to a pitcher facing opposite race ump). And on top of that, they report themselves that there is no bias on any 2-strike or 3-ball pitch, which has to significantly reduce the real damage/benefit of any bias.

Finally, an impact of 1 pitch per 5 games clearly cannot give hitters a meaningful advantage/disadvantage that would impact HR rate and other offensive production. The fact that the authors nevertheless find such differences, and a difference in overall win%, is therefore not further evidence of bias, but quite the contrary: it’s evidence that their models are failing to control for all essential factors, most likely pitcher race.
link (http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/a_fascinating_study_worthy_of_some_discussion_i_th ink/#10)

[Frobby]

So that explains all those walks by Cabrera....

[bobmc]

So that explains all those walks by Cabrera....

He can only pitch when Laz Diaz is behind the plate! ;) :rolleyes:

On another topic, I found it interesting that the comments by Thorne and Buck made some sense on his wildness. Batters never feel comfortable with him because both he and they don't know where the ball is going and it comes in with "plenty of mustard". His wildness may contribute to his success in a weird twist. Guts, OTOH, has good control and the batters feel more comfortable.

[DrungoHazewood]

means that a black or Hispanic pitcher is losing about 1/5 of a call every complete game compared to a white pitcher.

Slavery, segregation, lynching, denial of voting rights, seperate-but-unequal facilities and now... 1/5th of strike per game.

Seems someone is trying to make a name for themselves with a wee bit of exaggeration of the impact of a statistically insignificant bit of "information".

[Moose Milligan]

Reparations!