A study from the Columbia Business School has discovered that “umpires grant a larger and more generous strike zone to All-Star pitchers, and were also less likely to miss pitches that were in the official strike zone for these pitchers.”
The research reviewed 800,000 pitches from 2008-2009, comparing them to the official MLB strike zone. In general, “Umpires make a mistake on around 14% of all called pitches by either calling a pitch outside the strike zone a ball, or calling a pitch inside the zone a strike.”
But the errors benefiting the pitcher increase when the pitcher is an all-star: “An umpire is about 16% more likely to erroneously call a pitch outside the strike zone for a five-time All-Star pitcher than he is for a player who has never gone to an All-Star game.”
To him who has, more will be given. To him who has not, even what he has shall be taken away.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Lift My Chin, Lord
Lift my chin, Lord,Say to me,“You are not whoYou feared to be,Not Hecate, quite,With howling sound,Torch held…
Letters
Two delightful essays in the March issue, by Nikolas Prassas (“Large Language Poetry,” March 2025) and Gary…
Spring Twilight After Penance
Let’s say you’ve just comeFrom confession. Late sunPours through the budding treesThat mark the brown creek washing Itself…
