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.
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