Study: Pitchers more likely to ‘bean’ batters in hot weather
USA Today:
Researchers analyzed data from more than 57,000 Major League baseball games from 1952 through 2009 and found that pitchers whose teammates were hit by a pitch were more likely to nail an opposing batter when the temperature reached 90 degrees F than on cooler days.
If the temperatures were in the 50s during a game, there was a 22% chance a pitcher would hit a batter if a teammate had been hit by a pitch during the first inning. But the likelihood of such retribution increased to 27% if temperatures were in the 90s.
However, if no batters had been hit by a pitch during a game, then hot temperatures had little effect on pitchers’ behavior, said the researchers at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Read the whole story: USA Today
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