@MLB #Racism
A new study published in the American Economic Review examined the ratio of correct balls and strike calls by umpires and compared them to the correlation of accuracy with regard to race.  The study which was conducted during the 2007 and 2008 seasons discovered that strikes were called less often when an umpire and a pitcher were not the same race.  But perhaps more interesting was that those players who they identified as having suspected a racial bias were more likely to throw “less subjective” pitches, in other words throw it right down the middle making it easier for the umpire to call and of course just as easy to hit.

So one could assume that Major League Baseball (home plate) umpires are racist right?  Well not exactly.  I’m going to have to actually COUNTER this study.  Here’s why.  IT is biased and shows a misunderstanding of the game.  Many people who aren’t fans of the game don’t realize this but, not every pitch a pitcher throws is actually INTENDED to be a strike.  In fact, most aren’t when the pitcher is ahead in the count or has the upperhand on the batter.  Knowing he will likely be on the defensive and swing at just about anything, why throw him something easy to hit?   Secondly, baseball is more a game of situation.  There’s no clock, so in the later innings the calls and pitch selection are different than in the first inning.  This certainly could throw off the balance of this study.  Plus how scientific is a study that only examined two years in a games history.  We’ve seen the effect that steroids had on historical records during just a ten year period.

So yeah while I DO believe Major League Umpires are Racially Biased, so is everyone.  Its human nature but this study, as much as I’d like it to does not provide credible evidence to prove it.