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Year 2021, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 91 - 103, 26.03.2021

Abstract

References

  • Anderson, K. J., & Pierce, D. A. (2009). Officiating bias: The effect of foul differential on foul calls in NCAA basketball. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27, 687-694. doi: 10.1080/02640410902729733
  • Balmer, N. J., Nevill, A. M., & Lane, A. M. (2005). Do judges enhance home advantage in European championship boxing? Journal of Sports Sciences, 23, 409-416. doi: 10.1080/02640410400021583
  • Buraimo, B., Simmons, R., & Maciaszczyk, M. (2012). Favoritism and referee bias in European soccer: Evidence from the Spanish League and the UEFA champions league. Contemporary Economic Policy, 30, 329-343. doi: 10.1111/j.1465-7287.2011.00295.x
  • Dix, A. C. (2017). A decade of referee bias against college football programs from historically black colleges and universities. International Journal of Science Culture and Sport, 5, 197-212. doi: 10.14486/IntJSCS670
  • Dix, A. C. (2019). "And 1" more piece of evidence of discrimination against black basketball players. Howard Journal of Communications, 30, 211- 229. doi: 10.1080/10646175.2018.1491434
  • Dix, A. C. (2020a). Critical race theory, the NCAA, and college baseball: Contradiction on the diamond. In M. Milford & L. R. Smith (Eds.), Communication and contradiction in the NCAA: An unlevel playing field (pp. 213-234). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Dix, A. C. (2020b). And 10 more years of bias against HBCU female basketball players. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 44, 1-18.
  • Downward, P., & Jones, M. (2007). Effects of crowd size on referee decisions. Analysis of the FA Cup. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25, 1,541-1,545. doi: 10.1080/02640410701275193
  • Garicano, L., Palacios-Huerta, I., & Prendergast, C. (2005). Favoritism under social pressure. Review of Economics and Statistics, 87, 208-216. doi: 10.3386/w8376
  • Goumas, C. (2014). Home advantage and referee bias in European football. European Journal of Sport Science, 14, 243-249. doi: 10.1080/17461391. 2012.686062
  • Hamrick, J., & Rasp, J. (2015). The connection between race and called strikes and balls. Journal of Sports Economics, 16, 714-734. doi: 10.1177/152 7002513509817
  • Helsen, W., Gilis, B., & Weston, M. (2006). Errors in judging “offside” in association football: Test of the optical error versus the perceptual flash-lag hypothesis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24, 521-528. doi: 10.1080/02640410500298065
  • Kim, J. W., & King, B. G. (2014). Seeing stars: Matthew effects and status bias in major league baseball umpiring. Management Science, 60, 2,619- 2,644. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2014.1967
  • List of HBCUs by State (n.d.). https://hbculifestyle.com/list-of-hbcu-schools/
  • NCAA Diversity Data (2020). Sport Sponsorship, Participation and Demographics Search [Data File]. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/about /resources/research/ncaa-demographics-database
  • NCAA Women’s Basketball Archived Statistics (2020). Women’s Basketball Archived Statistics [Data File]. Retrieved from https://stats.ncaa.org/ rankings/change_sport_year_div.
  • Parsons, C. A., Sulaeman, J., Yates, M. C. and Hamermesh, D. S. (2011). Strike three: Umpires’ demand for discrimination. American Economic Review, 101, 1,410–1,435. doi: 10.3386/w13665
  • Pettersson-Lidbom, P., & Priks, M. (2010). Behavior under social pressure: Empty Italian stadiums and referee bias. Economic Letters, 108, 212-214. doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2010.04.023
  • Riedl, D. Strauss, B., Heuer, A., & Rubner, O. (2015). Finale furioso: Referee biased injury times and their effects on home advantage in football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33, 327-336. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2014.944558
  • Schwarz, W. (2011). Compensating tendencies in penalty kick decisions of referees in professional football: Evidence from the German Bundesliga 1963-2006. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29, 441-447. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2010.538711
  • Snyder, K., & Lopez, M. (2015). Consistency, accuracy, and fairness: a study of discretionary penalties in the NFL. Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, 11, 219-230. doi: 10.151 5/jqas-2015-0039
  • Tainsky, S., Mills, B. M., & Winfree, J. A. (2015). Further examination of potential discrimination among MLB umpires. Journal of Sports Economics, 16, 353-374. doi:10.1177/1527002513487740

Softball Umpires Call More Walks than Strikeouts when the Pitcher Plays for a Historically Black College and University

Year 2021, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 91 - 103, 26.03.2021

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether softball umpires were more likely to call walks than strikeouts when the pitcher on the mound played for a historically black college and university (HBCU). As the acronym hints, an HBCU is a United States university that primarily serves individuals from the African American community while a predominantly white institution (PWI) has a student population that is mostly Caucasian. There is a well-developed line of research which has indicated that referee bias is common and suggested that racial factors can influence umpire decisions. However, there is no research which has specifically centered on umpire decision-making in the sport of softball. This study revealed a statistical difference on a criterion that is known as the strikeout to walk ratio. Umpires called a greater proportion of walks than strikeouts when the softball pitcher played for an HBCU relative to when the softball pitcher played for a PWI. These findings were uncovered in two different divisions and over the course of two different seasons which spanned from 2018-2019 through 2019-2020. The uncovered results point to the notion that cultural affiliation and racial factors can adversely influence the decision-making of softball umpires in certain contexts.

References

  • Anderson, K. J., & Pierce, D. A. (2009). Officiating bias: The effect of foul differential on foul calls in NCAA basketball. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27, 687-694. doi: 10.1080/02640410902729733
  • Balmer, N. J., Nevill, A. M., & Lane, A. M. (2005). Do judges enhance home advantage in European championship boxing? Journal of Sports Sciences, 23, 409-416. doi: 10.1080/02640410400021583
  • Buraimo, B., Simmons, R., & Maciaszczyk, M. (2012). Favoritism and referee bias in European soccer: Evidence from the Spanish League and the UEFA champions league. Contemporary Economic Policy, 30, 329-343. doi: 10.1111/j.1465-7287.2011.00295.x
  • Dix, A. C. (2017). A decade of referee bias against college football programs from historically black colleges and universities. International Journal of Science Culture and Sport, 5, 197-212. doi: 10.14486/IntJSCS670
  • Dix, A. C. (2019). "And 1" more piece of evidence of discrimination against black basketball players. Howard Journal of Communications, 30, 211- 229. doi: 10.1080/10646175.2018.1491434
  • Dix, A. C. (2020a). Critical race theory, the NCAA, and college baseball: Contradiction on the diamond. In M. Milford & L. R. Smith (Eds.), Communication and contradiction in the NCAA: An unlevel playing field (pp. 213-234). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Dix, A. C. (2020b). And 10 more years of bias against HBCU female basketball players. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 44, 1-18.
  • Downward, P., & Jones, M. (2007). Effects of crowd size on referee decisions. Analysis of the FA Cup. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25, 1,541-1,545. doi: 10.1080/02640410701275193
  • Garicano, L., Palacios-Huerta, I., & Prendergast, C. (2005). Favoritism under social pressure. Review of Economics and Statistics, 87, 208-216. doi: 10.3386/w8376
  • Goumas, C. (2014). Home advantage and referee bias in European football. European Journal of Sport Science, 14, 243-249. doi: 10.1080/17461391. 2012.686062
  • Hamrick, J., & Rasp, J. (2015). The connection between race and called strikes and balls. Journal of Sports Economics, 16, 714-734. doi: 10.1177/152 7002513509817
  • Helsen, W., Gilis, B., & Weston, M. (2006). Errors in judging “offside” in association football: Test of the optical error versus the perceptual flash-lag hypothesis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24, 521-528. doi: 10.1080/02640410500298065
  • Kim, J. W., & King, B. G. (2014). Seeing stars: Matthew effects and status bias in major league baseball umpiring. Management Science, 60, 2,619- 2,644. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2014.1967
  • List of HBCUs by State (n.d.). https://hbculifestyle.com/list-of-hbcu-schools/
  • NCAA Diversity Data (2020). Sport Sponsorship, Participation and Demographics Search [Data File]. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/about /resources/research/ncaa-demographics-database
  • NCAA Women’s Basketball Archived Statistics (2020). Women’s Basketball Archived Statistics [Data File]. Retrieved from https://stats.ncaa.org/ rankings/change_sport_year_div.
  • Parsons, C. A., Sulaeman, J., Yates, M. C. and Hamermesh, D. S. (2011). Strike three: Umpires’ demand for discrimination. American Economic Review, 101, 1,410–1,435. doi: 10.3386/w13665
  • Pettersson-Lidbom, P., & Priks, M. (2010). Behavior under social pressure: Empty Italian stadiums and referee bias. Economic Letters, 108, 212-214. doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2010.04.023
  • Riedl, D. Strauss, B., Heuer, A., & Rubner, O. (2015). Finale furioso: Referee biased injury times and their effects on home advantage in football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33, 327-336. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2014.944558
  • Schwarz, W. (2011). Compensating tendencies in penalty kick decisions of referees in professional football: Evidence from the German Bundesliga 1963-2006. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29, 441-447. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2010.538711
  • Snyder, K., & Lopez, M. (2015). Consistency, accuracy, and fairness: a study of discretionary penalties in the NFL. Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, 11, 219-230. doi: 10.151 5/jqas-2015-0039
  • Tainsky, S., Mills, B. M., & Winfree, J. A. (2015). Further examination of potential discrimination among MLB umpires. Journal of Sports Economics, 16, 353-374. doi:10.1177/1527002513487740
There are 22 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Sports Medicine
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Andrew Dix 0000-0002-4451-0884

Publication Date March 26, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 9 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Dix, A. (2021). Softball Umpires Call More Walks than Strikeouts when the Pitcher Plays for a Historically Black College and University. International Journal of Sport Culture and Science, 9(1), 91-103.
IntJSCS is published by International Science Culture and Sport Association (ISCSA).