The purpose was to analyze the social construction of Challenger baseball opportunities in a selected community. Participants were 10 boys and 6 girls with mental and/or physical disabilities (ages 7 to 16 years, M = 11.31), their families, and the head coach. Data were collected through interviews in the homes with all family members, participant observation at practices and games, and field notes. The research design was qualitative, and critical theory guided interpretation. Analytical induction revealed five outcomes that were particularly meaningful as families and coach socially constructed Challenger baseball: (a) fun and enjoyment, (b) positive affect related to equal opportunity and feelings of “normalcy,” (c) social networking/emotional support for families, (d) baseball knowledge and skills, and (e) social interactions with peers.
Search Results
Family Participation in Challenger Baseball: Critical Theory Perspectives
Lupe Castañ and Claudine Sherrill
Efficiency and Power in Professional Baseball Players’ Employment Contracts
John Wilson
The restrictive covenants contained in the professional baseball player’s standard contract can be justified on grounds of being the most efficient solution to the problem of transaction costs in an industry where the difficulty of selecting and managing talent is acute. Contract law legitimates these restrictive covenants. Closer scrutiny of the history and sociopolitical context of the employment relationship in baseball underlines the role of power differentials in determining the parameters within which transacting for labor takes place. Not only the reserve clause but also the negative covenant in the player’s contract has been important in providing the conditions for the efficient trading of players.
Salaries and Race in Professional Baseball: The Hispanic Component
Wilbert M. Leonard II
This study replicated Christiano’s inquiry on race and salaries in major league baseball in 1987. However, instead of merely dichotomizing the independent variable into black and white, the data were trichotomized into white, black, and Hispanic categories. Unstandardized regression coefficients (after disaggregating the observations by race / ethnicity, position, and free agency status) revealed several instances of salary inequities but no systematic patterning. The conclusion: The salaries of baseball players varying in race / ethnicity were not consistently different even while holding other theoretically relevant variables constant.
Experimental Manipulation of Psychological Momentum in Baseball Pitching: No Evidence for Short-Term Psychological Momentum in Baseball Throw Speeds
Jordan Golding, Aaron Johnson, and Andrew T. Sensenig
Psychological momentum in sports is a series of high or low human performances that seem to defy statistical randomness, and instead is often attributed to a positive feedback system in the athlete’s physiology and psyche. Quantitative approaches have found some evidence of psychological momentum. We measured the throw speeds and accuracy of adult males throwing baseballs while subjecting them to verbal criticism (positive or negative). Our study of short-term momentum suggested evidence of psychological momentum only in top-performing university baseball players, and not in the lower-performing players or in nonathletes.
Functional Isokinetic Strength Ratios in Baseball Players With Injured Elbows
Yin-Chou Lin, Angela Thompson, Jung-Tang Kung, Liang-Wei Chieh, Shih-Wei Chou, and Jung-Charng Lin
Context:
Elbow injuries are widely reported among baseball players. The elbow is susceptible to injury when elbow-flexor and -extensor forces are imbalanced during pitching or throwing. Assessment of muscle-strength ratios may prove useful for diagnosing elbow injury.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the elbow-flexor and -extensor functional isokinetic ratios and elbow injury in baseball players.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
Biomechanics laboratory.
Participants:
College baseball players with (n = 9) and without (n = 12) self-reported elbow pain or loss of strength were recruited.
Intervention and Main Outcome Measures:
Trials were conducted using a dynamometer to assess dominant-arm flexor and extensor concentric and eccentric strength at angular velocities of 60° and 240°/s. Functional isokinetic ratios were calculated and compared between groups.
Results:
Regression analysis revealed that a ratio of biceps concentric to triceps concentric strength greater than 0.76 (the median value) significantly predicted elbow injury (P = .01, odds ratio of injury = 24). No other ratios or variables (including position played) were predictive of injury status.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that the ratio of biceps concentric to triceps concentric functional strength strongly predicts elbow-injury status in baseball players. Assessment of this ratio may prove useful in a practical setting for training purposes and both injury diagnosis and rehabilitation.
A Comparison of Age Level on Baseball Hitting Kinematics
Rafael F. Escamilla, Glenn S. Fleisig, Coop DeRenne, Marcus K. Taylor, Claude T. Moorman III, Rodney Imamura, Edward Barakatt, and James R. Andrews
We propose that learning proper hitting kinematics should be encouraged at a young age during youth baseball because this may help reinforce proper hitting kinematics as a player progresses to higher levels of baseball in their adult years. To enhance our understanding between youth and adult baseball hitting, kinematic and temporal analyses of baseball hitting were evaluated with a high-speed motion analysis system between 12 skilled youth and 12 skilled adult baseball players. There were only a small number of temporal differences between youth and adult hitters, with adult hitters taking significantly greater time than youth hitters during the stride phase and during the swing. Compared with youth hitters, adult hitters a) had significantly greater (p < .01) lead knee flexion when the hands started to move forward; b) flexed the lead knee over a greater range of motion during the transition phase (31° versus 13°); c) extended the lead knee over a greater range of motion during the bat acceleration phase (59° versus 32°); d) maintained a more open pelvis position at lead foot off ground; and e) maintained a more open upper torso position when the hands started to move forward and a more closed upper torso position at bat-ball contact. Moreover, adult hitters had greater peak upper torso angular velocity (857°/s versus 717°/s), peak left elbow extension angular velocity (752°/s versus 598°/s), peak left knee extension angular velocity (386°/s versus 303°/s), and bat linear velocity at bat-ball contact (30 m/s versus 25 m/s). The numerous differences in kinematic and temporal parameters between youth and adult hitters suggest that hitting mechanics are different between these two groups.
There’s No Dying in Baseball: Cultural Valorization, Collective Memory, and Induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame
Nicholas L. Parsons and Michael J. Stern
The purpose of this paper is to determine how the collective memory of a baseball player’s contributions to his sport changes posthumously. We seek to examine if levels of veneration accorded to an athlete depend on whether he is alive or deceased, the timing of his death, and type of death he experienced. Building upon theories of cultural valorization, we propose that collective efforts to remember retired athletes are greater if those athletes have passed on. More explicitly, we argue that a player’s death supplements his lifetime achievements in posthumous efforts to construct and maintain his memory. We analyze the history of voting conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) on players eligible for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The results suggest that a variety of performance and recognition measures affect the amount of votes a player receives. As predicted, dying and age of death exert a powerful influence on votes received toward entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. However, when hitters and pitchers are analyzed separately, we find partial support for our propositions.
Anterior Shoulder Laxity Is Not Correlated with Medial Elbow Laxity in High School Baseball Players
Brian A. Friscia, Robert R. Hammill, Brian A. McGuire, Jay N. Hertel, and Christopher D. Ingersoll
Context:
Uninjured baseball players have been shown to have increased anterior glenohumeral joint laxity, which may result in adaptive changes at the medial elbow.
Objective:
To determine the relationship between anterior shoulder laxity and medial elbow laxity in both arms of baseball and nonbaseball high school athletes and compare the laxity of dominant and nondominant shoulders and elbows of high school baseball and nonbaseball players.
Design:
Cohort design.
Setting:
Local high schools.
Participants:
Thirty healthy high school male athletes.
Outcome Measures:
Anterior shoulder and medial elbow laxity measurements were taken bilaterally with the Ligmaster™.
Results:
Dominant and nondominant shoulder laxity was significantly greater in the nonbaseball players than the baseball players. No other significant relationships existed.
Conclusions:
High school baseball players exhibit less anterior shoulder laxity than do nonbaseball players. No relationship exists between anterior shoulder and medial elbow laxity in high school baseball players.
Biomechanical Comparison between Elite Female and Male Baseball Pitchers
Yungchien Chu, Glenn S. Fleisig, Kathy J. Simpson, and James R. Andrews
The purpose of the current study was to identify the biomechanical features of elite female baseball pitching. Kinematics and kinetics of eleven elite female baseball pitchers were reported and compared with eleven elite male pitchers. Results suggested that females share many similarities with males in pitching kinematics, with a few significant differences. Specifically, at the instant of stride foot contact, a female pitcher had a shorter and more open stride and less separation between pelvis orientation and upper torso orientation. From foot contact to ball release, a female pitcher produced lower peak angular velocity for throwing elbow extension and stride knee extension. Ball velocity was lower for the female. Foot contact to ball release took more time for a female pitcher. Maximal proximal forces at the shoulder and elbow joints were less for a female pitcher.
Free Agency and Pay Discrimination in Major League Baseball
Parbudyal Singh, Allen Sack, and Ronald Dick
Over the last three decades, Major League Baseball has often served as a natural setting for the study of discrimination in the workforce. Much of this research has found that salary discrimination has all but disappeared in Major League Baseball. However, an issue that remains unresolved is whether salary discrimination can be found among players who are not eligible for free agency. The important theoretical question raised here is whether market constraints on competition for labor encourage wage discrimination. The purpose of this study was to examine this issue by using recent data. Our results suggest that race is not a significant predictor of compensation, even among players who are not eligible for free agency. Two interpretations of these findings are presented, as well as implications for social policy.
