professional baseball players

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "professional baseball players"

Stewart Casey
5 years ago
Views:

1 Nara Women's University Digital I Title Author(s) Citation Differences in body size between le professional baseball players Nakata, Hiroki Nakata Hiroki : 奈良女子大学スポーツ科学研究, 第 Issue Date Description URL Textversionpublisher This document is downloaded

2 Differences in body size between left-handed and right-handed Japanese professional baseball players Hiroki Nakata 1) Abstract The present study investigated differences in height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) between left-handed and right-handed Japanese professional baseball pitchers and batters. Some 345 pitchers and 356 batters who played in 2001, and 352 pitchers and 269 batters who played in 2011 were evaluated. Analyses of variances (ANOVAs) revealed significant differences in height and weight, but not BMI, between left-handed and right-handed pitchers and batters. ANOVAs also showed a significant difference in body size between the players in 2001 and The findings suggest that left-handed baseball pitchers and batters are smaller than right-handed pitchers and batters in Japan as well as major league baseball. (Research Journal of Sport Science in Nara Women's University, 16: 41-45, 2014) Keywords: batter; pitcher; Japan; MLB キーワード : バッター ; ピッチャー ; 日本 ; メジャーリーグ 1) 奈良女子大学文学部人間科学科スポーツ科学コース奈良市北魚屋西町 Nara Women s University, Faculty of Letter, Department of Human Sciences, Sports Science Kitauoyanishi-machi, Nara,

3 Introduction Baseball is a very popular sport in Japan, but there have been no previous studies focusing on a Several previous papers have reported that difference in body size between left-handed and left-handed major league baseball pitchers were right-handed pitchers. In addition, previous significantly smaller than right-handed pitchers (1, 2). However, the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon have not been clarified, and the results have still to be confirmed in other countries with professional baseball leagues. Since in general, left-handed pitchers are rarer than right-handed pitchers, right-handed batters have lower averages against left-handed pitchers than against right-handed pitchers. In addition, since left-handed batters also tend to fare worse against studies have not analyzed the effect of handedness on BMI, the accepted tool for screening weight status (3, 4). The second objective was to examine the difference in body size between left-handed and right-handed Japanese baseball batters. The third objective was to compare differences in body size between Japanese baseball players in 2001 and It is hypothesized that body size in Japanese baseball players has changed over this decade. left-handed pitchers, a short relief/ spot reliever has been sometimes used as a situational Methods lefty/left-handed specialist/left handed one out guy. Further, since the number of left-handed batters is smaller than that of right-handed batters, some left-handed batters actually fare better against right-handed pitchers than right-handed batters do against right-handed pitchers. Therefore, it is hypothesized that teams tend to more readily sign left-handed players, even if left-handed players are physically smaller than right-handed players. Some 345 pitchers (left-handed = 102; right-handed = 243) and 356 batters (left-handed = 114; right-handed = 242) who played in 2001, and 352 pitchers (left-handed = 113; right-handed = 239) and 269 batters (left-handed = 128; right-handed = 141) who played in 2011 were evaluated. Throwing hand (left or right) was used to classify pitchers. Handedness in batters The current study had three objectives. The first was defined based on the batting, not throwing was to investigate differences in height, weight, hand. All players belonged to the Nippon and body mass index (BMI) between left-handed and right-handed Japanese baseball pitchers. Professional Baseball (NPB) league. The dates of the players were collected from publications

4 Players who were not born in Japan were excluded. Switch hitters, who can hit left-handed or right-handed, were also excluded. 47 pitchers (left-handed = 22; right-handed = 25) and 90 batters (left-handed = 28; right-handed = 62) played in both 2001 and Height, weight, and BMI were subjected separately to analyses of variance (ANOVA) with Handedness (Left vs. Right) and Year (2001 vs. Handedness (F (1, 622) = 8.895, p <.01, η 2 = 0.229) for weight, and Year (F (1, 622) = , p <.001, η 2 = 0.951) for BMI. Table 2 shows the number of left-handed and right-handed players in 2001 and The rate of left-handed pitchers was similar in 2001 (29.6%) and 2011 (32.1%), but the rate of left-handed batters was clearly larger in 2011 (47.6%) than in 2001 (32.0%). 2011) as factors. Statistical tests were performed using computer software (SPSS for windows ver. 16.0, SPSS). Statistical significance was set at p Table 1: Body size among pitchers and batters in 2001 and 2011 <.05. Results Table 1 lists the height, weight, and BMI of left-handed and right-handed pitchers and batters in 2001 and For the pitchers, ANOVAs showed a significant main effect of Handedness (F (1, 694) = , p <.001, η 2 = 0.992) for height, Year (F (1, 694) = , p <.001, η 2 = 0.678) Discussion and Handedness (F (1, 694) = 6.298, p <.05, η 2 = 0.322) for weight, and Year (F (1, 694) = , p <.01, η 2 = 0.971) for BMI. For the batters, ANOVAs demonstrated a significant main effect of Handedness (F (1, 622) = 9.308, p <.01, η 2 = 0.970) for height, Year (F (1, 622) = , p <.001, η 2 = 0.771) and The present study investigated body size in Japanese professional baseball players in 2001 and The first objective was to investigate the difference in height and weight between left-handed and right-handed Japanese pitchers

5 Table 2 : Numbers of left-handed left-handed and right-handed players left-handed batters are closer to first base than right-hander batters, they would have a temporal advantage when it comes to reaching first base. Additionally, the swing-generated momentum of left-handed batters carries them towards first base, while a right-handed batter's momentum is directed down the third base line. In Japan, home run distances to the right field pole are basically The results demonstrated that the left-handed pitchers were significantly smaller in height and weight, which was consistent with previous studies on MLB pitchers (1, 2), and cricket bowlers (5). However, there was no difference in BMI between the same as those to the left field foul pole, whereas in the U.S., home run distances to the right field pole are frequently closer than those to the left-field pole. Thus, park design bias for left-handed batters might be excluded. A second left-handed and right-handed pitchers. The possibility is that left-handed people are smaller in second aim was to examine the difference in body size between left-handed and right-handed batters. size, though confirmation of this would require data from the general population as well as Again, the left-handed batters were significantly professional baseball players. Of course, a smaller in height and weight, but not in BMI. Next, it is necessary to consider why the left-handed players were smaller. One possibility is that the selection process is less stringent for left-handers, since they compose a much smaller proportion of the population than right-handers but make effective pitchers and batters. Indeed, although left-handers account for approximately 10 % of the Japanese population (6), they made up 29.6 and 32.1% of Japanese baseball pitchers, and 32.0% and 47.6% of batters in 2001 and 2011, combination of the two possibilities may apply. The third objective was to compare differences in body size between Japanese baseball players in 2001 and The players were significantly heavier, and also had significantly larger BMI values, in These results indicate that baseball players now need to weigh more to optimize performance. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrated that left-handed players including pitchers and batters were significantly smaller than respectively (Table 2). Furthermore, since right-handed players in height and weight, but not

6 BMI. This phenomenon has been confirmed in both Japan and the MLB. lateral preference of Japanese people. Journal of General Psychology, 121: References 1) Fudin, R., Renninger, L., and Hirshon, J. (1994) Analysis of data from Reichler's (1979) The Baseball Encyclopedia: right-handed pitchers are taller and heavier than left-handed pitchers. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78: ) Abel, E.L. and Kruger, M.L. (2007) Lefties are still a little shorter. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 104: ) Saint Onge, J.M., Krueger, P.M., and Rogers, R.G. (2008) Historical trends in height, weight, and body mass: data from U.S. Major League Baseball players, Economics and Human Biology, 6: ) Huang, Y.C. and Malina, R.M. (2010). Body mass index and individual physical fitness tests in Taiwanese youth aged 9-18 years. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 5: ) Pollard, R. (1995) A difference in heights and weights between right-handed and left-handed bowlers at cricket. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81: ) Hatta, T. and Kawakami, A. (1994) Cohort effects in the

An Exploratory Study of Psychomotor Abilities among Cricket Players of Different Level of Achievement

Research Journal of Physical Education Sciences ISSN 2320 9011 An Exploratory Study of Psychomotor Abilities among Cricket Players of Different Level of Achievement Abstract Baljinder Singh Bal and Ranjeet