It is commonly believed that baseball teams retaliate when one of their batters is hit by a pitch. In fact, Major League Baseball (MLB) has legislated to discourage this behavior. Previous analysts have disagreed about whether retaliation is likely directed at the offending pitcher or at one of his teammates; this distinction matters when considering impacts on pitcher behavior. This paper notes that when season-long hit-by-pitch totals—the data used to date — are disaggregated by team, they reveal no evidence of either formof retaliation. These researching this topic may need to develop new data sources.
References
1.
Bingham, D., & Heitz, T. R. (1997). Rules and scoring. In J. Thorn, P. Palmer, M. Gersman, & D. Pietrusza (Eds.), Total baseball (5th ed., pp. 2376-2431). New York: Viking Penguin.
2.
Fehr, E., & Gachter, S. (2000, Summer). Fairness and retaliation: The economics of reciprocity. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14, 159-181.
3.
Goff, B. L., Shughart, W. F., II, & Tollison, R. D. (1997, July). Batter up! Moral hazard and the effects of the designated hitter rule on hit batsmen. Economic Inquiry, 35, 555-561.
4.
Goff, B. L., Shughart, W. F., II, & Tollison, R. D. (1998, October). Moral hazard and the effects of the designated hitter rule revisited. Economic Inquiry, 36, 688-692.
5.
Kahn, L. M. (2000, Summer). The sports business as a labor market laboratory. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14, 75-94.
6.
Kawaura, A., & La Croix, S. J. (2002). The designated hitter rule and pitcher behavior: New evidence from Japanese baseball. Unpublished working paper, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
7.
Levitt, S. D. (1998, October). The hazards of moral hazard: Comment on Goff, Shughart, and Tollison. Economic Inquiry, 36, 685-687.
8.
Reifman, A. S., Larrick, R. P., & Fein, S. (1991, October). Temper and temperature on the diamond: The heat-aggression relationship in Major League Baseball. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 580-585.
9.
Stephenson, E. F. (2003). Moral hazard, the designated hitter rule, and hit batsmen: Evidence from pitchers who switch leagues. Unpublished working paper, Berry College.
10.
Timmerman, T. A. (2002, March). Violence and race in professional baseball: Getting better or getting worse? Aggressive Behavior, 28, 109-116.
11.
Trandel, G. A., White, L. H., & Klein, P. G. (1998, October). The effect of the designated rule on hit batsmen: Pitcher’s moral hazard or the team’s cost benefit calculation? A comment. Economic Inquiry, 36, 679-684.
12.
Will, G. F. (1990). Men at work. New York: MacMillan.
