Pitchers in Major League Baseball have been striking out more batters than ever, and some people say it’s because they’re adding sticky stuff to the balls.
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Articles on Major League Baseball
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Twenty years ago, a few small-market Major League Baseball teams used advanced analytics as a secret weapon to compete with large-market teams. But the Moneyball effect is gone now.
Usually, companies use this power to secure financial benefits for themselves, such as tax or regulation relief. But increasingly, they’re using it for social causes as well.
Sports is typically a reflection of society, not an exception to it. COVID-19 seems to have turned the model of professional sport inside out.
In the wake of protests about systemic racism, sports teams are under increased pressure to lose their racist nicknames. An Inuit scholar calls on the Edmonton Eskimos to do the right thing.
Computerized systems that automatically determine whether a pitch is a ball or strike promise to make umpiring more accurate, but at what price?
While segregation was a shameful period in baseball history, the Negro Leagues were a resounding success and an immense source of pride for black America.
Up until the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, gambling and baseball had a marriage of convenience. A century later, gambling is again being seen as a solution to the sport’s woes.
In baseball, a pitcher can throw a ball that seems to curve away just as it crosses the plate. How do they do it? It’s all about aerodynamics.
Recent changes to the ball seem to be juicing hitters’ stats. But could other factors, like the climate and advanced analytics, also be playing a role?
Umpires don’t need to be replaced by robots, but some troubling findings indicate that they could use a little help.
This season marks the 150th anniversary of the first professional baseball team and the start of its eye-popping 81-game winning streak.
An obsession with statistics has made teams better than ever – but the game is now more tedious for fans to watch.
Some of the best players in the world come from this small Caribbean nation, where an entire system of training young talent has blossomed. But few actually make it to the big leagues.
Roughly one-third of the league won’t be trying to win this season. What’s fueling this trend?
How could an otherwise healthy professional baseball pitcher suffer a devastating brain hemorrhage? A neurosurgeon who studies aneurysms explains their unpredictability.
The Cincinnati Reds’ struggles on the field in recent years have extended into the courtroom, where they are battling to avoid paying sales tax on promotional giveaways they use to sell tickets.
A century-old legal doctrine has protected MLB teams from liability, when a fans gets injured by a foul ball. New research shows why it’s time that changed.
The effects of war, economic tension and accidental deaths have been mitigated by a sport that both cultures treasure.
The national pastime is more than just a sport. In this roundup, we feature stories about baseball’s relationship to race, politics, the media and health.
Top contributors
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James Walker is a Friend of The Conversation.Executive Director, International Association for Communication and Sport, Emeritus Professor of Communication, Saint Xavier University
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Professor of Journalism, IUPUI
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Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh
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Professor; Department of Journalism and Multimedia Arts [JMA], Duquesne University
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Andrew W. Mellon Chair in the Humanities and Professor and Chair of History of Art, Vanderbilt University
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Professor of Sport Management, Texas Woman's University
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Director of Undergraduate Programs, Texas Woman's University
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Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, Penn State
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M.A. Candidate in Sports Management, University of San Francisco
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Professor of Sociology, University of California, Irvine
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Associate Professor of Marketing, The University of Montana
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Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Victoria University; Research fellow at the Institute for Health and Sport., Victoria University
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Professor, University of Alberta
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Professor Emeritus of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University
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Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Florida
