The Baseball Hall of Fame Is Not the Kiss of Death

Smith, Gary

doi:10.1080/07481187.2011.553337

Cited by 5 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(13 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Of the 54 peer-reviewed studies included, 4 were responses to the authors of different studies related to mortality and longevity of elite athletes [ 29 , 30 , 42 , 44 ]. Aside from the studies or reviews that examined multiple sports, professional baseball players ( n = 16), football players (4 peer-reviewed, 2 online), soccer players ( n = 4), basketball players ( n = 3), and cyclists ( n = 3) were identified through our literature search as having the most reported data on elite athletes’ mortality outcomes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 40 ] while baseball, hockey, football and basketball players with names beginning with D had shorter lifespans than those with names beginning with E to Z [ 17 ]. It is noteworthy that there has been some criticism regarding the methodologies used in these studies, such as using selective data and the appropriateness of the statistical tests performed [ 29 , 30 ]. Further, while it has been suggested that health is influenced by certain symbolic aspects of the environment [ 66 ], such as a decreased prevalence of death before birthdays (e.g., [ 67 ]), the scientific rationale behind the initials of a name affecting lifespan longevity is limited.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sixth, high achievement in sport emerged as a determinant of mortality, specifically through winning percentage in Japanese sumo wrestlers [ 57 ], handicap in Swedish golfers [ 11 ], and Hall of Fame (HOF) induction in a diverse range of sports [ 37 , 59 ]. Although Abel and Kruger [ 37 ] reported differences in the life expectancies of MLB HOFs compared to non-inductees, Smith [ 30 ] did not find a statistically significant difference using corrected data from the same sample.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Do Elite Athletes Live Longer? A Systematic Review of Mortality and Longevity in Elite Athletes

Lemez

Baker

2015

Sports Med - Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundUnderstanding of an athlete’s lifespan is limited with a much more sophisticated knowledge of their competitive careers and little knowledge of post-career outcomes. In this review, we consider the relationship between participation at elite levels of sport and mortality risk relative to other athletes and age- and sex-matched controls from the general population. Our objective was to identify, collate, and disseminate a comprehensive list of risk factors associated with longevity and trends and causes of mortality among elite athletes.MethodsEnglish language articles were searched using the Web of Science database. Keywords athletes, death, elite, “high performance” life expect*, longevity, mortality, players, professional, and sport were used to locate research articles. Seventeen additional articles were retrieved from reference lists found in these papers and a general web search. The inclusion criteria were the following: (1) publication year 1980 or later; (2) the study examined elite-level athletes; and (3) outcome data measured mortality/longevity trends and/or causes.ResultsFifty-four peer-reviewed publications and three articles from online sources met the criteria for inclusion. Baseball, football, soccer, basketball, and cycling had the most reported data on elite athletes’ lifespan longevities. A variety of mechanisms have attempted to explain mortality risk (e.g., handedness, playing position, achievement, etc.). Considerable support was found for superior longevity outcomes for elite athletes, particularly those in endurance and mixed sports.ConclusionsFuture research into the mechanisms that may affect mortality risk is important for a better understanding of life expectancies in both eminent and non-eminent populations. Participation in elite sport is generally favorable to lifespan longevity.Key PointsA majority of studies included in this review reported superior lifespan longevity outcomes for elite athletes compared to age- and sex-matched controls from the general population and other athletes.Several mechanisms within and between sports may have powerful effects on the overall lifespan longevities of players (e.g., type of sport, playing position, race, and energy system).Future research on mortality in elite athletes would benefit from more comprehensive statistical measures and reliable databases to determine potential mechanisms that may influence mortality trends and causes in both athlete and non-athlete samples.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Do Elite Athletes Live Longer? A Systematic Review of Mortality and Longevity in Elite Athletes

Lemez

Baker

2015

Sports Med - Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Data on living and deceased MLB players were retrieved from 2 primary online sources: baseball‐reference.com and through the 2014 version of the Sean Lahman baseball database (http://www.baseball1.com). Despite Smith's reporting of incomplete data for some players, this otherwise well‐respected database, compiled by recognized statisticians and a team of researchers, was used as the initial method of data collection as it provided a current and comprehensive list of all players who have played professional baseball starting in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871‐1875; the first professional baseball league) to the 2014 MLB season. Nevertheless, our method of removing players from the datasets who were 100 years or older without a death date, along with a general Web search for all players who were missing a death date and were 65 years or older, was rigorously instituted for this athlete population.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The end game: Mortality outcomes in North American professional athletes

Lemez

Wattie

Baker

2018

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Comprehensive investigations into the mortality outcomes of elite athletes can assist in decoding risk factors for premature mortality and provide avenues for exploring human health through engagement in sport. As such, the purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine lifespan trends of athletes from the 4 major sports in North America: Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and National Hockey League (NHL). We hypothesized that proportional death rates would be similar across the 4 sports, when standardizing the data by debut years. Overall, 17 523 of 50 515 (34.7%) athletes were deceased as of the respective data collection cutoff date for their sport, with MLB players having the highest risk of imminent mortality. Professional basketball players generally had the highest relative proportion of death when standardizing data by debut year, although NHL and NFL players who debuted after 2005 had the highest proportion of death. In addition, a 1-year increase in career length significantly decreased the risk of death (HR: 0.982, 95% CI: 0.978-0.985), even after adjusting for sport type (HR: 0.977, 95% CI: 0.974-0.980). Meaningful significance should be considered given the historical and unique nature of the sample. Nevertheless, investigating risk of death differences through different occupational and biological variables can help highlight aversive trends to lifespan that permeate throughout high-performance athlete populations.

show abstract

“…1 Smith (2011) Third, the two prizes have similar selection procedures. Candidates are selected by 20 members of Bungeishunju Ltd. over a span of 10 meetings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive and Negative Effects of Social Status on Longevity: Evidence from Two Literary Prizes in Japan

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract We show evidence that receiving Japan's Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes for literature has positive and negative effects on their recipients' longevity. Using a dataset covering both awards, we show that recipients of the Akutagawa Prize for rising novelists exhibit lower mortality than fellow nominees. The increase of longevity is estimated at 2.4 years. Recipients of the Naoki Prize for established novelists exhibit higher mortality than fellow nominees, and the decreased longevity is 5.1 years. These results indicate positive and negative causal effects from social status to longevity, and we identify and isolate those effects. In doing so, this study clarifies why earlier studies show conflicting relationships between receiving awards and the recipients' longevity. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may

show abstract

The Baseball Hall of Fame Is Not the Kiss of Death

Cited by 5 publications

References 7 publications

Do Elite Athletes Live Longer? A Systematic Review of Mortality and Longevity in Elite Athletes

Do Elite Athletes Live Longer? A Systematic Review of Mortality and Longevity in Elite Athletes

The end game: Mortality outcomes in North American professional athletes

Positive and Negative Effects of Social Status on Longevity: Evidence from Two Literary Prizes in Japan

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About