Structural Breaks in the Game

Peter Groothuis, Kurt W. Rotthoff and Mark Strazicich ()

Journal of Sports Economics, 2017, vol. 18, issue 6, 622-637

Abstract: To search for eras in a sports league, we utilize time-series tests with structural breaks in Major League Baseball performance. Using data from 1871-2010, the mean and standard deviation of four different performance measures are examined. Throughout, rather than assume that a break point is known a priori, we identify breaks endogenously from the data. Perhaps most notable among our findings, we identify a deterministic trend in mean slugging percentage with breaks in 1921 and 1992. Interestingly, these years closely coincide with the early years of the free-swinging (Babe Ruth) era and the modern steroid era, respectively.

Keywords: Major League Baseball; technological change; structural breaks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jospec:v:18:y:2017:i:6:p:622-637

DOI: 10.1177/1527002515593113

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