Positional Segregation and Career Length in Major League Baseball in the 1990s

Johnny Ducking and Peter Groothuis

No 22-08, Working Papers from Department of Economics, Appalachian State University

Abstract: The racial makeup of Major League Baseball (MLB) has changed over time with the percentage of Blacks in the league peaking at eighteen percent in the late 1980s and then declining to only seven percent today. While the percentage of Hispanics has grown steadily over time reaching fifteen percent in 1990 and continuing to grow to twenty-eight percent today. To provide insight into both the decline in Black players and rise in Hispanic players, we use panel data from 1990 to 2004 to explore both the racial and ethnic positional segregation and career length of players. When it comes to career length, we find that foreign born Hispanic players have a higher probability of exit while Hispanic players who were born in the United States or the territory of Puerto Rico have no difference in the probability of exit than nonHispanic White players. In addition, we find that non-Hispanic Black players have no difference in the likelihood of exit than non-Hispanic White players when there are no controls for the position played. However, we do find that Black non-Hispanic players have a lower probability of exiting the league when position controls are included. Focusing on position, we find that nonHispanic Black players are most likely to be in the outfield, least likely to be a catcher, and outfielders have shorter careers than catchers. Lastly, we find that Hispanic players are most likely to be a shortstop and least likely to be a catcher Key Words: Discrimination, Training, Sports, Major League Baseball (MLB)

Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-spo
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Journal Article: Positional Segregation and Career Length in Major League Baseball in the 1990s (2023)
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