Memoria de trabajo y control inhibitorio en beisbolistas universitarios (Working Memory and Inhibitory Control in College Baseball Players)

El rendimiento óptimo en el deporte requiere de procesos neuropsicológicos como las funciones ejecutivas. Entre estas, están la memoria de trabajo (MT) y el control inhibitorio (CI). Se ha descrito que quienes practican deportes de ritmo propio como el béisbol obtienen puntajes ubicados en el rango alto en tareas correspondientes a la MT y el IC, así como que los bateadores suelen obtener puntajes más altos en tareas de control inhibitorio en comparación con quienes no batean y atletas de otros deportes. Este estudio evalúa las diferencias en el rendimiento en tareas de IC y MT de beisbolistas universitarios y su relación con el tiempo practicando este deporte. Treinta y dos jugadores pertenecientes a un selectivo de béisbol universitario fueron evaluados por medio de subpruebas pertenecientes a la Batería BANFE-2. Los resultados muestran puntajes correspondientes al rango alto en las tareas correspondientes a la MT y el IC para todos los participantes. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en los puntajes de IC entre los bateadores y los lanzadores (p < .01). En las tareas de MT las diferencias no fueron significativas (p < .5). Los resultados obtenidos apoyan la hipótesis de que los bateadores obtienen puntajes más altos que en IC que quienes no batean y que los beisbolistas en general tienen un desempeño alto en capacidades como el IC y la MT por lo que se puede inferir que las exigencias del béisbol son un factor importante en el desarrollo de procesos como los abordados en este estudio. Abstract. Optimal performance in sport requires neuropsychological processes such as executive functions. Among these are working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC). It has been described that those who practice self-paced sports such as baseball obtain scores located in the high range in tasks corresponding to the WM and IC, as well as batters tend to obtain higher scores in tasks of inhibitory control compared to those who do not hit and athletes from other sports. This study evaluates the differences in the performance of university baseball players in IC and WM tasks and their relationship with the time practicing this sport. Thirty-two players belonging to a university baseball team were evaluated by means of subtests belonging to Battery BANFE-2. The results show scores corresponding to the high range in the tasks corresponding to the WM and the IC for all participants. Significant differences were found in CI scores between hitters and pitched (p <.01). In the TM tasks the differences were not significant (p <.5). The results obtained support the hypothesis that hitters obtain higher scores than in IC than non-hitters and that baseball players in general have a high performance in capacities such as IC and WM, so it can be inferred that the demands of baseball they are an important factor in the development of processes such as those addressed in this study.

Rancocas

Chapter three describes Harry F. Sinclair's remarkable run of success in the Mid-continent oil fields that allowed him to plow some of his vast profits into sports ventures, including ownership of a Federal League baseball team. In 1919, Sinclair purchased Rancocas Farm in New Jersey, once owned by tobacco manufacturing heir Pierre Lorillard, whose Thoroughbred Iroquois was the first American horse to win England's greatest horse race, the Epsom Derby. Sinclair spared no expense in building the most formidable racing stable in America, with the help of the embattled trainer Sam Hildreth. As Sinclair entered the racing scene, the sport's great equine hero was Man o' War, whose dazzling performances in a two-year racing career ending in 1920 set a new standard for excellence which Sinclair hoped to exceed.

Does the principle of investment diversification apply to the starting pitching staffs of major league baseball teams?

Financial advisors often emphasize asset diversification as a means of limiting losses from investments that perform unexpectedly poorly over a particular time period. One might expect that this perceived wisdom could apply in another high stakes arena–professional baseball–where player salaries comprise a substantial portion of a team’s operational costs, year-to-year player performance is highly variable, and injuries can occur at any time. These attributes are particularly true in the case of the starting pitching staffs of professional baseball teams. Accordingly, this study analyzes starting pitcher performance and financial data from all Major League Baseball teams for the period 1985–2016 to determine whether the standard investment advice is applicable in this context, understanding that the time horizon for success for an investor and a baseball team may be distinct. A multiple logistic regression model of playoff qualification probability, based on realized pitcher performance, measures of luck, and starting pitcher staff salary diversification is used to address this question. A further stratification is conducted to determine whether there are differences in strategy for teams with allocated financial resources that are above or below league average. We find that teams with above average resources increase their post-season qualification probability by focusing their salary funds on a relative few starting pitchers rather than diversifying that investment across the staff. Second, we find that pitcher performance must align with that investment in order for the team to have a high qualification probability. Third, the influence of luck is not negligible, but those teams that allocate more overall funds to their pitching are more resilient to bad luck. Thus, poorly resourced teams, who are generally unable to bid for pitchers at the highest salary levels, must adopt alternative strategies to maintain their competitiveness.

A mixed effects multinomial logistic-normal model for forecasting baseball performance

Prediction of player performance is a key component in the construction of baseball team rosters. As a result, most prediction models are the proprietary property of team or industrial sports entities, and little is known about them. Of those models that have been published, the main focus has been to separately model each outcome with nearly no emphasis on uncertainty quantification. This research introduces a joint modeling approach to predict seasonal plate appearance outcome vectors using a mixed-effects multinomial logistic-normal model. This model accounts for positive and negative correlations between outcomes, both across and within player seasons, and provides a joint posterior predictive outcome distribution from which uncertainty can be quantified. It is applied to the important, yet unaddressed, problem of predicting performance for players moving between the Japanese (NPB) and American (MLB) major leagues.

The relationship between range of motion and muscle strength of the shoulder joint in professional baseball pitchers

Background and objective: This study aimed to assess the relationship between range of motion (ROM) and isometric strength of the shoulder joint, adjusted for humeral head retroversion angle (HHRA), in professional baseball pitchers. Material and Methods: A total of 18 pitchers from a professional baseball team were included in this study. The isometric strength of internal rotation (IR) and external rotation (ER) were measured using an isokinetic device at 85◦ and 30◦ ER, and at 25◦ IR. A linear regression analysis was then performed. Results: The HHRA of the dominant arm was approximately 7◦ greater than that of the non-dominant arm (P < 0.001). As the IR ROM increased by 1◦, the IR isometric strength at 25◦ IR was significantly increased by 0.448% body weight (P < 0.05). However, as the ROM of IR increased, the IR isometric strength at 85◦ and 30◦ ER was not significant (P > 0.05), and as the ROM of ER increased, the IR and ER isometric strength were not significant (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Thus, the increase of IR ROM in professional baseball pitchers was associated with an increase in isometric strength at 25◦ IR, after adjustments were made for HHRA.