April 4, 2012

Support for Beaning

A study finds that fans support retaliatory beaning.

But a newly published study notes this dynamic is alive and well on the playing fields of the great American pastime. Researchers report “beaning” a member of the opposing team — deliberately hitting him with a pitch — is divorced in fans’ minds from the notion of moral responsibility.

In other words, the batter who received a nasty bruise — or worse — when he was hit by a retaliatory pitch didn’t really deserve it, in the minds of most fans. But a great many support beaning him regardless.

For those of you with access, the full paper is here. The survey sizes seemed rather small to me.

3 thoughts on “Support for Beaning

  1. Pingback: How uplifting: Fans love beanball wars | HardballTalk

  2. Pingback: How uplifting: Fans love beanball wars « You're Killin' Me, Smalls!

  3. Pingback: Retaliatory Practices: Baseball Justice Gets Clinical | The Baseball Codes

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