UpdatedMon, Jun 28, 2021 at 6:23 pm ET
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According to a recent Monmouth University study, umpires tend to make worse pitch call as the temperature rises. (Peter Joneleit/CSM/Shutterstock)
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ According to a recent study published by Monmouth University s Urban Coast Institute, Major League Baseball umpires are more likely to make bad pitch calls as the weather gets hotter outside and that baseball could be a victim of climate change.
In the study, Monmouth University associate economics professor Eric Fesselmeyer found that MLB umpires call pitches less accurately in uncomfortable temperatures.
When Fesselmeyer examined the accuracy of calls for 18,907 MLB games played between 2007 and 2017, he discovered a clear inverted U-pattern. Umpire accuracy was 86.3 percent when the temperature was below 50 degrees; 86.4 percent for temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees; 86.6 percent for temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees; peaking at 86.9 percent accuracy f