Tourtellotte: How umpires’ ejection rates change with age and experience
From SABR member Shane Tourtellotte at The Hardball Times on March 29, 2017:
A few years ago, I did an extended dive into the statistics of manager ejections in the major leagues. One of the strongest correlations I found was that, as managers age, they tend to be thrown out of games less often. Long-serving managers almost always suffered fewer ejections as their careers proceeded, with the historically volatile Bobby Cox being the highest-profile exception.
It takes two people to make an ejection, and I came to wonder about the other side of the equation. Umpires’ personalities can contribute to the confrontations that lead to managers, or others, being banished from a game. Certain umpires work on a hair-trigger; others strive to still troubled waters.
Do these personality traits evolve with age and experience? Does getting a couple thousand games under your belt make you better able to defuse a clash, or make you obstinate and quicker to flex your ultimate authority? Does advancing age dim your argumentative fires, the way it does with managers, or from the opposite side of the confrontation does it have the opposite effect?
I took an extensive look at ejections over the last five seasons, 2012 to 2016, to find some answers. Along the way, I also found a couple extra questions.
Read the full article here: http://www.hardballtimes.com/how-umpires-ejection-rates-change-with-age-and-experience/
Originally published: March 29, 2017. Last Updated: March 29, 2017.