Graph of the Day: Players Getting Taller

by JinAZ on Jun 18, 2009 3:30 PM EDT Comment 11 comments

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

Dustin Pedroia (center) is out to prove that little guys can be legitimately awesome too. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

In the July 2009 issue of Baseball Digest, George Vass lamented the apparent disappearance of the "little guy" from Major League Baseball. Using my newly-found database skillz, here's a graphic comparing mean pitcher & hitter heights in MLB to average US male heights. MLB data are from the Baseball Databank, US data from here and here.

Height_medium

Average height certainly has increased over time, such that modern players would tower over players from the deadball era. But around 1960, if you believe the data, the US male population height seemed to stabilize, whereas baseball player height has continued to climb. This either reflects a problem with the data source(s), or, perhaps, an indication of the increased level of competition following integration and expansion of the player base into Latin American populations.

Another finding is that average height for pitchers has historically--all the way back to ~1890--been roughly an inch higher than that of position players. Not surprising or novel, but nice to see. Clearly this is not a new trend.

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So how far is it going to drop once Randy Johnson retires?

Jeff Zimmerman - Protecting the world from RBI's and Wins from my mom's guest house.

by Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) on Jun 18, 2009 4:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Back of the envelope calculation:

Heights will be equivalent to those in 1913. But they’ll return to 1990’s levels when Daniel Ray Herrera leaves the game. :)

I did do a version of the graph with max’s and min’s shown in addition to means. Eddie Gaedel’s appearance on that figure is hysterical.
-j

My blog: Basement-Dwellers.com

by JinAZ on Jun 18, 2009 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Anyone know why the average US male height dipped in the late 1900s?

Immigration from shorter countries?

Justin, do you database skillz allow you to weight each year’s heights by the IP or PAs by each player? I’m guessing it won’t make a huge difference, but…

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Jun 18, 2009 5:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully this doesn't come across as racism

I can assure you that it is not intended to be in any way, but could it just be more immigration from Asia? The average Asian person is probably a few inches shorter than the average non-Asian person. And while I don’t have any numbers to back this, I would guess that a much higher percentage of Asians are immigrating here in the last two decades than in the decades previous. Just an idea.

by Brendan Scolari on Jun 18, 2009 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would also say the same for the increasing Hispanic population

and Tom Cuise also had a few kids.

Jeff Zimmerman - Protecting the world from RBI's and Wins from my mom's guest house.

by Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) on Jun 18, 2009 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll throw another hypothesis on the pile

Perhaps we’re seeing an effect of the fast food nation. Nutrition steadily increasing until people start eating more crap because they can afford it. If the trend is real, there is surely a huge literature on it. I just don’t know it—not my field.

Also, note that I change data sources in about 1960. I trust the more recent numbers more than the more distant ones, but this is the best I could do in the hour or so I had to find the data.
-j

My blog: Basement-Dwellers.com

by JinAZ on Jun 18, 2009 6:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

weighting

I could do it, but I’d be surprised if it matters.

I’m more interested to see if the standard deviation or the quartiles have changed. My guess is we have a smaller standard deviation now than in 1910.
-j

My blog: Basement-Dwellers.com

by JinAZ on Jun 18, 2009 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Very interesting

This is good stuff.

by Brendan Scolari on Jun 18, 2009 5:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well...

One reason I would suggest is that this is the average height for all men, regardless of age. The average height for men in their 20s and 30s today is probably slightly higher, but the overall average height hasn’t changed all that much because older men are still dragging it down a bit.

Why do I think this? Well, I’m 5’9", which according to most statistics is the average height for a U.S. male. However, most of the men I know my age are taller than I am, so that doesn’t really jibe with my personal experience. But many men my dad’s age are shorter.

by Tom (RFTN) on Jun 18, 2009 9:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs