Summary, Conclusions, and Implications

Abstract

Historically, African-Americans in the general population have been disadvantaged when it comes to mortality compared to non-Hispanic whites. While mortality disparities between races have diminished over time, their persistence serves as a reminder of inequalities in American life. In special populations of professional athletes, between-race mortality discordance, favoring non-Hispanic whites, is similarly observed. In addition, while not always statistically significant, the findings in this study demonstrate elevated mortality risk among African-American relative to Hispanic players. There is little or no difference in mortality risk between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white players when educational attainment is controlled in the analysis, although this may be due to a statistical anomaly. Alternatively, the empirical study findings point to the existence of a Hispanic Paradox . Because of the way mortality data were collected in the current study, this paradox cannot be explained by the “salmon bias.”

Like previous studies of elite athletes , this research documents a mortality advantage for Major League Baseball players relative to the general population. This effect is most robust among non-Hispanic white and African-American players. Professional athletes are generally strong and fit and typically have higher incomes than comparable individuals drawn from the general population. The health of the US general population is far from optimal, perhaps making it easier for Major League Baseball players to have lower mortality rates.