Concussions Derail Batting Performance for MLB Players -- University of Rochester Medical Center

At least now I will feel like I'm in good company when I feel the need to repeat myself. Before I read this I felt like I was just banging my head against a proverbial wall in some perverse way hoping that I would feel better when I stopped. 

Ben Carlson, CFA, who writes for A Wealth of Common Sense, referenced a financial advice quote from Jason Zweig of The Wall Street Journal that sums up what investors should be thinking in these volatile times.

"I was once asked, at a journalism conference, how I defined my job. I said: My job is to write the exact same thing between 50 and 100 times a year in such a way that neither my editors nor my readers will ever think I am repeating myself."

"That's because good advice rarely changes, while markets change constantly. The temptation to pander is almost irresistible. And while people need good advice, what they want is advice that sounds good."

Now I feel more like a professional journalist. Perhaps I should start getting paid for this. 

• The following study demonstrates why you will continue to see the "Buster Posey moves to 3B" conversation continue to be pervasive among Giants fans and bloggers regardless of what Brian Sabean says.

• The following study demonstrates why you will continue to see the "Buster Posey moves to 3B" conversation continue to be pervasive among Giants fans and bloggers regardless of what Brian Sabean says.

Concussions Derail Batting Performance for MLB Players - News Room - University of Rochester Medical Center:

"The message, “when in doubt, sit it out” flashed on video boards throughout the World Series, with good timing: A new analysis of Major League Baseball statistics shows that concussed players may not be fully recovered when they’re cleared to return to the batting lineup.

A University of Rochester study looked at MLB players who suffered a concussion between 2007 and 2013. Researchers found that during their first two weeks back, the concussed players’ batting performances were significantly worse than another group of players who were rusty because of being away for paternity or bereavement leave during the same period.

Lead author Erin Wasserman presented the data at the 142nd annual meeting of the American Public Health Association on Nov. 19, 2014, in New Orleans. Wasserman is an epidemiology doctoral student in the Department of Public Health Sciences at UR specializing in concussion research.

Brain injuries are most often associated with contact sports, but they are prevalent in baseball, too. During the World Series last month, head injuries affected two San Francisco players, one of whom was not able to play due to his concussion. At the high school and college levels, baseball concussions are rising at a rate of about 14 percent a year, researchers said.

In the MLB study, players returning after a concussion had lower batting averages (.234 versus .264); lower slugging percentages (.359 versus .420); and lower on-base plus slugging percentages (.654 versus .747) compared to players returning from bereavement or paternity leave, researchers reported.

“Although players who sustain a concussion may be symptom-free and cleared by MLB protocol to return to play, the residual effects of concussion on the complex motor skills required for batting may still be a problem,” said Principal Investigator Jeffrey J. Bazarian, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of Emergency Medicine at the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry, and a national expert in sports head injuries.

When a batter is at the plate, the brain and its neural networks must be in top form to master hand-eye coordination, intense visual acuity, fast reaction time, postural stability and balance, and swing control in just 400 milliseconds – the estimated time it takes most balls to pass from pitcher to batter, Bazarian said.

After a concussion, brain function can be impaired for weeks or months resulting in symptoms such as slowed thinking or response speed, and poor concentration. Understanding the impact of concussions on batting performance can help to inform decisions about when to return to the lineup, the study said.

Concussions account for about 2 percent of all injuries that result in loss of playing time, behind strains and contusions as the most common MLB injuries.

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