Hit-by-Pitches and Climate Denialism

Ann’s post regarding the potential effects of climate change on the number of hit batters raises some critical issues on the national pastime.  And of course, I’d be delighted to sign up for the field study.  But climate deniers already have a ready answer.

After all, they will ask: how do we know that the pitchers throwing at hitters is the cause of more hit batters?  It could be a conicidence.  Maybe it is different types of air currents.  Can we prove that it is the cause?  Philosophically, causation is a human construct, as David Hume demonstrated more than two centuries ago.  There is really no need to study this at all, and in fact, it is probably better to prevent batters from using batting helmets, because it’s just over-regulation and constitutes an incentive for pitchers to throw at players.

So really, this just demonstrates the basic truth of climate denial.

Oh, and the baseball card?  As the Old Perfesser would say, you could look it up.

Climate Change, climate denial, David Hume, hit by pitch, major league baseball, Ron Hunt