Life expectancy of major league baseball umpires

BACKGROUND: The on-field death 4 years ago of a veteran Major League Baseba ll (MLB) umpire raised questions regarding the mortality risks of this prof ession. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the life expectancy of MLB umpires differs from that of the general population. DESIGN: Ages of death of MLB umpires were determined, and the differences b etween the ages of death and age-adjusted life expectancies were calculated . T-score analysis was performed on these differences. Correlational analys is was also done on many different factors, including umpire debut year, de but age, life expectancy at debut, and length of career. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the age at death of ML B umpires and their age-adjusted life expectancy. Correlational analyses sh owed that only length of career correlated with age at death. CONCLUSION: MLB umpiring is not associated with a shortened life expectancy . While this is most likely attributable to the profession having no inhere nt risk, it could also be explained by inherent risks being overcome by yet unidentified, unique factors.