title: The longevity of Baseball Hall of Famers compared to other players.
abstract: The authors compared the longevity of all baseball players alive at the time of their induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame with age-matched controls who were likewise alive at the time of the Hall of Famer's induction, and also matched them for career length, player position, and body-mass index, to assess if fame in sports is associated with increased longevity. Median post-induction survival for Hall of Famers was 5 years shorter than for noninducted players (18 vs. 23 years, respectively). In a second analysis, significantly more Hall of Famers died of cardiovascular or stroke causes than other players for whom cause of death was known. Baseball fame may have a hitherto unrecognized price.
authors.affiliation: C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development, Departments of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Micigan, USA. eabel@wayne.edu
authors.forename: Ernest L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Abel
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kruger
mesh_terms: D001363:Awards and Prizes; D001484:Baseball / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D014481:United States