There has been some discussion of the PFAS chemicals in artificial turf may be a factor, although there is no clear scientific link. I recall in the 1980s there were several NY Giants who had died of cancer and worries that it was connected to the turf at the old Giants Stadium (or maybe more likely the toxic sludge regularly dumped in the Meadowlands before the sports complex was built)
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Ken Brett played one year for the Phillies. Johnny Oates played 2 years.
average does not seem particularly statistically significant, though I'm certainly not an expert. It just seems like it could just as easily be blamed by coincidence.
Take something statistically insignificant and unprovable and blow it out of proportion. It’s exactly how the anti-vax movement got started.
Fortunately in this particular case Veterans Stadium no longer exists so no mass hysteria will result from this.
The thread is linked. My post “so 3x2=6” includes some amateur statistical gymnastics,
FWIW.
I think the theory there was that they were diving facedown more than other soccer players and would ingest some of the tiny pellets that got kicked up in the process. I'm not sure exactly what became of that story.
edit: Looks like the Philadelphia Inquirer did an investigation and some articles were posted in the wake of that last March: 6 Former Phillies Players Died of Brain Cancer — and Dangerous Chemicals in Turf Could Be to Blame: Report