As a follow-up to yesterday's post, guess which of the following stories is true and which is false:
Red Sox slugger David Ortiz has told manager Terry Francona that he will no longer bat against any pitcher who has an ERA below 3.0. Ortiz, furious that his batting average has been made public, said "It just isn't fair that they include my at-bats against the really hard pitchers. No one is going to think I am good at this game." Ortiz has said that he will sit out games until the starting pitcher is relieved and replaced by someone less difficult to hit against. "I don't care if this causes my team to lose," he was heard to say. "I have a career to think about." Francona has yet to respond publicly.
OK, you already know that's not true! Our local hero thrives in taking on the really good pitchers. So, here's the actual story from SFGate.com.
California health authorities on Thursday released a study showing for the first time how many heart bypass patients die after surgery, the names of their surgeons and the hospitals where the operations were performed....
Dr. Ismael Nuno was furious with [his worse than average] rating. "I've had a very illustrious career, and when my name comes out tomorrow I might just retire," he said in a phone interview. "Nobody in the state is going to write right next to your name that Dr. Nuno tried really hard to keep this patient alive. All it's going to say is Dr. Nuno is a terrible surgeon."
Nuno warned that some surgeons already are turning away patients with poor outcomes for fear they'll get tagged as bad doctors. "People are dying because of what the state of California is doing. Surgeons are walking away and saying, 'Tough, it's either my career or your death.' "
It looks like Dr. Lee and his colleagues have some more empirical support for the conclusions of their article.
OK, I know this is not a fair comparison, and I don't make it to disparage this doctor, who, by all accounts, is a very fine surgeon. Beyond having a little fun with the topic, I make it to frame the question:
"Why are many doctors so sensitive and/or resistant on these matters while people in other fields have come to accept public reporting of their results?"
I look forward to your answers.
