--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When little-league baseball players are…" description: "\"“When little-league baseball players are thought to be incompetent, they are only allowed to play where the ball is rarely hit (for little leaguers, in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/thomas-gilovich-10928_ball-player_when-little-league-baseball-players-are_1430203.jpg" --- # When little-league baseball players are thought to be… ![“When little-league baseball players are thought to be incompetent, they are only allowed to play where the ball is rarely hit (for little leaguers, in right field), and thus they have few opportunities to overcome their unfortunate reputation. The continued absence of any positive contributions…” quote by Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/thomas-gilovich-10928_ball-player_when-little-league-baseball-players-are_1430203.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/thomas-gilovich-10928_ball-player_when-little-league-baseball-players-are_1430203.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/thomas-gilovich-10928_ball-player_when-little-league-baseball-players-are_1430203.jpg) > ““When little-league baseball players are thought to be incompetent, they are only allowed to play where the ball is rarely hit (for little leaguers, in right field), and thus they have few opportunities to overcome their unfortunate reputation. The continued absence of any positive contributions can then easily be mistaken for an absence of talent rather than an absence of opportunity. This type of expectancy effect is obviously a special case of the hidden data problem described above. A perceiver’s expectation can cause him or her to behave in such a way that certain behaviors by the target person cannot be observed, making what is observed a biased and misleading indicator of what that person is like. The employers, college admissions officers, and grant review panelists discussed earlier are all potential victims of seemingly-fulfilled prophecies: Their own actions guarantee that they will rarely receive a challenge to their negative assessments of job applicants, potential students, and research proposals.”” [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Expectations shape behavior, creating self‑fulfilling prophecies that hide true ability. **In simple terms:** Expectations can limit opportunities and distort perception. Key Takeaway Challenge assumptions and create fair chances. Themes bias expectations opportunity perception Mood analytical critical inquisitive Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - education - employment - grant reviews - sports scouting Key Concepts self‑fulfilling prophecy hidden data problem social judgment Questions to Reflect On - How can you identify hidden biases? - What steps ensure equal opportunity? A Different Perspective Assumptions may be based on incomplete data, leading to unfair outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ball player](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ball-player/) [Baseball player](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseball-player/) [Baseball Players](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseball-players/) [Expectancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectancy/) [Expectancy Effect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectancy-effect-5090185/) [Expectation Cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectation-cause-5090187/) [Observed Biased](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observed-biased-5090188/) [Perceiver Expectation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perceiver-expectation-5090186/) ## Related quotes > [“I can’t wait to knock you up and have a whole team of little baseball players around this place!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-sterling/i-can-t-wait-to-knock-you-up-and-have-a-whole-team-of-little-baseball/) [J. Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-sterling/) > [Baseball players need strength but also the ability to make fast-paced, explosive movements, so their training is all about strengthening the tendons around the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chadwick-boseman/baseball-players-need-strength-but-also-the-ability-to-make-fast/) [Chadwick Boseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chadwick-boseman/) > [Growing up, I looked up to major league baseball players, and now these young women have amazing, incredible women all across the board, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennie-finch/growing-up-i-looked-up-to-major-league-baseball-players-and-now-these/) [Jennie Finch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennie-finch/) > [I hustle, I run down the line, I do whatever I can to win ball games. Those are the only things we can control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-machado/i-hustle-i-run-down-the-line-i-do-whatever-i-can-to-win-ball-games/) [Manny Machado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-machado/) > [The peacocking nature of baseball players and athletes in general - you're all kinda competing for who's got the most swagger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-powell/the-peacocking-nature-of-baseball-players-and-athletes-in-general-you/) [Glen Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-powell/) > [When you talk about 50 or so grown men in the middle of a baseball field about to break down and cry, it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chipper-jones/when-you-talk-about-50-or-so-grown-men-in-the-middle-of-a-baseball/) [Chipper Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chipper-jones/) > [“B.C. sat back in his chair. “Whatever America needs, the world will supply. Cocaine? Colombia steps to the plate. 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Our main imports are baseball players and acid rain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-trudeau/canada-is-a-country-whose-main-exports-are-hockey-players-and-cold/) [Pierre Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-trudeau/) > [People say baseball players should go out and have fun. No way. To me, baseball is pressure, I always feel it. This is work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-eckersley/people-say-baseball-players-should-go-out-and-have-fun-no-way-to-me/) [Dennis Eckersley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-eckersley/) > [“Seeing yourself in print is such an amazing concept: you can get so much attention without having to actually show up somewhere. While others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seeing-yourself-in-print-is-such-an-amazing-concept-you-can-get-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think I understand why baseball players today are a little standoffish, because the world has changed. You don't know who's trying to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-williams/i-think-i-understand-why-baseball-players-today-are-a-little/) [Billy Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-williams/) ## More by Thomas Gilovich > [“Chapter 7 takes a psychological truism, “we tend to believe what we think others believe” and turns it around: We tend to think others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/chapter-7-takes-a-psychological-truism-we-tend-to-believe-what-we/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“As part of this research, one group of participants was asked which two countries are more similar to one another, East Germany and West…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/as-part-of-this-research-one-group-of-participants-was-asked-which/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“Finally, it has been shown that the tendency for people to think of themselves as above average is reduced—even for ambiguous traits—when people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/finally-it-has-been-shown-that-the-tendency-for-people-to-think-of/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“It appears that the probabilistic sciences of psychology and medicine teach their students to apply statistical and methodological rules to both scientific and everyday-life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/it-appears-that-the-probabilistic-sciences-of-psychology-and-medicine/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“To live, it seems, is to explain, to justify, and to find coherence among diverse outcomes, characteristics, and causes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/to-live-it-seems-is-to-explain-to-justify-and-to-find-coherence-among/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“social psychologist Ziva Kunda, who argues that people are indeed more likely to believe things they want to believe, but that their capacity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/social-psychologist-ziva-kunda-who-argues-that-people-are-indeed-more/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [We humans seem to be extremely good at generating ideas, theories, and explanations that have the ring of plausibility. We may be relatively deficient,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/we-humans-seem-to-be-extremely-good-at-generating-ideas-theories-and/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“our difficulty in accurately recognizing random arrangements of events can lead us to believe things that are not true—to believe something is systematic, ordered,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/our-difficulty-in-accurately-recognizing-random-arrangements-of/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“We therefore should be more skeptical than we seem to be about evidence presented to us secondhand. We should become accustomed to asking ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/we-therefore-should-be-more-skeptical-than-we-seem-to-be-about/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“In other words, when testing a hypothesis of similarity, people look for evidence of similarity rather than dissimilarity, and when testing a hypothesis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/in-other-words-when-testing-a-hypothesis-of-similarity-people-look/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [What we believe is heavily influenced by what we think others believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/what-we-believe-is-heavily-influenced-by-what-we-think-others-believe/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“develop the habit of employing one of several “consider the opposite” strategies. 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To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [There is no doubt in my mind and I know in my time, there will be a Canadian basketball player playing for Toronto Raptors, 100%](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masai-ujiri/there-is-no-doubt-in-my-mind-and-i-know-in-my-time-there-will-be-a/) [Masai Ujiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masai-ujiri/) > [I have friends in other industries but if I am training for a wrestling match, I would turn to the best wrestler to train,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-aries/i-have-friends-in-other-industries-but-if-i-am-training-for-a/) [Austin Aries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-aries/) > [And I want to do it the right way, like everybody else, not just a famous figurehead that gets a job because he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/and-i-want-to-do-it-the-right-way-like-everybody-else-not-just-a/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) > [I competed every day as a professional football player... You've got to like competing. That's how your team gets better, when you have competition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herm-edwards/i-competed-every-day-as-a-professional-football-player-you-ve-got-to/) [Herm Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herm-edwards/) > [“I can’t wait to knock you up and have a whole team of little baseball players around this place!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-sterling/i-can-t-wait-to-knock-you-up-and-have-a-whole-team-of-little-baseball/) [J. Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-sterling/) > [MOST AMAZING FOOTBALL PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD && IN REAL MADRID](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-amazing-football-player-in-the-entire-world-in-real-madrid/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My older brothers were both basketball players so I just grew up around the gym.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brook-lopez/my-older-brothers-were-both-basketball-players-so-i-just-grew-up/) [Brook Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brook-lopez/) > [I'm a basketball player, so I want to do whatever I've got to do to be on the floor and I'm prepared for that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyrese-haliburton/i-m-a-basketball-player-so-i-want-to-do-whatever-i-ve-got-to-do-to-be/) [Tyrese Haliburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyrese-haliburton/) > [“Seeing yourself in print is such an amazing concept: you can get so much attention without having to actually show up somewhere. 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I've done this my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-sale/i-m-a-baseball-player-i-ve-done-this-my-whole-life/) [Chris Sale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-sale/) [Browse all 1,395 Ball player quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ball-player/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When little-league baseball players are thought to be incompetent, they are only allowed to play where the ball is rarely hit (for little leaguers, in right field), and thus they have few opportunities to overcome their unfortunate reputation. The continued absence of any positive contributions can then easily be mistaken for an absence of talent rather than an absence of opportunity. This type of expectancy effect is obviously a special case of the hidden data problem described above. A perceiver’s expectation can cause him or her to behave in such a way that certain behaviors by the target person cannot be observed, making what is observed a biased and misleading indicator of what that person is like. 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