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An interesting piece of information from BE Press, via Phil. Like Phil, I wouldn’t focus so much on the HFA, but rather on the quality of the teams. In baseball, I don’t think you have this situation of coasting, but I’d like to see the data on it (after controlling for the quality of the batter/pitcher).
Nope, the authors don’t control for the quality of the players. I suspect that’s where a substantial part of the effect is coming from, resting the regulars in favor of the subs.
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They are two completely different questions, of course, whether a team that is ahead coasts, and whether the HOME team coasts more or less than the road team when ahead.
I am assuming that the study found that the “coasting” effect is stronger for the home, otherwise the study would have nothing to do with HFA, per se. But I have not read the article. Also, I would have to assume that the authors are controlling for the players. When a team is ahead, of course they rest their better players, although this is mostly at the end of the game (so-called garbage time).
Basketball is a completely different animal than baseball. I HIGHLY doubt that ANY such effect exists in baseball after you control for the pitcher, substitutions, and even pitching approach (when ahead, a pitcher is supposed to throw more strikes, more fastballs, and perhaps even put less stress on his arm, such that he gives up more runs than in other situations).