When I was 13, my sister threw a no-hitter in a high school, seven inning, fast pitch softball game. The feat got her a three inch by two inch block of text somewhere in the sports page, amongst a thicket of lower tier business ads.
From the newspaper’s standpoint, the move made sense. Even if the local Philadelphia sports teams all had off days where nothing happened, they were going to attract more attention than a no-hitter in a PIAA girls softball game. But I remember knowing somehow at that moment that I would never rival the athletic display she’d put on. And that fact (“It’s a fact, even if you haven’t proven it right yet,” dad reminded me), made me feel as though the newspaper could have bothered a little harder to make her feat known.
In 1992, we got A League of Their Own, the enlightening film that taught us that it would take nothing short of a global Military conflict to allow women into Major League Baseball. They wore skirts, Madonna made sexy puns, and Tom Hanks delighted audiences everywhere as the headlining role in a movie with female empowerment as a central theme. It was a culturally noticeable medium, churning the image of women playing professional baseball into the public arena.
But unless there’s a war on, women in baseball have only shown up in isolated spurts (Though MLB doesn’t seem to have a problem trying to sell them merchandise by the online shopping cart-ful). Baseball settled the issue in 1952, by banning women from signing contracts. Then they re-unsettled it 40 years later by rebuking the ban. So, like a lacrosse team rolling into a house party, I ask you: Where are all the ladies?
Three women played in the Negro Leagues–Mamie Johnson, Connie Morgan, and Toni Stone. A 17-year-old side armer named Jackie Mitchell once struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during an exhibition game in 1931. The Los Angeles Dodgers were managed by future TV writer Jill Baer for a game in 1978, letting her alter the lineup arranged by Tommy Lasorda–he went onto use her version in the NLCS that year. She also used the opportunity to get ejected by the third base ump.
Ila Borders started an NCAA baseball game in 1997, Knuckleballer Eri Yoshida of Japan set off a media-nuke when she debuted for the independent Chico Outlaws in California last season, and the Dodgers’ current assistant GM Kim Ng has been interviewed for three different general managing positions in the Majors, and all she had to do is withstand the public mocking of her race.
And just several days ago, Justine Siegal worked out with the Indians during Spring Training (and again with the A’s a few days later), to the delight of her 13-year-old daughter. So what I’m curious about is, are these moments sporadic because they are forgotten as time goes on, or are baseball and women actually building to something?
Let’s ask some actual women.
Melissa Felkins, Frisco Fastball
"I think, as a woman, it would be great for women to break the social barrier of playing MLB. But, I’m not sure how much impact it would have in comparison to other social barriers regarding differences in women in men (i.e allowing women to be placed in direct combat in the military). That said, I definitely think that there are women out there that haven’t been given a fair shot and that are good enough to play at the same level as men. I think whoever is playing, men or women, should be expected to have the same skill level and bring something positive to the team. There are probably things that women could bring to the game that has never been considered.All that to say, as a woman, even one that loves baseball, while I would love to see women in the game, I’m not sure how much it would be an impact to me. I just want a good team on the field. And to be even more honest and give the “unpopular with women” answer, I can acknowledge that there differences in men and women and their abilities and strength, and that it would be only rare cases that I think women could compete with men at the same level in MLB."
Erin Moore, Puckett’s Pond, Picked Off at First
"The skill level argument is pretty valid. I wouldn’t want a baseball team to sign a woman simply because it’s a novelty, or the politically correct thing to do. If there were a female player who had poven herself to be just as skilled, if not more so, than a man at her position, then it would make a ton of sense to bring her on board. Otherwise, the team isn’t doing itself, or the female player, any favors."
This can’t be about women’s rights or anyone’s inability to accept change–it needs to be about baseball. If skill level winds up being the true issue (The Colorado Silver Bullets, a barnstorming women’s baseball team, went 58-127 throughout their existence playing men’s teams), then the system is built to require a certain level of talent for someone, anyone, to keep their job. But that would require a scenario in which no other obstacles on or off the field were standing in a woman’s way to compete in pro baseball, which may not be the case.
If there is a woman who is better suited for a roster spot than a man, she should have the spot. Skill level alone won’t decide women’s place in MLB, because eventually, someone could realistically get there, and when she does, you’ve got to assume–with the endless line of immoral activity, depraved behavior, and general sexism going on behind the curtain of pro sports–there will obviously be a whole new set of barriers unleashed on the intrepid rookie.
To read Babe Ruth’s comments after being struck out by Mitchell–
"“I don’t know what’s going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day.”"
–and then read that Justine Siegal worked out with two Major League teams this spring points toward massive social progression, and not just in sports. At they very least, we don’t live in a time when it’s cool for people to say things like that out loud in public.
If there’s a fight to be had, let them fight it. It has done nothing but offer inspiration and illustrate social change. Any true detractors of a cause like women in pro baseball need only realize that its not 1931–women can vote, women can lead, and women can play ball. They deserve a chance to do so on the game’s biggest stage.
We’ll make the rest up as we go.