GRSJ224 Women In Baseball
Introduction
Baseball is a game that involves a bat, ball, and glove. The fundamentals of the game are throwing, hitting, and fielding the ball, but the execution of these tasks are very challenging. There are two competing teams that have nine players on the field at one time, both teams attempt to score runs when hitting. When one competing team is hitting the other team has taken the field to play defense, the goal of the defensive team is to get three outs in order to hit again. Once the three outs occur, the first half of the inning is completed, there are usually nine innings in a baseball game. Major League Baseball is the highest level of competition in North America and consists of 30 teams, 15 teams play in the National League and the other 15 play in the American League. On May 4th, 1869 the first all-professional team the Cincinnati Red Stockings played the amateur Great Westerns of Cincinnati and won 45-9; this marked the beginning of professional baseball players.
Background
Virnett Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell was a left-handed pitcher, on April 2, 1931, at the age of 17 years old playing for the Chattanooga Lookouts she struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game, at the time both players were exceptional and are still recognized to this day for being two of the best baseball players to ever play the game. This was an outstanding accomplishment and showed that women could not only play baseball, but they could play as well as men. Kenesaw Mountain Landis was the Commissioner of Baseball and would void her contract as a result, declaring women unfit to play baseball as the game was too strenuous. Major League Baseball would later initiate a ban on June 21st, 1952 that would not allow women to participate as professional baseball players. On June 3rd, 1992, Carey Schueler was drafted in the 43rd Round (1208th Overall) by the Chicago White Sox. This would not only lift the ban, but it would be seen as revolutionary for women playing professional baseball.
Maud Nelson was another individual who was very important to the progression of baseball for women; she started playing for the Boston Bloomer Girls at the age of 16 and was praised for her great curveball by many reporters. The Boston Bloomer Girls were named after the comfortable pants they chose to wear instead of the long skirt that was formerly worn. The girls toured the United States in 1897, many people would come watch because people were curious about female ballplayers and the unfamiliarity that followed. In the early 1900's the team continued touring and playing baseball; the team even gained some male players but the majority remained women. Mary Elizabeth Murphy was another women who had professional talent but only ever played in semi-pro leagues, she was well known for her defensive abilities at first-base. She was earning more money weekly than most minor league male players which was quite impressive, most of her career was spent on teams where she was the only female player. Towards the end of her career she had a loyal fan base that would travel just to see her play and compete.
World War II marked a period in baseball where male professionals were drafted to serve their country. During this time the rosters of major league teams were depleted which damaged the talent level of the league, this lead to the creation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League which had twelve teams and operated between the years 1943-1954. In 1948 league attendance peaked over 900,000 spectators and women playing professional baseball was beginning to be well known and acknowledged. The Rockford Peaches won a league-best four championships and are represented by the fictionalized film A League of Their Own which is very popular. This inopportune time was a pivotal point for baseball because it allowed society to accept that women could play baseball at a professional level, as shown by the first professional female teams in the AAGPBL.
The Challenge of Gender
It can be difficult for girls to integrate into baseball because of the reputation that it is mainly a sport played by boys. A majority of girls play softball instead of baseball while growing up and there is an overwhelming amount of pressure for a young girl to switch from softball to baseball, especially as age gets older. Girls are not normally encouraged to play baseball, but in comparison to other sports, baseball is one of the sports in that women can compete with men and excel. A girl may be less likely to throw a baseball 90 miles per hour fastball or hit it 450 feet, but if she has good movement on her pitches, can make solid contact, or is excellent defensively she will be effective on the field. Jennifer Ring explains in her book, Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don't Play Baseball, that baseball has a less developed structure in the United States compared to Japan, Canada, and Australia. In these countries, women play at all levels, from young girls through college and beyond and there is a smaller amount of girls playing softball growing up.
Many people think that there is a physical barrier that limits women from exceeding expectations in baseball, but this is a misconception; baseball is not a game in which height and weight are requirements to be successful. There is a minimal amount of physical contact in baseball which makes it realistic that women can contribute successfully, compared to sports that rely on physicality such as hockey or football. As seen above, women have proved that they can play a sport against men and be successful. The topic of women playing a sport that was exclusive to men used to be related to sexist issues, but now it has moved on to more of an ability requirement. There have been, and will be, women that can perform to acceptable professional standards, and the likeliness of women playing Major League Baseball is steadily increasing. Today we see a lot less scholarship opportunities for women playing baseball as compared to scholarships for softball. A younger girl might choose to play softball instead of baseball for the opportunity to receive a scholarship and get part of her education paid for.
Modern Day
Mo'ne Davis is a sixteen year old girl who got the attention of most of the baseball world after her dominating performance at the 2014 Little League World Series. She was the first girl to ever earn a win and to pitch a shutout in Little League World Series history, and was the first Little League baseball player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. At the age of 13 she threw 70 miles per hour while the average velocity in her age class was 63 miles per hour. She relies on the mechanics of pitching in comparison to pure strength that other pitchers use. Not only has she left the entire sports world impressed, but there are rumors and speculations that she might be the first women to successfully play in the Major League Baseball in the near future.
Claire Eccles is a baseball/softball player that attends the University of British Columbia. She plays for the Canadian Women's National Baseball Team and plays Senior Varsity Softball for the University of British Columbia. This past summer she had made her debut for the Victoria HarbourCats in the West Coast League which is a collegiate summer baseball league for amateur players. Her debut was special because she was the first women to play in this league since it had been founded in 2005. She throws a knuckleball which is tough for hitters to consistently make contact. Her dedication to the game has showed that if you have talent and work hard anything is possible and hopefully this has opened up the door for young girls deciding to pursue baseball.
Melissa Mayeux is a shortstop on the French U-18 Junior National Team, and she became the first known female baseball player to be added to MLB International Registration List, which means she will be eligible to be signed by a team. This is an important step in the integration of women in Major League Baseball, it means that women in the future will now get looked at as Major League prospects just as male baseball players would. She could be a legitimate prospect for a team and could possibly be the first women to play for a professional team in this league. This moves baseball a step closer to looking at female baseball players equally and giving the individuals who are deserving, a chance to become professionals.
Resources
Berra, Lindsay. “Melissa Mayeux France Eligible Sign MLB.” Major League Baseball, 22 June 2015, m.mlb.com/news/article/132044338/melissa-mayeux-france-eligible-sign-mlb/.
Goffenberg , Daniel . “Claire Eccles Becomes First Woman to Pitch in West Coast League.” Sportsnet.ca, 8 June 2017, www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/claire-eccles-becomes-first-woman-pitch-west-coast-league/.
Gregory, Sean. “Mo'ne Davis, Little League World Series Star, Shows Girls Can Play.” Time, Time, 19 Aug. 2014, time.com/3144240/mone-davis-girls-baseball/.
Jennifer Ring. Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don’t Play Baseball. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009. 224 pp.
Heaphy, Leslie. "No Girls in the Clubhouse: The Exclusion of Women from Baseball, and: Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don’t Play Baseball (Review)." NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture, vol. 18, no. 2, 2010, pp. 192-195.
Reynolds, Gretchen. “Will Women Play Major League Baseball? (And Not Just on TV).” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Sept. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/well/move/when-will-women-play-major-league-baseball-and-not-just-on-tv.html.