A Pitch For Getting Girls In The Game

WAMU 88.5

Published March 8, 2018 at 10:06 AM CST

Mo'ne Davis #3 of Pennsylvania pitches to a Nevada batter during the United States division game at the Little League World Series tournament at Lamade Stadium on August 20, 2014 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

For thousands of female athletes whose sport of choice is baseball, there are few professional options. There is a national women’s team, and a handful of women have competed at the minor league level. But a female player in Major League Baseball still remains the stuff of Hollywood fantasy.

But that won’t be true for much longer, if some very vocal activists have anything to do with it. Baseball For All is a non-profit that encourages girls to participate in America’s favorite pastime and “empowers girls to break stereotypes, be themselves, and to follow their dreams.” The cause they champion is part of a growing movement to even the playing field — literally — when it comes to baseball.

We talk about how women have been systematically shut out of the game, the efforts to address discrimination against female baseball players and why softball isn’t baseball.

GUESTS

Mo’ne Davis, Multi-sport athlete; junior, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy outside Philadelphia; the first girl to pitch a shut-out in a Little League World Series; one of the youngest athletes to ever be on the cover of Sports Illustrated; @Monee__11

Justine Siegal, Founder, Baseball For All, an advocacy group; she was the first woman to coach for a MLB pro baseball team and to throw MLB batting practice; @justinebaseball

Jennifer Ring, Political science professor, University of Nevada; author: “Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don’t Play Ball” and “A Game of Their Own: Voices of Contemporary Women in Baseball”

Gabby Velez, Senior in high school, Teaneck, New Jersey; played baseball at the high school level and in national tournaments through Baseball for All

For more, visit https://the1a.org.