The (Lack of) Women in Baseball

[octopussy]

Salon.com article today musing on the release of the only female umpire in baseball (and we're not even talking AAA):

Here's one place where we definitely want women to get yelled at: the major league baseball diamond. Looks like it's gonna be a while, though, as 31-year-old Ria Cortesio -- for years the only female umpire in organized baseball

Comments

[americanleaguer]

I haven't seen much on female batters vs. MLB pitchers, but it seems eminently possible that a top-line softball pitcher, throwing overhand, could strike out Major League hitters. Velocity isn't everything even among male pitchers; there's really no physiological reason why a female pitcher couldn't make it, although the stresses on her arm/shoulder capsule might be worse, which would shorten her career.

The problem is that you would need a female pitcher who had been developing her skills pitching overhand for a long time... little boys grow up doing it, little girls usually don't. You'd need a clubhouse to accept her in some way also, and in a sport that still doesn't even have an out gay player, that seems... iffy.

[octopussy]

I actually hadn't seriously considered pitchers myself, especially in this time of the 100mph fastball. And yes, I do agree that the career of any female pitcher would be considerably shorter. That said, there are certainly a number of older, etc., pitchers out there who achieve an admirable ERA through what I've heard called "mystic junk." I think there's room for women there, especially considering the disdainful tone of the term. ;)

As for making it in the boy's club, there's the rub. I don't think a girl could get through it. Maybe a superstar pitcher, for a year or two, at the top of her game. But everyone would be just waiting for a female player's stats to sour. Never mind the flat out hatred and criticism that she'd see face to face every day. This kind of pressure could kill you. It'd certainly kill a player's game.

[americanleaguer]

Ay, Jennie Finch struck out A-Rod that one time. :) There's really no reason a woman couldn't. Maybe it would be hard for a woman to get up to, yeah, Jonathan Papelbon velocity/sheer terror pitching land, but you could definitely throw an excellent softball pitcher with some overhand practice out there and she'd be just as good as a lot of middle relievers, if not better.

Maybe as with racism, baseball will one day overcome sexism. But it ain't there yet. I do think openly gay players would be a first and vital intermediate step... even though women are less 'threatening' to straight guys than gay guys are, gay players already have a foot in the door by virtue of their maleness. I think they've gotta come first if a woman's ever gonna play big league ball.

[octopussy]

Mystic junk, I tell you