Before Lydia and I even started to conceptualize this blog, we spent many hours emailing back and forth about awesome women who challenged our preconceived notions about female participation in sports. Although we can name many women who have excelled in various professional sports, it’s harder to find stories about younger girls as they come up in the world of sports. For boys, we get to watch the Little League World Series, read fawning articles about high school basketball stars, and obsess over devotional (and also often quite compelling) television series like Friday Night Lights. Girls just don’t have the same market share.
So when we heard about a young girl excelling in baseball, you bet we noticed. We fell hard. Chelsea Baker, a 14 year-old pitcher from Florida, has been called “the best female baseball player [in her age group] in the United States.” Tutored by Joe Niekro, a former major league pitcher who excelled at throwing the knuckleball, Chelsea strikes opposing players out with a frequency R.A. Dickey only dreams of.
Baker and her knuckler.
Baker has completely defied any expectations from female baseball players: at 13, she had already pitched two perfect games, and donated one of the jerseys she wore for that game for display in the Baseball Hall of Fame. She has also gained nation-wide notoriety from an ESPN E:60 documentary, highlights of which you can see here.
Recently, Baker has visited Japan, promoting a scheduled 2013 friendship series between American and Japanese female baseball players, and meeting with Eri Yoshida, a Japanese professional knuckleballer breaking barriers of her own.
One of the things that Baker struggles with is dealing with opposing male players who feel defeated after facing her. Justine Siegal, the first female professional baseball coach, has coached Baker recently and helped her handle this issue. “It’s unfortunate that boys feel so much pressure to perform well against the girls,” Siegal said. “I know that Chelsea would like to be seen as a player, not just a girl playing baseball. And in our society, we have this myth that girls are weak and boys are strong. Chelsea’s debunking that myth. And as soon as girls and boys realize that they can play the game together – the whole game – baseball, the greatest game on Earth, will become a better game for everyone.”
Is Chelsea defying stereotypes: if the archetype doesn’t exist in mainstream media; the Community doesn’t recognize girls as viable competitors or players in the World of Baseball? I am reminded of the philosophical question: “if no one is there to hear it: does a tree falling generate sound?”
Chelsea is her own stereotype: a girl who plays Baseball, well, but doesn’t really make a big deal out of it. But, without the Media making a big deal about Chelsea: does Chelsea or any other exceptional girl who plays baseball receive the support to continue beyond a certain age?
The Dream Team, on which Chelsea plays, the opportunity for all girls playing at the “highest” level exists. Yet, the team receives little attention in the mainstream press; is not funded or truly sponsored by any leading sports manufacturing entity:
no sports marketing professional sees the opportunity in generate interest in girls who play Hardball Baseball if they are solid making significant revenue from Softball for girls and women (and men).
Have you wondered what the real difference is between a softball and a hardball bat to a manufacturer: paint color.
What they fail to recognize: Hardball for girls will generate more revenue for them in addition to Softball.
Can you think of any other industry that fails to capture marketshare beyond a limited range? What if any Fast Food or Beverage or Auto company were to limit their reach in a similar way?
Chelsea’s most ardent supporter prepared a video last year to generate awareness and funding to support Chelsea in her own Baseball Journey; the Dream Team has launched two fundraising efforts to underwrite their own baseball journey throughout the USA.
But each effort is limited to the narrow world paying attention.
While it may seem to grow the community, in a grassroots manner, Facebook seems to be limiting exposure in generating awareness of girls and women playing Hardball Baseball in the USA, in the world.
Until one travels to sit and watch the exceptional girl play Hardball Baseball, it may be difficult to shatter one’s bias and prejudice based on hearsay and speculation.
Until one experiences the exceptional woman play baseball, which is more challenging due to limited availability to play or exposure in the mainstream media, it is difficult to stop, reflect, accept one’s personal responsibility for denying that exceptional girl the opportunity to thrive in Hardball Baseball, from a young age, only to blossom into as awesome a spectacle on the field as any man who gives his life to the Game.
Go Chelsea! This girl is inspirational, and not just to other young girls. Being 14 can be incredibly tough for anyone but she is also facing and defying a whole host of gender expectations.
When I read that the boys she competes with feel defeated after facing her I think “Awesome! She is getting inside their heads, what a great competitive advantage.” But its very easy to see why a 14 year old girl might not feel that way.
I do love that she is able to compete against boys and hope this can continue as she moves through HS and college. There should be more of this and it brings up a thought experiment:
What sport is the most conducive to women and men competing against each other? Bowling? (disclosure: I don’t know anything about bowling) Skiing? Diving? (Those last two seem to have a lot to do with how you handle gravity). Thoughts?
Jordan – good question, and one we should probably explore as a longer post! Off the top of my head, rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, curling and riflery seem like good (if obscure) candidates. Basically, it probably means looking at sports where size is not the defining characteristic, but athleticism and skill, right?
I’ve actually had a female who fenced in college tell me that fencing is most conducive to women and men competing against each other. This was raised in an NY Times article last year which reported on schools getting around Title IX requirements (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/26titleix.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes). According to that article, Cornell was unfortunately counting male fencers as women, but they were able to do it because their level of skill was comparable, and when all the gear is on you can’t tell men from women.
That is awesome! Honestly, I like seeing athletic girls doing just as well as or better than boys. Sometimes I wish it didn’t have to be such a big deal — it always seems to make news when a girl is on a LLWS team or a girl wants to be the kicker for a HS football team, etc. Kudos to Chelsea — and pitching perfect games?? That blows my mind right there.
[...] isn’t the only woman baffling batters with knuckleballs, by the way: 14-year-old Chelsea Baker, a pitcher from Florida who learned her signature pitch from the late Joe Niekro himself, has [...]
[...] isn’t the only woman baffling batters with knuckleballs, by the way: 14-year-old Chelsea Baker, a pitcher from Florida who learned her signature pitch from the late Joe Niekro himself, has [...]
[...] Great story. Maybe she can pitch to Buster Posey in an All-Star Game some year in the near future? [...]