Jackie Mitchell: Print the Legend

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"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."- Maxwell Scott "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962)

It makes for a great story. A 17 year old girl strikes out two of the greats of the game, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. I can't think of a better narrative for a child, boy or girl, than one about how we are all capable of doing impressive things, girls and boys are the same, and it doesn't matter how big, strong, or famous the other guy is if you've got pluck. But...It probably was a publicity stunt.

First the facts: Jackie Mitchell was a 17 year old female signed to a professional contract with the Chattanooga Lookouts a AA minor league team; The Lookouts played an exhibition game with the New York Yankees on April 2, 1931; Jackie's first pitch was outside, Ruth swung and missed her next two pitches, and after the umpire examined the ball at Babe Ruth's request, Jackie Mitchell threw the third strike; Lou Gehrig struck out on three pitches; She then walked Tony Lazzeri on 4 straight pitches and was taken out of the game; Yankees won 14-4

Jackie Mitchell showed an interest in baseball young and was taught how to throw a pretty good sinker by her neighbor, eventual Hall of Famer Dazzy Vance. And all contemporary reports point to her being a great juvenile player. She kept up with the boys and struck them out. While many youngsters are exceptional when playing with other children, if you put the best high school pitcher in the country in a major league game they wouldn't be able to compete. And that is why so many historians and fans think it was a publicity stunt.

People who want to believe the legend point out that Babe Ruth didn't like to be made to look a fool. And it would look pretty foolish to be struck out by a teenage girl. Moreover, Lou Gehrig was a serious man who wouldn't participate in a sideshow. And in the following decades as they eventually passed away, not one Yankee claimed they were told to let the girl strike them out. So Gehrig and Ruth would've decided between themselves. This is possible because both players loved children and were known to do hospital visits and make a special effort to please their young fans. So they may have seen a kid who was living her dream of pitching to not just a major league player, but the icons and heroes of the day and decided to give her a thrill. 

Unfortunately, for us reluctant skeptics there can never be enough information for us to decide one way or another. Not long after the game the commissioner of baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis  banned all women from playing baseball. with and against men. And that ban wasn't lifted until 1992. Jackie Mitchell retired from baseball in 1937 when she was only 23, which is an age at which most pitchers haven't reached their full potential. But even though she would've been young enough to play in the All-American Girls Professional League she chose not to come out of retirement a few years later.

Sabermetrics hadn't been invented in 1931 and no one kept accurate stats of barnstorming semi-pro teams when Jackie Mitchell played. Consequently, anything we know about her would be apocryphal. She did play on another team before her retirement, the House of David. They were originally a team composed of Orthodox Jews with long hair and beards. They eventually signed players outside their faith, and evidently their gender. And when the House of David played an exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals, she pitched in the game, and they beat the Cardinals 8-6. 

It is possible that if she hadn't had to fight against sexism Jackie Mitchell might have been like that other Jackie of baseball, Robinson, and been the first of her kind. But considering she quit too young, and only had the one solid pitch, that is unlikely. But baseball is full of great what-if stories and this is a fun one...THE GIRL WHO STRUCK OUT BABE RUTH. What if it was all on the up and up? What if she'd been born a boy? What if she'd played a little longer? What if the legend is better than the truth?

Pitch-TV Show

Not enough people watched this show and I doubt it is going to get a second season. Pity. It was really good. And it was something new and interesting in sea of cop shows, medical procedurals, and nighttime soaps like Scandal. When a show like this doesn't get a big enough audience I want to scream "Ugh! THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS." But I'm grateful for the 10 episodes we got and am keeping my fingers crossed for more.

The premise of the show is that Ginny Baker is the first woman to play in the Major leagues. The show starts on the day of her first start after being called up. It flashes back to how her father turned her into the talent that can make history. Several episodes deal with unique problems that a woman would have playing in an all male league, but overall the show is just good baseball and good TV.

  • They make it clear right off that she would be good enough to make it to the majors even if she were a man. Her fastball tops out in the high 80's, but she's got a great screwball and she knows where to put it. So she isn't a gimmick or a publicity stunt.
  • Major League Baseball partnered with the producers and the show was given unprecedented access to ballparks and other resources lending the show an impressive authenticity.
  • The star of the show Kylie Bunbury is credible as an athlete and although she is model gorgeous, this is television after all, when she's on the mound they don't put a bunch of makeup and glamour on her. She is obviously a very slender woman but not skinny. They show her working out and she is clearly an athletic woman. But...She is a little small. Although she is also a pitcher which is the one position a really skinny man can thrive at. So I guess a skinny woman could too. I can concede that but still think the character of Ginny Baker should look a bit more like Serena Williams. 
  • Sabermetrics and other analytics get a wonderful amount of screen time. We number nerds watching were giddy. 
  • A woman's different physiology only gets mentioned once and it is at the perfect time, when it is pointing out an advantage, our more elastic ligaments. 
  • Mark-Paul Gosslear is the world weary but wise sage of a catcher that we love from every baseball movie. 
  • She plays for the San Diego Padres. Which was the perfect team to choose. The Padres have an interesting history. They often have the talent but they just can't put enough wins together. So it is realistic to see her bring so much attention to the team and then have them lose in front of sell out crowds. It's also good writing that when they lose it is rarely directly her responsibility.
  • If the show has a weak point it is that it has too many romantic plotlines. If ever there was a woman who was too busy to date it would be the first woman in the MLB with her professional and promotional obligations. No matter how many times Ginny Baker says she doesn't need a man, the show keeps trying to give her one. 

A majority of my baseball research is directed towards women who have played professional baseball in some capacity or affected the game in a significant way. And I have always argued that the first sport that women will compete against men in will be baseball. Women don't currently grow muscles big enough for football or hockey. And although some women are tall enough for the NBA the way the game is coached and played in high school and college and even in the WNBA keeps women from developing the game necessary to join the gents. But a baseball player only needs to be 5'9 and about 175 to be effective. That's a pretty reasonable size for a woman. And as far as the ability to swing a bat there are women like the aforementioned Serena Williams that could've grown up learning how to hit home runs. We funnel females into softball and away from baseball in junior high. If we don't. If we let girls play. A woman will play in the major leagues. And that is what makes Pitch so fun. It could happen. It eventually will happen. It is speculative fiction involving the best sport man ever invented.