Baseball is very American and extremely masculine. So far not a single woman has been accepted into the American major league. Since last year, however, the gender line has been crossed more and more. How difficult it is for women to walk in baseball and which women are finally getting involved, you can find out in our series “Sportswoman”.
In short, baseball is for Americans. Yes, exactly, there was deliberately no gendering, because unfortunately it is a fact. Although women love and love to play baseball, everything that happens around the sport is geared towards men. The games are moderated and commented on by men, reports are provided by the players’ wives, similar to football, and the women play in the minor league at most. But since last year there have been some historical gender boundary transgressions. Can they change something now?
The path of women playing baseball often ends early
Women who really want to play baseball these days need staying power. Most of them drop out in the Little League – that is, in children’s club sport – because the first huge hurdle is pending in high school: A woman is usually not allowed access to the baseball team on the grounds that there is softball to compensate for her . It should be noted at this point, however, that men, on the other hand, both sports – baseball and Softball are available. It is also common for men who play non-professional or semi-professional baseball to be active on softball teams. So softball is not as reserved for women as baseball is for men.
There is certainly no lack of interest and associations among women
Because in the middle of the 19th century there was already the first female baseball team at Vassar College. In the 1890s it was the Bloomer Girls – named after the creator of their loose training pants, Amelia Bloomer – who roamed the States, challenging semi-professional men’s teams in some cases and in most cases even taking home the victory. In 1943 the first All-American Girls Baseball League was founded. The main interest in founding the company, however, has a bitter aftertaste. With the entry of the USA into World War II, so many male professional athletes were sent to the front lines that only very few professional sports teams in the major league were able to compete. The girls should keep the most popular sport in the USA afloat.
The success of the baseball players is being held back
And although, due to the keen interest, numerous women’s baseball teams have come together since then and – similar to football – their own world championships are organized and held for this purpose, the success of women baseball players is often held back. The best example of this is Ila Borders. She was the first woman to receive a scholarship to men’s college baseball and was also the first woman to pitcher professional baseball in the men’s minor league in 1998. Although she was responsible for numerous victories and, according to many colleagues, it was not due to her performance, no major league baseball team – the highest league of baseball – agreed to accept her as a player. She ended her short career in frustration in 2000.
Hope Melissa Mayeux gives up
Melissa Mayeux came a little further. As a 16-year-old, she even made it onto the North American Major League’s international shortlist, which means she could sign professional baseball clubs in the US and Canada. That was in 2015, so far nothing of the kind has happened. And that despite the fact that the native French was a real rebel, because she, too, claims to have been repeatedly reminded that she should switch to softball because it is still – and wrongly – spread that girls have slower reflexes than boys and thus have a would have a greater risk of injury. “I wanted to keep playing because I knew that this was my sport and being a girl was no justification for quitting,” she said in a 2015 interview with World. After that, there was no personal comment, only the fact that Mayeux is now playing for the University of Louisiana softball team. Since someone from the top has advised you to switch. Too bad.
Can two managers finally ensure the necessary equal opportunities?
The condition of women – similar to women’s football – is still not nice. But now there could finally be female allies in management who give the baseball players enough attention and thus finally bring about equal opportunities in baseball. In the winter of 2020, Kim Ng will be the general manager of the Miami Marlins baseball club. The 51-year-old is the first woman to manage a team in one of the four major North American professional leagues. She is therefore also responsible for putting the squad together.
Rachel Balkovec has also recently taken on an important position. The 34-year-old will be the minor team Tarponsorganized by the New York Yankees. As a former player, she knows exactly what hurdles are waiting for young women out there and she is also aware that this will historically flow into her actions. “I probably had to do a lot more than a male counterpart, but I like that because I’m so much better prepared for the challenges”. She is particularly looking forward to this because she can show that it is also possible for other women to be successful in baseball. Whether something will change is still in the stars. Maybe soon a woman from the top will bring Melissa Mayeux back into the game.
