WOMEN CAN DO WHAT MEN DO

In 1943, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed. Men 18 and over were drafted and sent off to war. This caused the minor league teams to be disbanded. Leaving a serious need for baseball. A couple of big wig businessmen got together and came up with the concept of women playing baseball.  I wrote about this a little over a year ago in "AWAKENING THE DREAMERS, MAKING HISTORY."

The teams were set up for failure, being put in small, out of the way towns. Once the war was over, and the men started returning to the field, the AAGPBL had no chance at survival. No one would travel to these small towns to watch women play, when they could go to local cities and watch "real" baseball. The AAGPBL lost ticket sales, and eventually had to be completely disbanded.

Growing up both a girl and a baseball fan, one of my most tragic childhood dreams were of becoming a ball player. A Yankee, preferably, but I would've been happy to play in any major league team. I just wanted to play. My dream, of course, ended way before it ever could become anything. Girls did not play baseball. My dreams shattered, I kept hope alive that maybe one day, when the world was a more accepting place, some other little girls dream would come to fruition, and she would take the field, and blow us all away with her incredible talent. Well, it's 2016. The San Diego Padres just called up their next big pitcher. A prospect with a ton of promise. A pitcher with a lethal screwball, who happens to be a woman. Kind of.

"PITCH" airs Thursdays at 9pm on FOX

Last week, Fox premiered a new show "Pitch," set around the concept of the first woman to play in the Major Leagues, and I am absolutely addicted to it. Kylie Bunbury plays the very talented screwball pitcher, Ginny Baker. The show tackles gender politics in the sports world, and it's everything I expected it to be. Ginny has to handle the pressure of being the first female in the major leagues, all the expectations, and bias that comes along with that while learning where she fits in with her teammates, and her place in history in general. From the sexist comments made, the focus on her appearance, the belief that she is not as talented as the men, and the little girls hold up "I'm Next" signs, the show does an incredible job of presenting exactly what I think would happen in the event that the day ever came when a female would grace the field.

Look, I'm not good at mincing words, so I won't sugar coat this... sports is a male dominated field and females are almost never taken seriously. Just look at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The USA Women's Gymnastics team was incredible! The Final Five performed beautifully and managed to win the gold in the Team All-Around competition.

During the ceremony, Gabrielle Douglas stood at attention while the National Anthem played. People absolutely lost their collective minds. The outrage was absolutely ridiculous! People were calling her unpatriotic and a slew of other names. Douglas who was standing on the podium after receiving a gold medal for helping her team in the All-Around. Meanwhile, the most decorated Olympian of All-Time, Michael Phelps laughed during the National Anthem, and people were quick to rationalize it away. To be fair, I'm not upset over either of these, but if I had to call one of these unpatriotic, it certainly wouldn't be the young lady who stood at attention.

Katie Ledecky of Team USA's Women's Swim Team is a complete phenom. I'm almost convinced the woman is really a mermaid. Ledecky set a world record of 8:04:11 in the 800-meter freestyle, a full 11 seconds faster than the silver medalist. Commentators and the media were seriously impressed with the "Female Michael Phelps." Conner Jaeger, a 2012 Olympian, commented that "Her stroke is like a man's stroke." He qualified that by saying "I mean that in a positive way. She swims like a man." As if her talent is directly related to her ability to emulate her male counterparts.

When it comes to women in sports, they have to work 10 times harder than their male counterparts to be taken even slightly as seriously. They are laughed at, ridiculed, almost never taken seriously, and often sexualized. And this isn't exclusive to athletes. Female sports commentators and writers also have to face these issues. The great Suzyn Waldman is often described as annoying. I once asked someone why they disliked her so much, and his response was because she wouldn't stop talking long enough to let the men speak. I was surprised and a little sad. Very few people actually realize how intelligent and well spoken she is. She truly is a pioneer for women in the field, and she very rarely gets seen as such. But she is not the only victim of these such mentalities. Back in April a video surfaced of men reading mean tweets about sportswriters Julie DiCaro and Sarah Spain. You can watch it below, but be warned, if you have not yet seen it, it will make you angry.

The tweets in the video were very real. The reaction of the men in the video is very real and raw. Just imagine being the woman those tweets are aimed at.  It is absolutely ridiculous, and really heartbreaking.

Now I will say this, I have been incredibly lucky. At Bleeding Yankee Blue, and in my life in general, I am surrounded by men who appreciate smart, sports savvy women. But I am under no delusion that the everyone is like that. Last year, when I wrote about Melissa Mayeux, the first woman to be added to the MLB's international registration list, a reader pointed out that it was unlikely she would become the next Jackie Robinson. I do not think it was malicious, just a simple point of fact on how things unfortunately work. But in recent years, women have been making more and more strides in sports, and it gives me a glimmer of hope.

(In Photo: Justine Siegal)
Justine Siegal was the first female coach of a professional men's baseball team in 2009, when she worked with the Brockton Rox. She became the first female to throw batting practice to a MLB team in 2011, with the Cleveland Indians, and became the first female MLB Coach in 2015 when the Oakland A's invited her on as a guest instructor for their Instructional League Club.

(In photo: Becky Hammon)
Becky Hammon became an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Jen Welter was a training camp intern coach for the Arizona Cardinals, and Nancy Lieberman as assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings. I'm almost certain I am missing a few but my point is simply that there is progress being made. It's incredibly slow going, and sometimes that is very frustrating, especially for fans like myself. But it is happening.

"Pitch" takes all of this into account. It is very real in its approach. What would happen when the first woman takes the field to play in the MLB? The same thing that happened when Jackie Robinson broke the color lines. I wish I could say that people wouldn't care, but that is untrue. There will be many who cheer her on, myself included. Many, many young girls will be overjoyed and run to get her jersey, because representation matters, and seeing a woman on the field is like seeing themselves out there. People will hang onto her every word, her every action. And some will absolutely oppose it. They will look for any reason to say "See, this is why women shouldn't play pro sports." She will have to be strong, and dedicated with an immense love of the game, and herself because she will face scrutiny that has not been seen since the Dodgers placed a black man in uniform on the field to play for them.

I feel a little romantic watching "Pitch." Even knowing all of this, I still look forward to the day it becomes a reality, and I only hope it happens within my lifetime. To live to witness the first female MLB player would be an incredible dream come true.

To the Ginny Baker's of the world, the Melissa Mayeux's, we're rooting for you. We believe in you. You can do it!

--Erica Morales

BYB Senior Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @e_morales1804

WHAT KEEPS YOU A CHAMPION AT ANY AGE

Watching 35-year-old Anthony Ervin win gold in the 50m freestyle swim at the Rio Olympic Games on Friday the same night that Alex Rodriguez played his final game as a Yankee was a reflective moment for me as an athlete who is in her 40s.  Then I saw this quote via a Tweet:

Did Alex Rodriguez gamble with his time as a key player in the baseball world?  Did Anthony Ervin take his body for granted after winning gold in 1996 and not winning again until 2016?  What does it take to be a lifelong champion?

According to the book, The Champion's Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train and Thrive, "To perform at a champion's level, you must have a winning off-field game plan that includes specific strategies-for instance well-placed environmental cues that you can use to achieve your excellence and remind yourself that you are working to win."  A winning off-field game plan, which does not include performance enhancing supplements.  The environment that you put yourself in can support your growth or deter it.  There are no easy fixes or short cuts.

31-year-old Michael Phelps owned his mistakes and got back into the pool despite his demons.  By now you probably have seen the Under Armour commercial featuring Phelps training in the dark, when no one else is looking.  Those are the well-placed environmental cues an athlete can use to achieve his/her excellence.

For Rodriguez, it was a matter of not believing in himself to achieve greatness without supplements, without cheating.  His environment did not support his growth as an athlete, instead it blocked him from competing at a level that he himself created, not PEDs.

For his final game as a Yankee my 18-year-old son, who has been enamored by the Olympics and as deep a Yankee fan as myself, watched Rodriguez at the Stadium from second row seats with both sadness and regret.  Rodriguez could have been so much more than he was to the game as a player.  I don't know if it was the pressure to perform at a higher level as a Yankee, giving up his preferred position of shortstop to conform to the Yankee defensive plan and being told he would anchor the team's offense that lead him down his bad path or if he just didn't believe he could train and be who he wanted to be as an athlete without supplements.

Despite all of these obstacles, Alex Rodriguez has the numbers of a lifelong champion and perhaps a hall of famer.  What builds you as a champion at a young age should stay with you as you mature. For athletes like Rodriguez, Ervin, and Phelps, it's about committing to the long hours in the gym, giving up events like Simone Biles did to become the 4'8" gymnast that conquered the world at the Games and it's what you do when no one else is looking that defines you as an athlete who knows he or she has done everything possible to be at his/her best.

At the end of the day, no matter your age, whether you are 15 or 50, "You have to train your mind like you train your body," Bruce Jenner.  Rodriguez may be done as a Yankee, but will he reinvent himself with another team? Will he reinvent himself as an athlete?  What keeps you a champion at any age is yourself and your willingness to eat clean and train dirty- thinking it and then doing it, visualize to actualize and feed your spirit.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof

GAME FACE IN RIO REFLECTIVE OF A TRUE CHAMPION!

We've all seen it by now.  The Michael Phelps game face like I've never seen before, except maybe in football or when Derek Jeter stepped into Fenway Park for each series he played against his nemesis the Red Sox.  The eye of tiger, the resting bitch face, the stare down, the glare, the clear the mechanism face that shows you are focused on one thing...winning.

But not just winning, crushing the opponent with one bold look.  You know the look.  If looks could kill, that South African swimmer would be in the grave.  Since Phelps started it, let's take a look at game faces across sports.

Here's Jeter giving that look to the Red Sox team as he passed Carl Yastzemski on the all time hit list with his 3,420th.  That stared down says, yes, don't mess with me, I'm a champion.

Game faced champion Peyton Manning stretching before the Super Bowl.  Known more for his smiles than jeers, Manning shows focus and intention with his look to kill.

Not to be out done, former NFL and NY Giants kicker, Steve Weatherford, is always up for a challenge whether it is in the gym or on the field.  His look says he is ready to kill it, whether it is the ball or the punching bag.

"Twenty-five years ago, one of the most famous commercials of all time debuted: Gatorade's "Be Like Mike." It debuted on August 8, 1991 and it featured iconic NBA star Michael Jordan who always had that look.  He exemplifies champion like no other, even being present to support the retirement of the great Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium.

Not to be out done, LeBron James got it done with this look followed by an unbelievable performance to bring home the NBA Championship to his home state of Ohio.  That determined look earned James 82 points in Games four and five and 27 points in the final against Golden State.

Sharing his motivation with youth across the world with his Rock Clock App,  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, stares down his opponents like they are meaningless.  He defeats them mentally with a look that could turn a challenger to stone.  

Champions like USA gymnast Gabby Douglas are focused and they stay focused despite the fame, despite the nerves and despite distractions that surround them in their field of competition.  No matter the outcome, champions thrive, they comeback and they win.  

Perhaps the Phelps' look will go down as the all time best game face.  His gritty determination is paramount to his successful comeback as a premier athlete who craves gold.  His motivation bleeds into the hearts of young people across the world and on his USA Olympic Team.  This is an important look for our Yankee youth to learn as they focus their competitive spirit on winning ball games now in our farm system as they prepare for baseball's infamous stage in 2017.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof

PINEDA'S DUI IS WORSE THAN MELKY'S LIE. DON'T GET IT TWISTED

Michael Pineda. Melky Cabrera. I swear, the 2 of them should move in together. For everyone out there that are grouping us "writers" into the same category for ignoring or excusing the horrendous behavior of Michael Pineda and his DUI charge (read HERE), know this; I found his decision to drive drunk idiotic, immature and shameful. That being said, I have no problem throwing Melky into a similar category. But let me be clear, whatever stupid chemical Melky wants to put into his body is his decision. It doesn't hurt others, only himself. In the arena of public opinion however, I find him to be a liar and a disappointment which is why I was calling for Major League Baseball to create Public Service announcements with Melky speaking, to be played on both MLB.com as well as TV and radio for kids to see and learn from. Read MELKY CABRERA: WHEN SUNSHINE TURNS TO DARKNESS. But it's not just Melky, it's all those guys who don't think about getting caught and didn't think about the kids who worship their every at bat.

I wasn't piling on Melky, but I was making him the example because quite simply...enough's enough. Now I've heard people tell me that because Melky isn't a Yankee and most of us that read this site are Yankee fans, it really doesn't affect us.  It does, trust me, it does.  Melky isn't the only one, this is true, but taking illegal substance and cheating is wrong and all those guys need to be held responsible.

Now think about Michael Pineda for a moment. What he did, drive drunk, could have actually killed someone. Look at how many cases involve drunk driving every year. What Michael Pineda did was worse because it could have altered another person or families life forever. Look, I'm not the cops, I'm not some dude who is a goodie-goodie, but I understand pain. That being said, I am deeply bothered by top athletes and celebrities and their poor choices.  The immediate excuse from athletes is usually "Well, I never asked for all this fame. I just want to be a normal person. I never wanted to be a celebrity." Message to these athletes... You're in the public eye, that in turn makes you a public figure which in turn makes you a role model, like it or not.

Would I call for a PSA for Michael Pineda as well? Absolutely. But there is just so much more to all of this.  The importance of these stories.  I tend to take it to a personal level, that's just me.  I have kids that look up to athletes.  My 8 year old is a swimmer and was riveted to the Olympics and Michael Phelps.

My oldest loves baseball and appreciates the long ball and guys that are hot with the bat and the ones that aren't... well, they fall by the waste side.  The point is much like the hot gadget of the week, athletes that play well get attention and in turn become popular.  Melky got hot this year. My son thought he was something else and when it went down that he cheated, I was questioned by my kid about his mistakes. That doesn't jive with me.  I won't protect these guys when it comes to wrong decisions and me having to tip toe around it. I damn sure won't protect Pineda for his behavior either.

At the end of the day, I believe everyone can turn their life around.  Who knows what will happen to Melky Cabrera and Michael Pineda, but if they have a drive and dedication to get back after their serious mistakes, good for them. I believe in second chances. I also believe everyone has a destiny.  We'll just have to see what happens to those guys.  I'll tell you what though, don't throw BYB in the pot of blowing off the Pineda story. It's an important story, maybe even bigger than the Melky story, because his decision could have have very serious consequences... To accuse BYB of ignoring it is just plain ridiculous.

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