Women In Baseball Part 1 (Players)

By Josh:

A few months ago I started writing a post on women in baseball. It started because the Mariners hired a full time female scout. That hadn’t happened in Major League Baseball for like 60 years. Also, MLB officially put a female teenager from France on the international registration list for prospects.

So I started writing about the question as to whether or not we will ever see a female play at the Major League level.  As much as I wanted to write the article I just couldn’t put the right words down for what I really wanted to say.

However, today I watched the video going around with guys reading mean tweets sent to female sports writers. When I saw that I instantly knew I needed to write something. Not just one article but a series.  I want to look at a few areas of baseball and my thoughts on whether women should or could be a part of those areas. This includes my previous question as to whether or not we will ever see a female player in MLB, should women be allowed to be coaches and scouts for MLB teams and the last one will be whether or not women should be TV and radio announcers for baseball.

This article is all about a potential female player in MLB.

Do I believe this will ever happen? Yes I do.

Do I think the female player will be a catcher or short stop? No.

I honestly think that the first female to make the MLB will be a pitcher, and even more specific she will be a knuckleball thrower. A good knuckleball pitcher requires more skill than strength and I believe that if a woman can develop the skill of throwing a good knuckleball she could go a long way.

Would I be in favor of my favorite team (Mariners) signing a female pitcher? They haven’t been to the playoffs in 15 years and if signing a female pitcher helped them get to the playoffs you better believe I would be all for it.  I want to see the best possible team on the field.

Will my daughter ever play baseball? No, but that isn’t because I don’t want her playing baseball but because I want her playing softball where she has the potential for earning a scholarship. Now I know full well she may not have the talent or drive to make it that far. I’m fine with that, but I want her playing in a sport she has a chance to continue on with.

This is honestly the one thing that may block a female from making it to the MLB. Females who want a chance at a college scholarship are going to pursue softball because that is where the scholarships are for them.

I also have to admit, baseball may have the bigger stadiums and money, but I actually enjoy watching and coaching softball more because it has more action then a baseball game but with all the strategy.

All of this to say if a female can play as good or better than a guy at the MLB level, then I say sign her. I want to see the best of the best.