I don't care if the story is true or not.
I choose to believe Mitchell did it.
So there.
15
What a brilliant accomplishment. I believe it is authentic, because of the logic noted in the article: 2 left handed batters facing a left handed pitcher they have never seen, could have been struck out especially when she threw a sinker. Put it this way: If this had been a teenage boy, most people would probably believe it. A well thrown sinker is a tough pitch to hit; especially if you have never seen the pitcher before. I also do not think anyone as talented as Ms. Mitchell would stoop to participating in a "publicity stunt", simply because it is cheating. She would feel very bad if she had (conspired), and terrible when and if it was revealed. That is why I find this completely plausible. Good for her.
12
I love the overlooked obits. Taking race and gender into account is a great tool for journalists to use. In my business I would like to base my hiring on race and gender but I am afraid I will be the subject of civil rights lawsuits and be accused of hate crimes.
3
Sure sounds like the opening to the book/film The Natural, where amateur Robert Redford strikes out "The Whammer" (i.e., Ruth). Wonder if Bernard Malamud was familiar with the Mitchell incident?
6
I never heard of this until just now, but my guess is that it was a stunt. Muhammad Ali would have approved.
1
Does anyone really believe that someone who could strike out Ruth and Gehrig would not pitch in the majors, because they happened to be a woman? Iif she was Black that would be a different story.
3
@D Does anyone really believe that women would not be allowed to vote? Oh, wait .... The answer is YES!
14
I hope this story inspires society to stop the separate but equal idea and lets women and men play together. Women’s sports is a form of gender apartheid and should be abolished. Women can do anything a man can do. If this story means anything, that is what it means.
8
@Shamrock That would certainly end the debate over whether intersex people should compete as women, or whether people should be "gender-tested" to participate in women's sports.
So why don't we hear more about ending gender-divided sports, and just running one, unisex event at the Olympics?
(Probably because there are real differences in ability between men and women, and there would be a dramatic fall in the number of women athletes)
10
@Shamrock I'm all for equal rights, but if women had to compete with men in most sports, there would be almost no female athletes.
14
That’s short sighted, if we did this you would lose many greats like Serena who is clearly from a talent prospective she’s a super hero. But would lose to a 2000 ranked man in tennis just on strength alone not skill just power.
It’s the same reason we have weight classes in boxing and a pound 4 pound list. In tennis I say Serena is the pound 4 pound great.
4