More Than a Movie

Twenty-five years later, A League Of Their Own still resonates. (via Chris Gigley)

It’s an interesting time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of the best baseball movies of all time, A League of Their Own. Social media is magnifying the gender gap and unleashing a mean-spiritedness that threatens the can-do spirit of women the film captured so well.

The 1992 classic, based on a professional all-female baseball league in the Midwest during World War II, highlighted characteristics we prize in ballplayers today–grit, determination, perseverance, etc. That the story applied these qualities to female ballplayers didn’t matter at the box office.

According to iMDB, A League of Their Own grossed more than $107 million in the U.S. and more than $132 million worldwide. It also made more than $53 million in rental sales at dearly departed Blockbuster Video stores across the country (Although one stays alive on Twitter).

But just as the movie depicted a different world from 1992, the ’90s seem distant now. Sexism existed 25 years ago, but the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle has made it impossible to ignore today.

The nation still isn’t completely over the undercurrent of sexism that ran through the 2016 presidential election. Oh, and the winning candidate said this. Never forget, because he keeps behaving badly, even with the whole world watching.

Reminders that sexism, like racism, is enduring pop up all the time. It’s in the media. (Look at what happened at Fox News.) It’s in Silicon Valley. It’s in Hollywood.

The sports world has plenty of it, too. The world was atwitter after tennis star Andy Murray corrected a reporter at his final Wimbledon press conference over a question that ignored women’s tennis. Speaking of sports journalism, researchers at the University of Missouri School of Journalism released a study showing that microaggressions against female athletes in the media increased by almost 40 percent from the 2012 Summer Olympic Games to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

It’s not just the way sports are covered, either. Jessica Luther recently wrote an excellent article for Bleacher Report about Girls Travel Baseball, a Florida-based national travel baseball team for girls that competes against boys’ teams in tournaments all over the country. If you want the sour taste of sexism in this day and age, just sit in the stands at one of their games.

Here’s a sample from Luther’s story:

The girls of GTB are always on the lookout for the hate. They never know if what they are getting is simply bad sportsmanship or if it’s intentional because they are girls. Either way, they are always on alert. They once played a tournament in which three teams dropped out when they found out they’d have to play an all-girls team. For a while, GTB submitted rosters with only the girls’ first initials and their last names. The girls describe how often they get hit by pitches while at the plate or hit by balls while running the bases (they can’t prove they get hit more than the boys, but they all believe it to be true).

The hate doesn’t just happen on the field. After the first game the Prime Team played in Miami, Julie Clines, whose daughter Olivia plays on the team, saw a grown man standing near the field, flapping his arms around, mimicking the girls, saying “I’m a girl ballplayer.” Clines told the tournament director, but there was nothing he could do. “We’re used to it,” she said, angry but resigned.

Meanwhile, people like that so-called grown man had a field day on Twitter when Jessica Mendoza, ESPN’s first female baseball analyst, called the Home Run Derby in Miami this month. Not that that was anything new, really. She takes a beating from the Twitterverse on a regular basis. (And not just from mouth breathers, either.)

It is through this lens that America has spent this summer reminiscing about A League of Their Own. Mendoza contributed to an excellent oral history of A League of Their Own that ran on ESPNw in June. Several major league teams and even more minor league teams have commemorated the film with everything from special player-worn jerseys to actor appearances and bobblehead dolls.

Back in June, The Hardball Times attended one such celebration held at one of the original sites for the movie, League Stadium in Huntingburg, Ind.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

League Stadium still looks much like it has since it got its movie makeover. (via Chris Gigley)

The exit off I-64 in southern Indiana seems like a mistake. Easing onto Indiana State Route 162 doesn’t seem right. The GPS has malfunctioned, a thought that only gets more alarming when it orders a quick turn left from 162 onto a road that bends, dips and twists through an industrial park and then an endless emerald sea of giant corn stalks interrupted only occasionally by modest farmhouses and weatherbeaten barns. Only after about 20 minutes of this do descending speed-limit signs hint at an approaching town. It’s Huntingburg.

League Stadium is on the right, set back in a quaint little park tucked between the city pool and, yep, more corn fields. Location scouts for A League of Their Own really nailed it when they managed to find this place and pick it as the home of the fictional Rockford Peaches.

We know, there was a real Rockford Peaches, too. That team played in the All-American Girls Baseball League from 1943 through 1954 at Beyer Stadium, which is still in the process of being restored to host the Rockford Starfires of the Women’s Hardball/Baseball League.

League Stadium was an excellent stand-in for the film. The main grandstand dates all the way back to 1894, but the stadium got a major overhaul leading up to the movie shoot, which started in July of 1991. Columbia Pictures negotiated with the town to expand the stadium to its current 2,783 capacity and enhance the early-20th century character it already had. What was left after the movie crew left town is a rustic stadium reminiscent of Birmingham, Ala.’s venerable Rickwood Field.

Nods to the film are still all over the ballpark. The old manual scoreboard has “Rockford Peaches” splashed across it. Many of the outfield billboard ads are painted to look like they’re from the ‘40s. The tiny gift shop sells T-shirts printed with “There’s No Crying in Baseball…” And wedged beneath the grandstand is a life-size shadowbox of the Peaches’ locker room set.

League Stadium now hosts the local high school team, the Raiders, and a college summer league team, the Dubois County Bombers. The Bombers wear knicker-style uniforms designed to look like early-20th century uniforms, and the team slogan is “Where Every Night is Throwback Night.”

The slogan is dead on. For baseball fans who still hold a candle for places like Chicago’s Comiskey Park, Detroit’s Tiger Stadium and the original Durham Athletic Park featured in the 1988 baseball movie gold standard Bull Durham, seeing a Bombers game at League isn’t a recommendation, it’s a must.

The best place to take in the whole scene is atop the renovated grandstand, where a wide aisle gives fans plenty of space to stand and catch a nice breeze from ceiling fans that cut through the thick humidity of a Midwestern summer. The whole town gathers for Bombers games, eating hot dogs, brats, and homemade fried peach pies from the concession stand, washing it down with locally made Dad’s root beer. If you could sum up summer with one place, this would be it.

But to say League Stadium reminds you of the good old days really depends on who you are. Today’s female athletes probably would balk at wearing a uniform that included a skirt.

The women weren’t overly fond of their skirts, and it’s easy to see why. (via Chris Gigley)

The 25th anniversary festivities in Huntingburg included an exhibition game between the Peaches and Belles, a la the climactic championship game in A League of Their Own. Many of the players were softballers from nearby colleges, and their faces told two stories. One, they enjoyed playing. Two, they weren’t thrilled with the skirts.

Overall, however, the game was a hit with everyone in the stands. The public address announcer called the game over the speakers, just like in the film, and the game went along quickly. Not as quickly as the players shed those skirted uniforms after the game, though.

A few of them stuck around for the Bombers game, but most left in the early innings, slinging duffles stuffed with bats, gloves and other equipment over their shoulders. In A League of Their Own, the characters left the ballpark of that championship game knowing a more conventional life for women of that day and age awaited them, if not right away then eventually.

Not these softball players. They, along with Mendoza and the Girls Travel Baseball players may still have to deal with sexism, but clearly they’re not going to be stopped by it. Sexism endures, unfortunately, but this is a different age after all, even with all the bad stuff swirling around in politics, the media, sports and society in general.

Here’s what Billy Bean, vice president and special assistant to commissioner Rob Manfred, had to say about A League of Their Own in that ESPNw piece:

This movie is no different than having young girls watch Venus and Serena Williams play tennis. If they see an image they can relate to, it makes them want to try something. To inspire is something to really behold.”

Hopefully A League of Their Own does keep inspiring women and girls to try baseball and other historically male-dominated sports and fields. By the time the 50th anniversary of the film rolls around, maybe they won’t have to put up with as much grief as women today and the women of the All-American Girls Baseball League.


Chris Gigley is a freelance writer who has written for a number of Major League team publications, as well as Baseball America and ESPN the Magazine. Follow him on Instagram @cgigley and Twitter @cgigley.
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Eddie
6 years ago

“The girls of GTB are always on the lookout for the hate. … The girls describe how often they get hit by pitches while at the plate or hit by balls while running the bases (they can’t prove they get hit more than the boys, but they all believe it to be true).”

Oh, yeah, this totally sounds like a great way to produce healthy, confident adults.

Curtis
6 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

Yeah I found that quote pretty weak too. As a journalist it seems like you would recognize this is a really subjective view and just leave it out. If you look for hate, you’re gonna find it. I’m getting a little tired of all the viewpoint journalism we see now. Too often the writer seems to start with a premise and then only report the material that fits the premise. Its a shame because the movie was both a great movie and inspiring and there’s some great material in this story but the slant of the article at the opening is a bit of a turn off for me.

RA
6 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

I mean, some of the best athletes in the world are famous for taking any small perceived dig at them and using it as motivation. Aaron Rodgers still talks about how he didn’t receive a D1 or D2 scholarship and is renowned for the “chip on his shoulder”. During his Hall of Fame speech, Michael Jordan made a point to call out his high school basketball coach for not placing him on the varsity basketball team like 40 years ago and he’s regarded as “the greatest competitor that ever lived.”

Now, maybe you think these athletes are slightly unhinged and this attitude isn’t necessarily healthy but from the way I’ve seen people write and talk about them, it sure seems like they are perceived in a positive light.

OttoTheBum
6 years ago

I made it to “microaggression”. Life’s too short for this soft Pinko site; I come here for baseball, not sermons from the priests of political correctness.

Either the editors of this site recently converted to the Marxist faith – and they see as their holy duty the fomenting of social ruptures, or the editors exercise poor judgment in hiring zealots whose opinions rightfully belong in the Salon.com comment bin.

Whichever of the two is true, the editors of this site have abandoned their readers in favor of pious proclamations. They might enjoy self-flagellation, but this bum ain’t on board.

Joe
6 years ago
Reply to  OttoTheBum

Wow, Otto, you are one angry white guy. Maybe you oughta sray in your mommy’s basement safe room, with your case of doritos, and keep watching your Siuth Park libertarian bullshit

Morris Buttermaker
6 years ago

I’ve heard all the hate about Jessica Mendoza and honestly I was at first skeptical of a female baseball announcer. But she won me over the first broadcast I saw. She is intelligent and explains the game in a way that’s explanatory to new fans but not boring to old ones. I will take her over Curt Schilling or Joe buck any day.

Now if only espn would get rid of that damn box and the dots for every pitch. Then maybe I could watch sunday night baseball again.

Chris
6 years ago

^ part of the problem

Chris
6 years ago
Reply to  Chris

To be clear, not intended for Buttermaker. More for the heads-in-the-sand company.

KurtP
6 years ago
Reply to  Chris

Chris, buddy, if we stopped reading before the end because we opened a baseball story and found a political one, then no matter how superior you feel … you lose.

Morris Buttermaker
6 years ago
Reply to  Chris

Wait. What exactly is part of the problem?

Mike Easler
6 years ago

We really do need to separate foolish comments made by a politician, and unknown people on twitter, from what is really going on. Women’s sports have never been better, and softball has been tremendous in providing opportunities for both girls and women. The movie succeeded in telling a story which wasn’t well-known at the time, and did inspire participation in softball.

It seems doubtful baseball would ever replace softball in popularity for girls and women. Softball’s appeal is the point of entry, along with the scholarship opportunities available later on. It’s really up to the population to decide, resources and interest will play a major role.

David B.
6 years ago

This is my last comment and last visit to Hardball Times – a website that I have frequented since its inception. It was one of my first baseball blog bookmarks. But we’re done. I don’t have any interest in the social issues you are pushing.

For the record, I am a father of a young girl. We love baseball and attend major league games regularly. We play ball in the backyard during free time. It’s one of many activities we do. I don’t really care if my daughter becomes a baseball player or an engineer or a barista, so long as she understands that life is about choices and those choices are the primary factor in her success. The President’s tweets and sexism of some have no bearing at all on it.

For the record, I am a husband of a pilot. My wife flies 737’s. Her choices were the primary factor in her success.

The women in my life accomplish what they want because they work hard and don’t make excuses. They’re not on “the lookout for hate” because they don’t spend their time worrying about other people and their social issues. They are only aware of cultural Marxism to the extent that people try to inform them of either A) their victim hood status of being women or B) their oppressor status of being white. Thankfully, they don’t have the mind virus of feminist marxism, so they just laugh and go on their way.

Good luck with your endeavors. I’ll know show myself the door and find a new site to visit.

Regards,
David

OttoTheBum
6 years ago
Reply to  David B.

Check your privilege, white devil!

Dave Kingman
6 years ago

Good God, this site is going into the toilet faster than you can say “Jackie Robinson”.

If it wasn’t the leftist, politically correct and fraudulent claptrap put out by Sarah Wexler and Mary Craig, it’s this detritus from some clown named Chris Gigley. Who confidently asserts that sexism played a role in the last election, and that ‘microagresssions’ exist.

Is this the product of our public education system today, as well as the secondary education system? I notice that Wexler, Craig and Gigley all appear to be fairly recent college graduates in their mid 20s. God help our country if that’s the case.

How about simply recounting the history of the Women’s League, describing some of the niceties of the ballparks involved, and leaving it at that? I’d be interested in that. Sort of a Topps Card Corner of the Women’s League. That would be worthwhile reading.

Are you really that insecure and narcissistic that you think people are going to be influenced by your beta-male projections of a (supposed) aggrieved Identity Politics group?

I feel sorry for what your children will become.

Paul Swydanmember
6 years ago
Reply to  Dave Kingman

To Dave and others who are offended,

First, I can assure that Chris is not in his 20s. He is a father of teenagers, and while I don’t know his exact age, I’m guessing he is in his 40s because I am 38 and he is older than me.

Second, at this site we strive to offer a variety of different types of content, and have since the site’s inception. The types of content are now more concentrated now that we only run one story per day, but the site’s mission hasn’t changed.

Third, there isn’t a single article that we run on this site that is going to please everyone. When we run deep statistical analysis, lots of people check out because they don’t understand it or don’t care. When we run deep historical dives on a specific piece, lots of people check out because they don’t find that history relevant to their lives. I don’t see commentary articles as any different. If the viewpoint espoused by Chris or our other very talented writers is not your thing, that stinks, but it’s not really any different for us.

In short, we’ll always try to provide a broad spectrum of content and writers. If that’s not what you’re looking for in a baseball website, then I’m sorry to see you go.

Best,

Paul

Dave Kingman
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Swydan

Thanks for the reply Paul. I’m glad to see you’re man enough to engage with (once loyal) readers.

But it’s your funeral. Your tone has a whiff of what’s going at CNN right now, as they continue to double and triple down on a failed strategy that is sending their ratings into the dumper.

Good luck to you. You’ll need it.

Paul Swydanmember
6 years ago
Reply to  Dave Kingman

I’ll have to take your word on that. I haven’t watched CNN or any other cable news channel in well over a decade. Thanks for the well wishes.

A Former Progressive
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Swydan

– “broad spectrum of content and writers”

– continually publishes nakedly political pieces all parroting the exact same extremist dogma

Why can’t progressives ever be honest about what they’re doing?

Paul Swydanmember
6 years ago

If you’re going to sit here and blithely ignore stories on baseball books, pitchers mixing speeds, star pitcher’s home run problems, profiles on a double-a catcher or pieces on baseball cards — all stories we’ve run in the past week or will tomorrow — I can’t help you. I’m sorry you think you are being lied to. I have better things to do with my time than lie to a person on the internet who doesn’t even have the nerve to list his or her real name in his or her comment. Have a great day.

A Former Progressive
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Swydan

That’s just a dodge. Obviously you publish non-political pieces as well. But when you do get political, which is increasingly frequent, there is nothing “broad” about your viewpoints. They are in lockstep with each other. You’re so far gone that just the other day you had a literal communist gender-studies-splain to us how to do baseball.

If it’s too much to ask you to stop dragging your politics into every single facet of life, just please be honest about what those politics are. They’re not “broad,” they’re not “diverse,” they’re not a “spectrum.” THT is about baseball history, analysis, and left-wing politics through a Marxist social justice lens.

Is that so hard to say?

David B.
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Swydan

Paul,

Baseball brings people together of all different views. You have recently brought on-board three writers that whose articles divide people. If you don’t believe me, re-read the comments on their articles.

So while you may act indignant, the truth is there a huge difference between finding a baseball article on one of my longtime favorite baseball sites that talks about an aspect of baseball of which I’m uninterested…… and finding a baseball article on one of my favorite baseball sites that isn’t actually about baseball, and is yet another tiresome social issue piece.

Like you, I don’t watch CNN. Or Foxnews. Or any cable news show. For a reason. So imagine how annoying it is to find their divisiveness filtering into my daily sports reading.

I hope that clears up why I’m removing hardball times from the rotation.

And for the record, as I like to say, I’m not a republican or conservative. I’m a-political. I find SJW nonsense offensive to rational thought, but I don’t want them banned or persecuted. I simply don’t want to have their divisive nonsense in my baseball blogs. I don’t see why that’s such a difficult ask.

Regards,
David

Dave Kingman
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Swydan

Hey Paul, I’ve got an idea that might make us all happy.

To show your support for “broad perspectives” why don’t you give me, A Former Progressive and few others a chance to balance the scorecard?

We’ll write an article called ‘Baseball Analysis: A Celebration of Broads.’ For a Broad Perspective. Get it?

It will include riveting in-depth analysis, nostalgic anecdotes, and memorable photos of female fans with big boobs.

I still have my signed photos of me and Morganna from some old Reds games I attended. And we can provide current commentary from Milwaukee with clips and news that involve Brewers’ superfan Front Row Amy. Link Below.

http://sportsmockery.com/2015/08/this-brewers-superfan-loves-to-show-off-her-boobs-during-games/

I’ll also use some SABR-metrics to show how Front Row Amy creates a slightly disproportional home-field advantage for the Brew Crew, undoubtedly because she distracts the visiting team whilst the Brewers retain their natural comfort level with her presence.

That effect vanished for Morganna’s games of course, since she surprised both the home and visiting teams with equal measure.

Deal? Now THAT would celebrate a broad perspective! Rrrrowrr!

After all, that’s what you claim you support. Right?

Paul Swydanmember
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Swydan

Dave Kingman – Very nicely done, turning my words around on me. Let me know how the research goes about how Amy affects visiting teams.

David B. – I think I have a hard time squaring up your view that you don’t want certain groups of people banned but that you don’t want them on the site you like to read. Would that not be banning them? As for the comment about baseball bringing people together, it can do that. But it can also spark discussion. I don’t think said discussions need to divide people — I’d like to think we can all talk in a civilized manner without dividing ourselves. And I think here at THT and at FanGraphs, we have a community who is far better at that than most places on the internet.

AFP – Again, I think you’re going overboard with your critiques of our writers. One of the pieces people are complaining about was about an awards ceremony that we have promoted literally every year since even before I was the managing editor here. Today’s piece is about a movie – a movie that has been covered on plenty of other baseball websites this season. If you didn’t care for the piece on baseball jargon, I’m sorry to hear that, but there is no conspiracy to try to turn you into a Marxist.

I think, at the end of the day, we may simply disagree on this issue, but I appreciate all of your comments and your passion for our website. I hope that you will keep reading, and do so with an open mind.

A Former Progressive
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Swydan

This is getting funny. I keep asking you to just be honest about your site’s progressive political agenda, and what’s your response?

“Oh, it’s just a story about a popular baseball movie! [opens with 600 words of SEXISM and DONALD DRUMPF SUX] And that other one was just a harmless little piece about baseball jargon. [entire thing is about how baseball words are RACIST] What’s so political about that??”

Dave Kingman
6 years ago

Hear, hear.

I just laid down a playful challenge to Paul to represent the other side with an article co-authored by you and me, A Former Progressive. I notice my post was deleted by the moderator less than 30 seconds after it appeared.

The prosecution rests its case, your honor.

Paul Swydanmember
6 years ago
Reply to  Dave Kingman

Dave Kingman – I didn’t delete your comment, and no one else should be monitoring comments. Sometimes if you put 2 or more links in a comment, it’ll get flagged as spam.

Alex
6 years ago

I find it sad and pathetic that so many people are so offended by one measly column that they profess to no longer want to read an entire website.

Here’s an idea: if you don’t like the column, go read something else. Why are the same people who complain so much about everyone else’s supposed fragility unable to handle the slightest offense to their own sensibilities? The hypocrisy is unreal. I wish that the critics of this piece would develop some self-awareness of their own thin skins.

Dave Kingman
6 years ago
Reply to  Alex

Alex, thank you for your feedback and input.

I used to really like this site. Topps Card Corner was one of my absolute favorites on the web.

But somehow, somewhere in the last few months the HB Times has been hijacked by 20-something leftwing nitwits.

It’s not only this article. Go read that nonsense by Mary Craig, which is cognitive dissonance and self-parody of the highest order on display.

Or the Collection of Kooks “Celebration” by Sarah Wexler, where an award was bestowed on a young kid who laughably claimed (or perhaps, was erroneously embellished by Wexler) to have launched a Negro League pension program.

That supposed “Celebration of Baseball” incorporated that particular fraud alongside a veritable Murderers Row of victimization and Identity Politics grievance groups, all of whom won “Awards”

– A white kid who falsely claimed he launched a Negro League pension program. A claim which, by the way, can be debunked with 5 minutes of Google searches

– A Mexican-American claiming victimization status and airing his grievances, as he advocates for “social justice”. Somehow, this has something to do with baseball.

– A Syrian-American claiming victimization and airing his grievances and talking about how baseball has something to do with Muslims.

– A female sports reporter claiming victimization and airing her grievances, whilst tangentially connecting it to the wonderful Vin Scully. That type of connection is always the “tell” of a weak and inauthentic storyline that cannot stand on its own two feet. And I might add, a claim that cannot be independently verified, but that made the Dorks in attendance no doubt feel good.

I noticed that the gracious Mr. Scully had his PR agent bang out a reply email that was obviously a form-letter response, cutting and pasting the name of the organization into an box that had undoubtedly been used 10,000 times before for similarly low-rent organizations and eye rolling “Awards”. Kudos to Mr. Scully and his assistants for spending the few minutes required to be as gracious as that.

This is baseball news? Good grief. I can click over to the Huffington Post and get my fill of this nonsense any time I want.

OttoTheBum
6 years ago
Reply to  Dave Kingman

Damned straight, brother!

A Former Progressive
6 years ago
Reply to  Alex

The left’s “fragility” meme is the worst case of projection I’ve ever seen.

In the current year, the left’s entire identity is based on fragility, victimhood, and weakness. “I can’t even right now,” “I’m literally shaking right now,” “Donald Trump is literally going to round up all gays, browns, and women and GAS THEM TO DEATH, we’re so desperate for victim status we’ve deluded ourselves into believing this is true, PLEASE SOMEONE SAVE US.”

This mindset doesn’t “offend” me. It viscerally disgusts me. It represents an ideology where the talented and strong are dragged down to be made into soylent for hysterical children (it’s not a coincidence that so many SJWs have actual diaper fetishes).

That’s not a society. That’s hell.

A Former Progressive
6 years ago

Being a male feminist won’t get you laid, Chris. Even women feminists secretly loathe you.

“Microaggressions” aren’t real, and it’s hilarious that you’re using ThinkProgress as a source for this. You could more credibly tell me that our water is turning the frogs gay and link me to Infowars.

No one wants your social justice cancer, THT. This is a baseball site. You’re burning audience goodwill with every one of your political screeds.

Frank Jackson
6 years ago

For the record, it appears that “A League of Their Own” has become something of a cult movie for lesbians. A local LGBTQ, etc. group showed it in my hometown as part of the 25th Anniversary celebration. A quick scan of the internet confirms its popularity with lesbians.

As for Jessica Mendoza, I think she does a good job, but I can’t help but note that a woman doing a job that thousands of men could do will get far more kudos than the men ever would.

Finally, it is important to note that the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, much like Rosie the Riveter jobs, only came about because of the man shortage brought about by World War II. Some 407,300 American military men had to die to bring about this “emancipation.” Female empowerment comes with a price…and it’s usually paid by men.

Dave Kingman
6 years ago
Reply to  Frank Jackson

Hear, hear.

And I might add, there is nothing stopping women from starting their own professional softball and baseball leagues right now. On their own.

Go for it, ladies! That’s one of the wonderful things about living in a free country. Emancipate thyselves!

Roger
6 years ago
Reply to  Dave Kingman

Someone needs to learn the difference between “Choice” and “Agency”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_(sociology)

Dave Kingman
6 years ago
Reply to  Roger

You didn’t build that.

John G.
6 years ago

This is a very interesting, timely, and appropriate article. Thank you.

John Autin
6 years ago

I’m a liberal, but I don’t like what I’ve seen in recent months on HT, in two ways:
1. The proportion of political content is too high.
2. The overall quality of that content is too low.

There’s room for social politics on a baseball site, but if the advocacy isn’t done more carefully than what I’ve seen here, you alienate far more people than you persuade.

The start of the quoted passage from the GTB story disturbed me, and I’m one who longs to see women in MLB. “The girls of GTB are always on the lookout for the hate” — is that really the tone you want to play up? Is “hate” even the central issue in the sexist behaviors described in that quote? — and if not, isn’t the word “hate” needlessly inflammatory? I thought that was just a huge misstep on the part of both authors, and while I’m dismayed by a lot of the comments in response, I’m not at all surprised by them.

Likewise, “microaggressions” may be a worthy topic, but introducing that term so early in the essay — long before the meat of the supposed topic — seems like tossing the kitchen sink into the argument, and almost deliberately losing half your audience, who just roll their eyes at such terms.

Lastly (although I could go on and on), calling any group “mouth breathers” just leaves me shaking my head in disappointment — and wondering, where was the editor?

RA
6 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

John, as I commented above, the behavior of the girls “on the lookout for the hate” is demonstrated by numerous famous athletes who take any perceived dig, no matter how small, and use it as motivation (see: Aaron Rodgers, Michael Jordan). If you think this behavior is unhealthy, fine, but society seems to praise these “great competitors.”

John Hinton
6 years ago

Rarely do I comment; however,…
My daughter and I have watched League of Their Own countless times. The thing that differentiates this movie and the political climate of today is that the women in the movie went about their business. They didn’t whine and complain about sexism. They let their performance silence the ignorant masses. In all facets of society we need to have “a little less talk and a lot more action”. Men or women, we need to march silently forward toward our goals instead of bemoaning every perceived slight. Some type of ‘ism’ exists in all aspects of life. We choose whether to be overcomers or victims.

As for the nature of the writing of articles, I prefer facts and proposed solutions to op-eds. These op-ed pieces tend to fuel the fires of division. Often counter-productive to the cause they are championing.

walt oconnor
6 years ago

Sick to death of the rants. Go to HBT for a break. 1st article a rant. Sickening.

Melt the Snowflakes
6 years ago

This comments section shows pretty clearly the appropriateness of the article in tone and substance. Nothing like anti-PC crusaders getting triggered by the most trivial observations of obvious sexism, demanding safe spaces to protect them from any discussion of the plain fact that sexism is alive and well in American society (and particularly in the world of sports). Somehow they don’t realize that every comment they make helps to prove the author’s point. Or maybe they just don’t care.

I enjoyed the article a lot. I read HT a fair amount and I’ll read more if you keep publishing good sociological essays like this.

Dave Kingman
6 years ago

That’s an interesting take on things.

Back when I was a youngster, I learned something from my grandfather, father and other older men in the neighborhood. They never hesitated to “call bullshit” on something.

That is, when something passed by them that was obviously wrong, or misguided, or poorly thought-through they would “call bullshit” on that thing.

Perhaps you’ve heard the term. Or perhaps not. It seems like today that is somehow conflated to “being triggered”.

The verbs in each are instructive, aren’t they? In the first, “calling” is a conscious act of commission. Something the debater offers of his own accord. To put their foot in the ring, first. To lay a chip on the table.

The second verb of “being” is passive. It portrays the person as a victim with something being done to him. The opposite of an act of commission.

The next part of your premise is the one that leaves me scratching my head and actually reveals your own psychological projection. Because there is nothing in the posts above that support your assertion.

Nobody above is demanding to be protected in safe spaces, from anything. Demanding protection in safe spaces is what victims do. They appeal to a more powerful authority to rectify wrongs, correct imbalances, and redistribute wealth. By force, if necessary. And they do that because they feel incapable of taking action on their own to improve their state. Probably due to a crippling dose of self-loathing.

I see the exact opposite in the posts above. I see people wading into the debate vigorously and expressing opinions back and forth. And in some cases, letting Paul know that they will be voting with their feet. Whilst also acknowledging that Paul is free to run his site as his sees fit.

That’s how freedom works. Isn’t it great? Nobody is demanding anything. They are airing their displeasure, exercising their First Amendment rights, making some suggestions, and letting the management know what they will be doing. Management is free to do with that information what they please.

But your post reveals a lot about how you think about things.

A Former Progressive
6 years ago
Reply to  Dave Kingman

Nailed it.

The projection also stems from the fact that to argue/”call bullshit” is to square off in a one-on-one verbal duel. Contrast that to “call-out culture,” where someone with more social cache than you drags you in front of the social circle to be accused of hurting someone, and trying to argue your case only makes you MORE guilty of causing hurt, and your only way out is to grovel and repent and debase yourself to your superior and the wider social circle, after which you are (usually) allowed to return with even lesser social status than before.

Here’s the key: calling bullshit is inherently masculine in nature. Call-out culture is inherently feminine (which is why it’s the primary way feminists operate; just watch them in any social space).

This is why you see their constant push to deplatform, to illegalize “hate speech,” to brand you a bigot, etc. They don’t WANT to duel because your facts might win and that’s not allowed. Instead, the mode of engagement is to attack you socially until you submit to your proper place in the pecking order.

A Former Progressive
6 years ago

No, you see, the problem is that your definition of “sexism” depends on an assumption that is scientifically untrue: that men and women are exactly the same.

Progressives work night and day across all of their institutions to convince us that what we all can see with our own eyes is false, because this idea of biological differences destroys their entire worldview. But the facts are are as follows:

Men and women have different brains: http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2017spring/how-mens-and-womens-brains-are-different.html

Women don’t get into STEM much because they have different interests: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rabble-rouser/201707/why-brilliant-girls-tend-favor-non-stem-careers

Men and women have different IQ distributions; women cluster more in the middle, men have more extremes (both high IQ and low): http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/sexdifferences.aspx

Since we have different brains, different interests, and different distributions of IQ, virtually every field is going to be unequal in terms of participation (or “representation,” as you like to put it). There’s frequently no sexism involved. This is just our nature and biology playing itself out across society.

If progressives would just admit this, then we could identify and address REAL sexism where it continues to exist.

But they will never admit it because it explodes literally their entire philosophy. Hence nothing is solved, and they continue their cruel war against human nature, making everyone more miserable and confused the further and further they push us from truth.

Drew
6 years ago

Cool article Chris. Ballpark seems like a lot of fun, though I’m sure the play suffers with the uniforms. The red and nude commenters getting triggered over and over was icing on the cake.

Paul G.
6 years ago

That was one of the weirdest articles I have ever read, and I don’t just mean on THT but anywhere. The first part and the second part are so different a tone as it is difficult to conceive they were ever meant to be together, like some editor spilled coffee on the keyboard and accidentally merged two distinct pieces. It’s jarring.

Jayson
6 years ago

Do the Best it is all that a person’s need says.
I have found this same here.