With four episodes out of the way and the show going on a week long hiatus, I figure it's time to talk about it.
"Pitch." A new series about a woman, Ginny Baker, called up from the minors and signed to the San Diego Padres, the first woman to ever have a Major League contract.
The problems that come with this are just as one might imagine: how does Ginny fit into the locker room? Where is the line between respect and fitting in with the team? How can she be allowed to fail through inexperience without her gender being brought into the discussion?
The short answer is she doesn't, really. Things are tense in the clubhouse right off the bat. Though Ginny is given her own place to change and the team is peremptorily reprimanded for saying or doing anything untoward, the comfort level of everyone involved is low, to say the least. At least one of the pitchers hates her because she is his replacement while he’s on the DL and her captain/catcher are struggling to keep the team together. One solace is an old college friend welcoming her to the team. Even that is marred by the others assuming they have or had a relationship.
The pilot episode is uncomfortable. It feels like everyone is against Ginny from the very start despite scenes of fans, mothers and their daughters showing support. In her very first Major League inning, Ginny walks an unprecedented number of batters on wild pitches and the commentators and some front office faculty immediately jump to sending her back down to the minors. They completely write her off and can't resist bringing her gender into it, ignoring the fact that she is a rookie liable to make mistakes anyway, plus she has far more pressure on her than a typical rookie would. And in the most cringe-inducing part if the episode, the catcher slaps her ass - normally an accepted show of praise and camaraderie in any sport. Ginny is clearly uncomfortable with it, and he goes right on the defensive, saying it's just what he does.
As the show goes on, one of the best parts is the relationship developing between Ginny and her catcher and captain, Mike Lawson. He becomes her mentor, her defender and her champion, and it is fantastic. Though the development of their relationship felt a bit rushed over the course of the pilot episode, their banter and back and forth at this point feel natural and real. The problem? Lawson is thirty-six years old and facing worsening back problems. Much of his time in the episode dealt with pending retirement and what he might do afterward. To add fuel to the fire, the Padres are pursuing a new (younger) catcher to take the starting position. At the very least, if Lawson has to leave the player roster I hope he sticks around in some capacity.
Don't get me wrong, I like this show. It takes a good hard look at women in sports, and how men and women can very much play together on the same team and in the same league. But every time I watch I start to think - it's such a huge deal that a woman is a major leaguer. And it is a huge deal. Ginny will get much more exposure and recognition this way. But there are women's leagues for almost any sport imaginable. Why aren't we giving more recognition to these leagues and all the amazing women who play in them?
