The baseball world had better get ready for this one. On Monday, reports out of Providence Rhode Island emerged that Olivia Pichardo has made the roster of the Brown University baseball team. Pichardo, a freshman, becomes the first female to be on an active roster of a Division I baseball team. This is no Bill Veeck created gimmick to grab a headline. This girl can play infield, outfield, and on the mound she throws an 82 mph fastball. With the reports, video was circulating of her playing in an independent “men’s” baseball league, and crushing a line drive to left-center that she turned into a stand-up triple. Oh, and by the way she grew up in Queens and is a life-long Mets fan.
Now before Mack adds a spot on the prospects list, we should note that she has not yet played an inning of collegiate ball as a starting shortstop. Even if she does, there are not a lot of players from Ivy League baseball teams that have made MLB rosters. (OK – Ron Darling made it and he had a decent career) The point is that with the rise of competitive women’s sports there are some very good athletes performing at high levels in many sports. It is only a matter of time before a woman on a MLB roster becomes a reality.
Are the Mets ready for this? They seem to be on the leading edge of recognizing the power of diversity in an organization. Although they were not the first MLB team to hire a female in a prominent position, they were among the first when they hired Elizabeth Benn as the first-ever female director of Major League operations in franchise history. Before she was hired, Benn had worked for Major League Baseball since finishing a master’s degree in philosophy at Columbia in 2017. Maybe there are a lot of Ivy Leaguers in MLB.
Benn’s hiring was another indication that the Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler led management group is very proactive about seeking the best talent for their organization and that includes developing a diverse organization. Eppler’s front office now has women working in analytics, player performance and minor league operations. New York also hired Gretchen Aucoin as a minor league coach last offseason, making her the team’s first on-field female coach. We have come a long way since Mickey Calloway.
Soon there will no longer be a 40-man roster, a relay play through the cut-off man, or stats highlighting men left on base. What remains the same is that playing in the majors is the fulfillment of a dream. I hope Olivia or someone like her will realize the dream.
6 comments:
Paul, happy Thanksgiving. I think that the likelihood of any woman making the majors is an extreme long shot. The minors, sure, but to climb 5 rungs from rookie league ball to the majors would be extraordinary. So many guys fail to do that.
82 MPH is slow. If she could add a knuckleball that is RA Dickey quality, then that would be an equalizer, Denzel Washington told me.
That said, the world record for 100 meter dash is 10.5 seconds, which I am guessing is faster than almost every major leaguer is capable of, so if someone were to take Olympic female track and weightlifting athletes and put them thru screening to see who has the physical talent, and then put them thru intensive baseball training, maybe that might bring a success or two. Almost like that movie about baseball scouting in India. A few of those guys made the minors.
That woman's world record in the 100 meters would have had her neck and neck with Jesse Owens, who ran the shorter 100 yard dash in 9.4 seconds – which equalled the then-world record.
The bottom of the Mets lineup has enough players that hit like girls
The Mets players do enough whining and irrational hostility to be confused with...ummm...nevermind :)
Maybe at some point every team will be required to have at least one female athlete
I think it will be quite a while before we see a female MLB player, but I admire what the Mets have done so far with their organization.
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