"Making My Pitch: A Woman's Baseball Odyssey" tells the story of Ila Jane Borders, who despite formidable obstacles became a Little League prodigy, MVP of her otherwise all-male middle school and high school teams, the first woman awarded a baseball scholarship, and the first to pitch and win a complete men's collegiate game.
After Mike Veeck signed Borders in May 1997 to pitch for his St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League, she accomplished what no woman had done since the Negro Leagues era: play men's professional baseball. Borders played four professional seasons and in 1998 became the first woman in the modern era to win a professional ball game.
Borders had to find ways to fit in with her teammates, reassure their wives and girlfriends, work with the media, and fend off groupies. But these weren't the toughest challenges. She had a troubled family life, a difficult adolescence as she struggled with her sexual orientation, and an emotionally fraught college experience as a closeted gay athlete at a Christian university.
"Making My Pitch" shows what it's like to be the only woman on the team bus, in the clubhouse, and on the field. Raw, open, and funny at times, her story encompasses the loneliness of a groundbreaking pioneer who experienced grave personal loss. Borders ultimately relates how she achieved self-acceptance and created a life as a firefighter and paramedic and as a coach and goodwill ambassador for the game of baseball.
Jean Hastings Ardell is an Author/Editor/Speaker/Researcher/Teacher. She is co-chair of the NINE Spring Training Conference, and author of "Breaking into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime."
On a Thursday in June, Jean Hastings Ardell led our intimate Clubhouse conversation. A beautiful evening. Listen in...
A Conversation with Watercolor Artist James Fiorentino
"San Francisco Year Zero" with Lincoln Mitchell
"War in the Ring" with John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro
"Doc, Donnie, The Kid, and Billy Brawl" with Chris Donnelly
"The Arena" with Rafi Kohan
"The Cooperstown Casebook" with Jay Jaffe
"The Pride of the Yankees" with Richard Sandomir
"Piazza" with author Greg Prince
"Urban Shocker" with Steve Steinberg
"It Happens Every Spring" with Pulitzer Prize-winner Ira Berkow
"Dinner with DiMaggio" with Dr. Rock Positano and John Positano
"Hank Greenberg in 1938" with Ron Kaplan
"Casey Stengel: Baseball's Greatest Character" with Marty Appel
"The New York Yankees Fans' Bucket List" with Mark Feinsand
"One Nation Under Baseball" with John Florio & Ouisie Shapiro
"42 Faith" with Ed Henry
"Frick: Baseball's Third Commissioner" with John Carvalho
"Will Big League Baseball Survive" with Lincoln Mitchell
"Baseball's Most Baffling MVP Ballots" with Jeremy Lehrman
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Halos in the infield ( an angels baseball podcast )
The 3 Old Reds Fans Podcast
Hammer Territory: an Atlanta Braves show
Talkin’ Baseball (MLB Podcast)
Talkin’ Yanks (Yankees Podcast)