"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...
"Havana Hardball: Spring Training, Jackie Robinson, and the Cuban League" with Cesar Brioso
"The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball" with Charles Fountain
"Game of My Life: NY Mets" with Ed Charles and author Michael Garry
"Pinstripes and Penance / Long Road Home" with John Malangone and Mike Harrison
"At The Ballpark" -- A Phenomenal Panel
"The Dad Report: Fathers, Sons, and Baseball Families" with Kevin Cook
"Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio" with James Walker
"The Colonel and Hug: The Partnership That Transformed The New York Yankees" with Steve Steinberg
"Split Season 1981" with Jeff Katz, the Mayor of Cooperstown
"Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius" with Bill Pennington
"If These Walls Could Talk: New York Yankees" with Jim Kaat
"A Game of Their Own: Voices of Contemporary Women in Baseball" with Jennifer Ring
"Freedom Between The Lines" with Gregory Rubano
"100 Years of Who's Who in Baseball" with Marty Appel and Doug Lyons
"Amazing Aaron to Zero Zippers" with 16-year-old author Matt Nadel
"Joe Black: More Than A Dodger" with Martha Jo Black
"Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life" with author Mort Zachter
"Circus Maximus" with Andrew Zimbalist
Special Event: "A Baseball Life" with Bill Giles and author John Lord
"The Chalmers Race" with author Rick Huhn
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Halos in the infield ( an angels baseball podcast )
The 3 Old Reds Fans Podcast
North Side Territory
Talkin’ Baseball (MLB Podcast)
Talkin’ Yanks (Yankees Podcast)