Breaking Barriers-a Thank You

A little under a year ago, I received an email from a woman by the name of Justine Siegal. She told me that she had read an article that I had written about girls playing boys sports--aka girls playing SPORTS, and sometimes girls being better than some boys at those sports. She wanted to see if I would be interested in starting a club baseball team for women at the University of Rhode Island. I wish I could say that I was able to. But I found myself--by myself. I wish I could have started that team. Siegal seemed so enthusiastic and pumped that it got me excited.

But something more recent got me excited--the news that Siegal is now one of the coaches of the Brockton Rox baseball team. She is the first woman to ever coach a professional men's baseball team.

It is decades ago that women graced professional baseball with the boys. Toni Stone was one of the first as she played in the negro leagues, where she proved that she could hang with the boys. However, no woman, until now, has ever coached a professional men's team.

The other night I went to see Night at the Museum 2. I know--wow, how does one compare baseball with this Ben Stiller comedy? That's easy.

During a scene in the film, Amelia Earhart is confronted by several black pilots.

They say to her:

"Ma'am we would just like to thank you."

"For what?"

"Well a lot of people didn't think we could fly either. Thanks for clearing the runway."

So Justine Siegal--Thanks for breaking down barriers.

My only question now is how long will it be until the teams start drafting some women--and playing them too?