What is it about?
This article is my personal story. One I tell through the lens of a poor kid with an undiagnosed learning disability who grew up in the pre-title IX south. I struggled in every place except one, the baseball diamond. There I was good, respected and the same boys who bullied me in school begged to be on my team on the playground. But it was the 1960s and girls had few opportunities to play. That left me and millions of others struggling for just one more chance to play, to be good, respected. I spent my whole life looking and finally found the answers I sought in history, my history, women's baseball history.
Featured Image
Photo by Tyson Moultrie on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This story is the story of so many girls and women and from all generations who just don't fit into the roles they are supposed to and how many of us found our solace on a sports field or court. Playing baseball was the one place where I was ok, respected and confident. I needed that location until I could figure out how to feel those things everywhere. My story is mine, but it does provide one example and maybe some hope for young girls who also struggle.
Perspectives
This is not just another coming of age story or another "see I did it, so can you" pitch. Rather, it shows the difficulties of being different and out of step with society's expectations and how sport can and often does help to overcome those challenges.
Dr. Kat Williams
Marshall University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Shortstop, NINE A Journal of Baseball History and Culture, January 2021, Project Muse,
DOI: 10.1353/nin.2021.0010.
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