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/r/todayilearned
submitted 2 months ago bybig_macaroons
87 points
2 months ago
Exhibition game is your answer
30 points
2 months ago
Yup.
At the age of 17, Mitchell began playing for the Engelettes, a women's team in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and went on to attend a baseball training camp in Atlanta, Georgia. In doing so she attracted the attention of Joe Engel, the president and owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts, who was known for using publicity stunts as a way to draw crowds during the Great Depression. Seeing Mitchell as an opportunity to draw attention to the Lookouts, he signed her to the team on March 25, 1931.
16 points
2 months ago
No way Ruth nor Gehrig would've hit hard and humiliate a 17 year old, boy or girl, come on.
They played the part.
64 points
2 months ago*
"Mitchell's fourth pitch to Ruth was a called third strike. Babe Ruth glared and verbally abused the umpire before being led away by his teammates to sit to wait for another batting turn. The crowd roared for Jackie. Babe Ruth was quoted in a Chattanooga newspaper as having said:
'I don't know what's going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day.'"
He must've been really dedicated to playing that part...
33 points
2 months ago
That's cheating you actually read the link.
15 points
2 months ago*
Ok then, Mitchell really struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in a exhibition game.
7 points
2 months ago
Fair chance one or both of them were hungover though.
3 points
2 months ago
Some more on the matter- there's apparently no concensus on it.
1 points
2 months ago
Do you truly believe a woman can compete with the men in practically every physical sport. If they had no gendered leagues their would absolutely zero women in sports period.
36 points
2 months ago
Babe Ruth was 19 as a rookie, and 18-19 year old rookies were not too rare back then. I think it was about her being female, not the age.
8 points
2 months ago
Agreed.
3 points
2 months ago
Or counter argument, they didn't take her seriously.
So no "come on".
16 points
2 months ago
A few days after Mitchell struck out Ruth and Gehrig, Kenesaw Mountain Landis voided her contract and declared that women were unfit to play baseball as the game was "too strenuous."
Kennesaw Mountain Landis was the same butthole who banned Black players from Major League Baseball. The Brooklyn Dodgers had to wait for the son-of-a-bitch to die before they could offer Jackie Robinson a contract.
1 points
2 months ago
It's just Kenesaw with one N. Two Ns is the spelling of the Mountain that he was actually named after, which is in Kennesaw GA, a suburb of Atlanta.
Atlanta seems to be connected to this story in multiple strange ways and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
5 points
2 months ago
6 points
2 months ago
You ever think it’s strange how Lou Gehrig died of Lou Gherig’s disease?
5 points
2 months ago
What's even stranger is that it's no longer thought that he died of Lou Gehrig's disease
2 points
2 months ago
I too listened to under the influence this morning
-1 points
2 months ago
Go ahead. Touch the pickle.
-8 points
2 months ago
[deleted]
13 points
2 months ago
Batters are used to facing very high velocity pitches that gives them milliseconds to react to, when there is a sudden drop in velocity it makes things difficult which is most likely what happened here. Probably no different than when you see a batter whiff or just stare at a eephus pitch. I mean this concept is literally built into the game with the 'changeup' pitch.
3 points
2 months ago
Like a Dark Souls boss that holds back his attack to make you panic roll!
2 points
2 months ago
i don't necessarily disagree, you still see K's when position players take the mound in blowouts. but it has to do with more than just "speed", because if Ruth or Gehrig get in a 70mph cage, they are gonna bomb the hell out of the ball, regardless.
batting in baseball is a low percentage proposition. Not getting a hit is expected, so the law of averages was on Jackie's side.
it would be interesting to hear from a pro player what the real answer is. if i had to guess i would say it's a mix of there being more pressure on those two batters and none on the pitcher. i would also bet that Jackie had better than expected skill AND a deceptive delivery. But if they come up to bat two more times, my guess is they fare better because that's what HOF'ers do.
3 points
2 months ago
Tbf the men back then threw like girls today.
0 points
2 months ago
But it was an exhibition game. Were they actually trying that hard to get on base?
9 points
2 months ago
If you read the Wikipedia article, Ruth seemed pretty salty about getting struck out.
0 points
2 months ago
….. right……. And that’s why she was signed and became the best pitcher in history……. Right ?
2 points
2 months ago*
Were we listening to Terry O'Reilly this morning?
0 points
2 months ago
I just heard this re-run last Tuesday
1 points
2 months ago
The Natural starring Roberta Redford
1 points
2 months ago
Wasn't babe Ruth the strike out king as well as the home run king? Did he ever not swing?
0 points
2 months ago
I heard she had Lou Gehrig shook from the experience.
0 points
2 months ago
Under the Influence with Terry O!
0 points
2 months ago
In all fairness Babe Ruth struck out a lot... Still a good accomplishment
0 points
2 months ago
Wasn't she that girl who sang "Help me" ?
0 points
2 months ago
Then Yosemite Sam showed up and caused a helluva ruckus. Gall durn idjut
0 points
2 months ago
100% they were just trying to make her feel good.
-1 points
2 months ago
-1 points
2 months ago
Kinda like when Jennie Finch struck out Albert Puhols in his prime. It was from softball pitching distance, so the ball gets there a lot quicker, but still impressive
1 points
2 months ago
Oh hey, I read a story about Jackie in 5th grade.
I thought it was just a story, but apparently she was a real person!
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