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A Grass-Roots=20
Campaign Friday, June =
11,=20
2004A grass-roots campaignUS women prepare for baseball World = CupLYNN -- The old woman perched in the press box sees = something.=20 She sees dozens of women playing baseball -- not softball, = mind you=20 -- replete with infield chatter, brushbacks, and headfirst=20 slides. But she sees something more, something she can't quite = place.=20 It's the same thing Dolly Brumsfield saw some 55 years ago, = when she=20 played women's baseball for the All-American Girls = Professional=20 Baseball League. Back then, women were encouraged to play by = Franklin Roosevelt, to act as a diversion to World War = II. Last weekend at Fraser Field, that urgency was lacking, = but the=20 spirit was there in teachers, police officers, students, = mothers,=20 and daughters, all gathered to seize a groundbreaking = opportunity in=20 their sport. For the first time, USA Baseball will sponsor an official = women's=20 baseball team, for which tryouts were held at Fraser. The = squad,=20 which will play in the Women's World Cup in Edmonton = starting July=20 30, will call Lynn home thanks to the backing of Nick = Lopardo, who=20 owns the North Shore Spirit and has poured more than $4.5 = million=20 into Fraser. Those involved hope the World Cup will raise the profile = of=20 women's baseball in America the way the Women's World Cup = did for=20 women's soccer and the 1998 Nagano Olympics did for women's=20 hockey. For this year, don't expect a baseball player -- having = just=20 scored the winning run, jersey in hand -- to grace the cover = of=20 magazines in a sports bra. A total of 120-150 players tried = out for=20 the team in Chicago, West Point, N.Y., Fort Myers, Fla., and = San=20 Jose, and the announcement of the inaugural Team USA made = little=20 noise outside of Lynn. Unlike soccer and hockey, women's = baseball=20 won't have five rings standing behind it. "[The Olympics] are so far off, we really shouldn't even = be=20 discussing it," said Paul Seiler, executive director of USA=20 Baseball. "When you look at the numbers in terms of = participants,=20 we've got a long way to go." Then again, the women at Fraser Field aren't playing for = fame,=20 anyway. They have played in leagues -- some in men's league, = some in=20 women's -- for years, keeping their dream breathing without = earning=20 a dime. Most pay their own expenses for travel and = equipment.=20 They've faced faulty equipment, ragged playing fields, and = being=20 booted off diamonds by Little League practice. "They're playing for the love of the game," said = Brumsfield, who,=20 with the rest of the AAGPBL, became the basis for the movie = "A=20 League of Their Own." "That's why we played back then." Keri Lemasters knows that, all 5 feet 3 inches of her. = She was a=20 police officer in Raleigh, N.C., before she heard about the = New=20 England Women's Professional Baseball League Lopardo created = in Lynn=20 last year. Lemasters, a former All-American softball = shortstop at=20 Michigan State, immediately moved to Nahant and found = another police=20 job at a nearby hospital just to join the baseball = league. The 17 others who made the final cut are making similar=20 sacrifices, giving up their other lives for six weeks = to=20 prepare for Edmonton. Three women hail from California, one = from=20 Florida. It's worth it to them, because they might be a part = of what=20 could be the most seminal moment in their sport's history. = The=20 backing of USA Baseball legitimizes women's baseball like = never=20 before and gives it the organization it needs. "Hopefully this allows or creates an opportunity for = girls to=20 continue playing baseball as opposed to being told, `It's = time to=20 start playing softball because you're 14 years old,' " = Seiler said.=20 "We're hoping that a national team can raise awareness, get = some=20 sponsors involved, where we can get some of that grass-roots = movement going." Interest abounds Julie = Croteau has=20 been part of a smaller grass-roots program for more than a = decade.=20 She played for the Silver Bullets, a barnstorming women's = team from=20 the mid-1990s. She now serves as an assistant coach for the = national=20 team. "Women's baseball has lacked the consistency that USA = Baseball=20 and Nick Lopardo bring," Croteau said. Last year, as Lopardo was putting the finishing touches = on=20 bringing pro baseball back to Lynn with the Spirit, three = women=20 approached him in his office and said they played baseball, = too. "Our league is about to fold," they told him. "Can you = help=20 us?" Lopardo offered a proposal: If they could find 60 = interested=20 women, enough for four teams, he would fund the league. To his surprise, they did, and the New England Women's=20 Professional League was born. Lopardo has since established = another=20 25 teams in five cities. Because of his trailblazing in women's baseball, Lopardo = was a=20 logical choice when the United States received an invitation = to the=20 World Cup. He agreed, making Fraser Field the de facto = capital of=20 women's baseball in the country. His league took off, too. This season, 100 women tried = out, and=20 the schedule expanded from 12 to 15 games. That will = increase his=20 workload -- Lopardo doubles as the league's public address=20 announcer. Ken Perrone, who has coached baseball for 48 years -- the = last 23=20 at Salem State College -- also coaches a team in the local = league.=20 When Lopardo went to him two years ago to gauge his interest = in=20 helping the new league, Perrone wavered. "To be honest with = you, I=20 didn't even know women's baseball existed," he said. Lopardo = told=20 him to come to Lynn and watch a Sunday night workout. Five = minutes=20 in, Perrone turned to Lopardo and told him, "I'll do = it." Players and administrators feel the public would undergo = the same=20 about-face if they could get over one mental hurdle: the = notion that=20 softball is a form of baseball for women. "They're different sports," Croteau said. "They're both = really=20 good sports, and one's not better than the other. But ask = any=20 baseball player why they love baseball, and you'll get a = different=20 answer. It's like asking somebody why handball instead of = squash.=20 They evoke different passions." In the 1990s, when Croteau played against minor league = men's=20 teams with the Silver Bullets, opposing players constantly = asked her=20 why she played baseball, not softball. "Why do you want to play baseball and not = softball?" came=20 her reply. No further explanation was needed. They got = it. Turning heads Still, the = perception=20 remains cluttered by stereotypes. A baseball diamond is too = big;=20 women can't make the throws. Baseball pitchers throw = overhand; too=20 much strain on a woman's arm. Basepaths are 90 feet in = baseball; too=20 far for women. And, of course, the most obvious stereotype. "What happens is when you come down here and you watch, = you're=20 immediately very surprised," Lopardo said. "Because your = immediate=20 reaction is, `She throws like a girl.' " The more exposure fans receive from women's baseball, the = more=20 those stereotypes will break down, Lopardo said. "If you tell someone they throw like one of these girls, = they'll=20 say, `Thank you very much.' " That's what the women who tried out wanted to say to = Lopardo, who=20 had granted them rare opportunities. Playing on a = beautifully=20 manicured field. A staff of quality, capable coaches. No = competition=20 for field time. "What's impressive about these women is they all have = stories=20 when they were sent away," Croteau said. "Not this team, not = this=20 time, only boys. And they all kept playing. My dream is that = the=20 next generation will have all the same opportunity that the = boys=20 do." And that next generation is out there. Lopardo said a = pair of=20 13-year-olds who play in the local league would be good = enough to=20 play on the national team if not for the 17-year-old age = limit.=20 Perrone said he couldn't believe how many young girls are = playing=20 baseball. Lopardo hopes a gold-medal performance in this year's = World Cup=20 starts a process that will create opportunities for girls to = play=20 baseball against other girls in Babe Ruth leagues, high = school, and=20 eventually in college for scholarships. Maybe then, girls won't have to hear the same question so = many=20 women who were at Fraser Field have heard all their lives = when they=20 tell folks they play baseball: "You mean softball?" Bridget Veenema, a national team member from Deerfield, = Ill., who=20 played with the Silver Bullets, has become so used to the = question=20 that she developed an answer forward enough to end the=20 conversation. "Yeah, baseball. You know, hardball. Like the Cubs = play." With that, Veenema ended the conversation with an = onlooker and=20 dashed into her dugout. "I gotta go," she explained. "I'm in the hole." Her team made the final out of the inning before she came = to bat,=20 but no matter. She trotted out to the infield, on a field = full of=20 players with red, white, and blue shirts. All the uniforms = had the=20 same message stitched across the back of the players' = shoulders:=20 "Women Play Baseball Too!" "It's making 'em feel good," said Brumsfield. "The fact = that now=20 they're having an opportunity to play baseball, to have a = league of=20 their own, today." So now it's clear what the old woman really sees. At =
Fraser=20
Field, 50 years after she played her final ballgame, Dolly=20
Brumsfield sees progress. |