Two weeks ago a female manager led her professional baseball team to a 3-1 victory. That manager was former USA softball superstar Jennie Finch. No one would argue that the Bridgeport Bluefish didn’t bring in Finch as a publicity stunt, because that’s exactly what it was. It’s not a weird or bad thing. Publicity stunts are part of minor league baseball.
The Bluefish are part of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an eight-team independent league that runs up the upper east coast of the United States, though there is one team in Texas.
If you’re not familiar with “independent leagues,” they’re not affiliated with any big league clubs. Their players are usually minor league cast-offs or guys that never got drafted in the first place. It’s a place where a guy that just got cut can take one last shot and landing back with a major league organization. Needless to say, that often doesn’t work out.
But it’s still baseball and it’s played by professionals and this is where Finch’s one-day job as manager comes in. She’s the third celebrity to guest manage the Bluefish. Pete Rose managed them one game to a win and so did Paul O’Neill. Former Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens will manage a game later this year. So this was a fun thing. The fans and players were into it and lots of pictures were taken and plenty autographs were signed.
Here’s what’s interesting about it. Finch was really good. She was on top of the game and aggressive. With a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning, Finch signaled former Chicago Cubs minor league outfielder Anthony Giansanti to take second on a full count. With Giansanti in full stride, the team avoided a inning-ending double play. The next batter up, Luis Nunez, brought Giansanti in with an RBI.
Finch wasn’t done. She signaled Nunez to steal second. A fielding error brought him in and gave the Bluefish the insurance run. Finch is 1-0 as a manager and it was her calls specifically that led to the victory.
The thing is, moves like that and aggressive baserunning are nothing new in softball. This is how Finch learned to play on the smaller field. You have to force the issue, work the counts and take every base you can by hook or by crook. In big time softball competition, games are won 1-0 all the time. Every at-bat, every walk, every baserunner is important. That’s Finch’s world and it translated well into baseball, especially with guys that were lacking that extra something that could have kept them in a major league farm system.
So could Finch manage full time? Sure. She’d have to go through the process like any young manager and work her way up. Now, she won’t, obviously, and doesn’t need the money. But the opportunity could and should be there. Not just for Finch, but plenty of other women, especially with her background.
The Oakland Athletics have already broken the coach barrier. Last year Justine Siegel, founder of the organization Baseball for All, was a guest instructor in the 2015 A’s instructional league. Siegel had previously coached in an independent league herself in 2009 with the Brockton Rox and was an assistant baseball coach at Springfield College from 2008-2010.
The opportunities aren’t just as coaches and managers. Back in February Sarah Hudek, a left-handed freshman reliever with Bossier Parish Community College, picked up the first win of her career, holding Hinds Community College to zeros for three innings as her team rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4.
Hudek is the daughter of former major league All-Star pitcher John Hudek. Hudek pitched in the majors for six years, so it’s not a surprise his kid would be interested in the family business. Sarah Hudek was so good in high school she’s on scholarship at Bossier Parish.
Then there’s 17-year-old Melissa Mayeaux who completely stole the show at the MLB European Elite Camp last year. She’s training to play for France in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and if she makes it, a minor league offer may not be too far behind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THyvy1_6eqU
Then, of course, there’s Mo’Ne Davis, the currently 14-year-old little league pitcher that captured America’s imagination during the 2014 Little League World Series. Davis’ 70 m.p.h. fastball flummoxed her opponents.
She was the first girl to win a game at the World Series and the first to pitch a shutout, a 4-0 win over Nashville. The only problem with Davis eventually ending up in pro baseball is that she wants to play pro basketball in the WNBA. She’s the young female baseball player in the world and she likes basketball better. Go figure.
