For lots of people -- kids and adults -- being out at the ball game is
a fun experience.
Justine Siegal, founder and executive director of a Massachusetts-based
organization that offers baseball instruction for men and women, has seen
this firsthand. She remembers the day when her team's baseball cards had
just come out, and she had a brief, yet memorable, encounter with a young
baseball fan.
"That afternoon, after the game, the kids lined up to get autographs with
the new team baseball cards," she says. "One girl, about 10 years old, handed
me the baseball card of me to sign for her. I looked at her and smiled and
said, 'this is the first baseball card I have ever signed.' She stared at
me, said nothing through the whole exchange.
"Just as I was feeling a bit foolish for being so excited to sign my first
baseball card and thinking that the girl must have thought I was a bit odd,"
Siegal continues, "I looked up and saw that the girl had ran to her mother
showing her my card and excitingly telling her mother and her friends that
this was my first signed baseball card. I guess she had just been too shy
to talk to me. It's always a great moment when I can make a kid smile."
Siegal's dream was to be a professional baseball player. That didn't end
up happening -- it's a goal that lots of people have, but few reach, which
is why it's important to keep other baseball-related careers in mind. That's
what she did, and she's loving the career path she chose.
"I took all that passion and knowledge that I had as a player and transferred
it to the coaching box," she says. "As a coach, I love to help players succeed."
Even though Siegal is a coach now, she still has stories about when she
was a player. Back when she was pitching, she went to Venezuela on a two-week
baseball tour and had a very touching experience there while losing to a local
team.
"I came in to pitch," she remembers. "I stood alone as the only female
on the field.... After the game, a father came up to me and said, 'my daughter
told me she wants to play baseball. I told her no, girls don't play baseball.
But after watching you play, I am going to let her.' That was a big moment
for me as I realized that I can use my love for baseball as a way to help
people."
Unfortunately, the attitude that girls don't play baseball is hard to avoid.
"Women baseball players have many barriers to face," says Siegal. "Discrimination
is rampant throughout professional and amateur baseball. But if you love the
game, then keep playing. Who knows? You may become the next Toni Stone, Ila
Borders or Eri Yoshida."
Those females have all made history in the sport by being trailblazers.
Adam Morissette, media relations coordinator of a baseball organization,
says that more and more women's teams and leagues are forming all around the
world.
"There is also a lot of growth at the grassroots level for young girls
to get involved in the game," says Morissette. "We also run national championships
for girls."
Whether you're a major league player making millions, a minor league player
making a modest income or a female overcoming barriers, the key is loving
the sport.
"I recommend following your dreams," says Siegal. "In the end, the journey
is much more important than the destination." Morissette agrees that if you
love baseball and want to pursue it as a career, you should.
"As long as they love the sport and are willing to sacrifice things in
order to achieve their dream, then yes, I would recommend it," he says.
Morissette adds that playing baseball is incredibly satisfying, and can
have lots of unexpected rewards.
"I believe baseball players get the satisfaction of doing something that
they love for a living," he says. "You also develop camaraderie with other
individuals on your team that turn into lifelong relationships.
At the big league level the paychecks aren't that bad, too!" he says with
a laugh.
Roxann Bury is the general manager of a baseball team. She says everyone
involved in baseball becomes one big family. "I've never played, but there
have been many moments, from watching a player in his first professional start
to a guy throwing in his last game before retiring, that makes working in
independent baseball special," she says. "It's the extension of 'family,'
being surrounded by hardworking people all pushing themselves to achieve victory,
both on and off the field."
Bury says that demand for baseball players will stay steady as long as
people want to come out to the games.
"The demand is still there," she says. "Minor league sports provide fun,
affordable family entertainment. As long as fans are attending games, there
will be places for ball players to play."