February 21, 2011

Justine Siegal Becomes First Woman To Throw BP

Justine Siegal has wanted to throw batting practice to major league hitters since she was a teenager going to games at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.

Siegal, now 36, got her wish today, becoming the first woman to throw BP to a major league team.

Wearing #15 -- the February birthday of her 13-year-old daughter Jasmine, who watched the session this morning -- Siegal pitched to five Cleveland minor leaguers, and a group of three big league catchers.

Siegal, one of only two women who have coached college baseball and the first woman to coach in professional baseball, pitched her idea to various managers and general managers at the winter meetings in December. No one paid much attention to her, but in January, Cleveland said yes. When asked if she was nervously anticipating the session last night, she laughed:
I've been thinking about this almost every hour for the past month.
Siegal founded and runs Baseball For All, a non-profit organization which helps girls participate in baseball. (BP Q&A from 2009 here.)

On Wednesday, Siegal will pitch batting practice to the Oakland A's.

10 comments:

Brad said...

if she can throw good bp - then i am happy for her and the indians.

laura k said...

Yay! This is great.

No "IF" qualifiers needed. (Does anyone ever question if men can throw good BP?)

Benjamin said...

Good for her!

Too bad we haven't come farther yet.

Let it not go unnoticed that Allan avoided naming Cleveland's team except by geographical designation. We definitely have further to go, on many fronts.

johngoldfine said...

Somewhere out there is a pitcher, --maybe a knuckleballer, maybe a submariner, someone with baffling offspeed stuff--just waiting for her Branch Rickey.

allan said...

Let it not go unnoticed

I also like her "C" cap, though it has made a bit of a comeback in recent years. (Cleveland wore them when they played MLB's first Civil Rights Game in 2007.)

Unknown said...

Congratulations to Justine! Philip Wrigley was the founder of AAGPBL, not Branch Rickey.

Zenslinger said...

Is it off topic to say Prince was great in Oakland last night? Carlos Santana, Shelia E., and the strong guitar tune "Bambi" (not played in years).

All right. That's off topic.

laura k said...

Philip Wrigley was the founder of AAGPBL, not Branch Rickey.

But Branch Rickey opened MLB to African Americans. The reference was not to women's baseball but Major League baseball.

laura k said...

Too bad we haven't come farther yet.

Let it not go unnoticed that Allan avoided naming Cleveland's team except by geographical designation. We definitely have further to go, on many fronts.


Hear, hear.

laura k said...

Santana! Wow, what a treat. Sounds great.