Glass Ceilings

Among the season’s new TV shows is “Pitch,” about the first woman to pitch in major league baseball.  This led the NYT to do a story on the chances of a female ballplayer taking the mound at an MLB park in real life.  The story was more optimistic than I am.  Oh, I think women can play baseball just fine.  In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me to see one batting leadoff or third or sixth.  But pitching is, literally, for the big boys.

Baseball already has a problem with shorter guys pitching, but position players not so much.  According to an NYT story I found from 2011, ten pitchers 5’7” or shorter have made a big-league roster over the last 50 years.  Right now, the best “short” pitcher I can think of is 5’8” Marcus Stroman.  So, there’s a good measure—can she pitch better than Stroman?

In general, ball clubs don’t care if a player can.  The odds for anyone under 6’ making a team’s pitching staff aren’t good.  Right now with expanded rosters only the Rays are carrying as many as four pitchers 5’11” or shorter.  Six teams have none, the most impressive of which is the Dodgers.  They’re carrying 22 pitchers right now, all six-feet plus.

Now, switch over to position players; short guys are everywhere.  On any given day the Red Sox starting outfield will have two or three players standing 5’9” or 5’10” while their infield will almost always have Dustin Pedroia (a pretend 5’9” closer to 5’7”) at second.  The next hot thing in Boston is outfielder Andrew Benintendi, 22 years old and 5’10”.  Benintendi is hitting .314 with 14 rbi’s in just 87 at-bats.  For the Red Sox, good things just seem to come in small packages, Big Papi excepted.  I mean, right fielder Mookie Betts is all of 5’9”, and that hasn’t gotten in the way of him hitting 31 homeruns to go with 109 rbi’s.  So, why all this focus on girls pitching instead of hitting?

The Astros’ Jose Altuve stands 5’6”, and he’s leading the AL in hitting with a .338 average.  The Twins’ Brian Dozier at 5’11” has 42 homeruns and could set the all-time single season mark for second basemen.  Anyone who thinks the girls can keep up with the boys is advised to put a bat in their daughter’s hands.  That’s what I did.