I’m normally not much of a fan of “chick flicks,” but I like the movie “A League of Their Own” about a 1940s all-woman ball team.
The movie started Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, and Madonna. It is a fictionalized account of the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) in 1943. The movie centers around the era when World War II threatens to shutdown Major League Baseball; and to keep the sport alive, a women’s league was created.
The movie was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally and historically significant.
My little six-year old friend, Mini Franny, jointed an all girls’ Little League team. As I was watching her game, that movie came to mind along with my favorite line when Hanks says that there is “no crying in baseball” as one of the players starts to tear up.
This is Franny’s first time, as well as several of her teammates, playing baseball. The patience of the coaches is amazing. Trying to teach a six-year old how to hit, catch, and throw a ball is difficult enough, but multiply that by over two dozen little girls and it is a Herculean effort.
The players had a hard time batting, catching and throwing more than three feet, and especially paying attention. The dirt between the bases was played in, and birds and butterflies had to be watched by those in the outfield.
As my son watched the game, he came up with the perfect example of the job the coaches face… “like trying to herd cats.”
The coaches tried to teach the little girls the proper batting stance and pitched dozens of balls to them to hit. It was a lot of fun to watch the little girls’ faces when they hit or caught the ball.
It was easy to tell the players who had played baseball before. They were confident, and some come dressed to play. One girl had pink shorts, pink shoes, pink shirt, pink batting hat, and even little mini pink batting gloves.
Some of the players are just a little taller than the special short bats used for Little League. In this league, an adult pitches to the players. You really have to admire a man who can pitch to an eight-inch strike zone.
Finally after a couple of practices, Franny’s first game was last week. She did pretty good. She had a couple of hits to get on base and run home. The one main problem was she wanted to keep running. After making it around the bases to home plate, she kept on running to first and second base before she was called back.
Also, when she made it to each base, she hugged the opposing team’s player manning that base. While it was a nice gesture — like Tom Hank’s no crying rule — I’m pretty sure there isn’t any hugging in baseball. While some objected to her hugging her opponent, I think of it as good sportsmanship, which is the key aspect of the game.
P.S. this year marks the 75th anniversary of the pint-sized pastime of Little League.
Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.