Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day on
April 15th like they do each and every April 15th but
this year things may be a little different. As Major League Baseball continues
to grow and diversify itself it seems like these days celebrate less of an
African American ball player breaking the color barrier and more of a knocking
down of each and every door and stereotype in the league. No longer does it
seem limited to just minorities in the game that we all love and enjoy, now it
seems like the flood gates are open for anything and everything. Will those
flood gates bring in the first female player in MLB? Pittsburgh Pirates manager
Clint Hurdle thinks so.
Hurdle, in an interview with ESPNw and the Beaver County
Times, was quoted as saying:
"I still believe firmly there is going to be a day where there is a female player in the big leagues. I got that. Where it goes, I don’t know. I don’t believe I’ll be in the dugout to see it.”
Hurdle may be onto something here. We’ve already seen Mo’ne
Davis take over the Little League World Series and French shortstop Melissa
Mayeux become the first female to be included on MLB’s international
registration list in 2015 so the steps are being made in that direction both
domestically and abroad. Remember the same Sarah Hudek though, a Bossier Parish
Community College student and pitcher, as she already has an amateur win under
her belt to boast about.
The potential is there and the necessary steps and movements
are being made. I wonder what Goose Gossage will have to say about this one….