Good for MLB and kudos to Rob Manfred for picking up the ball on this issue. I have been calling for more of a partnership between MLB and softball for many years. It seems as if Manfred also sees the opportunity for a woman to break through the minors and into MLB baseball, another issue I have written about before. There are plenty of examples of girls who have competed versus the boys at the HS level. It shouldn't have taken Monee Davis doing something at the LL level to open the Commissioners eyes. But we'll take whatever progress we can get.
I do hope the focus on the Monee Davis' of the world does not leave women's softball out in the cold. Here is one area where baseball can take the lead over the other major sports. There is no comparable league to the NFL for women, period. Nor is there one comparable to the NHL, although there could be. The NBA and the WNBA do coexist and there could eventually be a woman who could break through and play in the NBA before MLB breaks the barrier.
I would like to see MLB beat them to the punch and I think the way to do it is to encourage participation by raising the bar for women's softball by subsidizing a professional women's softball league. I know they subsidize RBI and there are calls for them to subsidize college scholarships, here there will be a wash to expenses since presumably their minor league affiliated costs will decrease somewhat. They need to start thinking of these cash outlays more as investments in the future of the game rather than as pure expenses.
from mlb.com
Manfred committed to raising softball's profile
Commissioner talks to youth players during RBI World Series roundtable
CINCINNATI -- It was not a scheduling coincidence that Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred visited the RBI World Series on a day when girls softball participants were playing their semifinal games on Wednesday. Manfred came to Cincinnati specifically to talk softball and to engage with young women who play.
Manfred was part of a roundtable discussion at the Kingsgate Marriott Hotel at the University Of Cincinnati that included Reds chief operating officer Phil Castellini, Reds senior vice president of business operations Karen Forgus and Northern Kentucky University softball head coach Kathryn Gleason.
"It gave me an opportunity to put a special focus on softball," Manfred said. "Youth participation is a huge priority for Major League Baseball. I think historically we have given inadequate focus to softball in addition to baseball. We want to make sure that our efforts capture the entire population, male and female. We love the idea of making our softball programs every bit as high profile as our baseball programs."
Cincinnati, the Reds and the MLB Urban Youth Academy are hosting the 25th annual Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series baseball and softball tournaments. The semifinals were scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, and the finals are slated for Friday.
During the roundtable discussion, it was the softball players who got to ask the questions.
"What opportunities do you have for women who want to play professional baseball?" one player asked the Commissioner.
In his reply, Manfred brought up visiting the Little League World Series shortly after his 2014 election as Commissioner and meeting Mo'ne Davis, a pitcher out of Philadelphia who became the superstar of the tournament, and who helped her team from Philly win the RBI World Series Junior Championship, throwing five sold innings in the semifinals.
"She changed my view of the prospects of a woman playing professional baseball," Manfred said. "When she looked at me and I looked at the look on her face, and she told me she thought she was going to be able to be good enough to play professional baseball. ... There was a look of determination in her eye that was really inspiring to me. One of the reasons that we started the women's baseball part of our [youth] program was to recognize that some young women out there would prefer to play the same game the boys play for a longer period of time."
Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Sent from my iPhone
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