"The Woman Who (Maybe) Struck Out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig" - an article review

"The Woman Who (Maybe) Struck Out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig"
by Tony Horwitz in the Jul/Aug 2013 Smithsonian

This was a very interesting article in Smithsonian Magazine (July/August 2013) about how women athletes began competing with men-- sometimes playing on the same teams in semipro baseball leagues. The article is mostly about how Jackie Mitchell struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig back-to-back in 1931; and...she was only 17 years old at the time! It also mentions other notable female baseball players, such as Lizzie Arlington - the first woman in baseball's minor leagues. The article describes pitch-by-pitch how Jackie's match-up with Gehrig and Ruth went down, but also muses on the possibility that Gehrig and Ruth might have purposely struck-out to gain publicity for the league. Overall, a very fascinating article. Props to Tony Horwitz at Smithsonian Magazine for researching the story. -- article recommended by Jeremiah J. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ See Jeremiah's reviewer profile | See Jeremiah's reviews on BookGuide ] [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A League of Their Own (DVD); Sports Illustrated; ESPN Magazine.]

[ official article link on the Smithsonian's web site ] 

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