From the NY Times Overlooked No More initiative. Belated obituaries for women who were never recognized with a proper NYT obituary at the time of their death. The below baseball pitcher looks and sounds exactly like a butch lesbian to me. You'll have to follow the link to see the awesome photos of a confident young athlete with plenty of swagger.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/o...verlooked.html
Overlooked No More: Jackie Mitchell, Who Fanned Two of Baseball’s Greats
Mitchell was a 17-year-old pitcher in 1931 when she struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game, but questions about that exploit linger.
The baseball pitcher Jackie Mitchell. She was on the roster of the minor league Chattanooga Lookouts when she faced the Yankees.
Credit
George Rinhart/Corbis, via Getty Images
The baseball pitcher Jackie Mitchell. She was on the roster of the minor league Chattanooga Lookouts when she faced the Yankees.CreditCreditGeorge Rinhart/Corbis, via Getty Images
Nov. 7, 2018
By Talya Minsberg
Women have cleared many barriers in sports, but few exploits have been as stunning, and steeped in mystery, as the day Jackie Mitchell struck out two of baseball’s giants, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
It was April 2, 1931, and Mitchell, all of 17, was on the roster of the otherwise all-male Tennessee minor league team the Chattanooga Lookouts, which had signed her to a contract just a week before. The Yankees were in town for an exhibition game as they made their way from spring training in Florida back to New York, and 4,000 people had filled the Lookouts’ stands.
Mitchell took the mound in the first inning, in relief. “The Babe performed his role very ably,” William E. Brandt, a reporter for The New York Times, wrote. “He swung hard at two pitches then demanded that Umpire Owens inspect the ball, just as batters do when utterly baffled by a pitcher’s delivery.”
The third pitch was a strike that left Ruth looking. When the umpire called him out, the Bambino flung his bat away, “registering disgust with his shoulder and chin,” The Times reported. Gehrig took “three hefty swings” and struck out, too.
Mitchell received a standing ovation. “That completed the day’s work for Pitcher Mitchell,” Brandt wrote.ave a Suggestion for an Overlooked Obit? We Want to Hear From YouMarch 8, 2018
The rest of the game was of little note. Another pitcher replaced Mitchell, and her team lost 14-4.
The next day, The Times article was headlined, “Girl Pitcher Fans Ruth and Gehrig.” Mitchell was pictured standing on the mound, baseball glove in hand, smiling slightly.
But what actually happened that day remains in question. Was the strikeout real, or was it orchestrated by Joe Engel, the Lookouts’ owner, as a publicity stunt?...