With all the excitement of A League of Their Own — and our super expansive coverage of it! — buzzing on our team the past couple weeks, some of us took a little stroll down memory lane to revisit our pasts as pitchers, catchers, and sluggers. No one could have possibly predicted just how many of us used to play softball/baseball. Just kidding!!!!! I think anyone could have predicted that a decent chunk of the Autostraddle team has dabbled in softball/baseball through the years. We’re a bunch of queers, after all. And now, you can enjoy the photographic evidence of our domination in the diamond!
Got softball/baseball memories of your own? Share them in the comments! And if you haven’t started A League of Their Own yet, what are you waiting for?! Check out our daily recap coverage! Our Editor in Chief Carmen Phillips made an obsessive guide to every parallel between the movie and series, and Senior Editor Heather Hogan (also featured in the roundtable below!) interviewed Melanie Field as well as Roberta Colindrez and Priscilla Delgado!
Comments
love this! Heather, feeling very seen by the litany of softball injuries. the first time i ever broke my nose was at t-ball because SOMEONE (josh a.) didn’t follow the rule of not swinging the bat in the dugout and caught me right in the face
one of my most prized possessions is a button with my first grade baseball picture on it! missing front teeth, bat on my shoulder, hair poofing out from under my ball cap because i hated letting anyone brush it, etc
Yes! I love this!
DREW!!!! how do you make the last word of ONE paragraph so devastating???
this is gorgeous – i managed 1 season of softball after i saw a league of their own and learned to thro a baseball. i still like baseballs better – i like rolling them off my fingers & that they fit in my palm.
This is so cute! (Also I think I forgot to comment on Drew’s interview with her dad, but I loved it and cried at parts, seems like such a sweet guy)
A smattering of memories:
I played 1 season of tee-ball and was awful (like every other kid) and didn’t continue (don’t know if that was my mom’s decision or mine).
Played another season in 6th grade but for softball on my school’s team for district-wide tournament, unsurprisingly was still awful for a kid who had never received instruction. I had a lot of fun, though, and wanted to continue so asked my mom if I could play Babe Ruth or whatever level it is for 12/13 year olds. She said I couldn’t and that if I really had interest I could try out for the high school team (in 2 years???) and then join an outside league. Needless to say I didn’t try out for anymore teams.
I always loved baseball, but no one else in my family did beside my grandma (and part of her rooting interest was those good Italian boys on her Dodgers, particularly Mike Piazza and then Paul Lo Duca, amongst others), and started watching it and getting more obsessed with it by end of high school. Some of my closest friends in my 20s were met through the local MLB team and fellow fans.
Played a season of softball in my mid-20s before I had kids, had a lot of fun. Still was pretty bad but at least tried to get better.
Joined the local LGBT softball league last year after a couple years of Covid isolation with just my immediate family, wanting to make more queer friends. Still not very good but have been playing the past couple seasons (it’s a 2 season a year league) and am getting for the next one in a month.
So that’s really what I’ll leave with – if you have a local LGBT sports league (whether softball or a different sport), I’d definitely encourage you to check it! It’s a nice alternative to more drinking/clubbing/hookup culture activities if that’s not your interest.
Lol. Love it. Pitcher in little league. Then 1st base. Then RF.
You’re all so cute !
I love the gold sparkles coming off of Shea’s bat.
I played softball exactly once and had such bad hand-eye coordination that no one ever picked me again. I didn’t realize until much later that one of my eyes is just off-kilter enough that I don’t see straight. Indeed.
When I was a very young kid, watching the older girls on the street play softball did funny things to my stomach. I didn’t dare watch too often; I was sure my state of bliss was way too apparent. Heck it probably showed from space.
also Also ALSO – YES, Riese, Strat-o-Matic baseball! I still have all the components and some cards but my kids (and no one else around me) wants to learn to play so it just sits in a closet in my house. Loved baseball cards as well, have an intense core memory of receiving a pack from my dad when I was 4 or 5 of 1990 Donruss, and even just looking at pictures of it online reminds me how much I loved that card set in particular.
Riese wins with the Strat reference. Be still my heart!
I played soccer and softball in elementary school, but I barely remember it. I’m pretty sure I only lasted a season with each of them.
I do remember going to catch a ball with my right hand while the mitt was on my left. I only sprained my finger, but my lack of coordination is definitely part of why sports never stuck with me.
The only team sport I ever enjoyed playing was softball, mostly because a lot of my friends were on the team and our coach (my friend’s dad) was very chill. He was definitely more interested in teaching us the game than trying to make us the best (and our league was pretty tiny) so it was more social than athletic. I had a strong arm and mostly played outfield, and I killed it in the batting cage but tended to freeze up at bat so I got walked to first a lot.
Having a passion for sports does not mean that you have to be a professional athlete. I believe that most sports fans chose this hobby precisely because they like to feel a sense of involvement in the victories of their favorite team or national team. This is something that can be open to everyone, regardless of ability. I don’t understand those parents who force their children to go into professional sports.
Lol. Love it. Pitcher in little league. Then 1st base. Then RF.
Riese wins with the Strat reference. Be still my heart!