Making My Pitch
Page 27
8. Out of the Game
“women have remained”: Jean Hastings Ardell, introduction of Ila Borders, the Baseball Reliquary Shrine of the Eternals, July 20, 2003. http://www.baseballreliquary.org/awards/shrine-of-the-eternals-2003/.
“that fat little bastard”: “Artie’s Baseball Challenge pt. 2,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF_uNS6-n6Y.
“When I [first met Ila]”: Annie Huidekoper, telephone interview, October 28, 2014.
9. Loss
“When all our hopes”: L. B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, devotional, September 8, http://www.oneplace.com/devotionals/streams-in-the-desert-with-mrs-charles-cowman/streams-in-the-desert-sept-8-1421209.html.
Epilogue
“When Ila finally arrived”: Annie Huidekoper, telephone interview, October 28, 2014.
“[Mike] took a deep breath”: “Annie Huidekoper: St. Paul Saints Vice President Shares Her Story,” Lavender Media Inc., October 8, 2010, http://www.lavendermagazine.com/our-affairs/annie-huidekoper/.
“I am a transsexual sportswriter”: Nancy Hass, “New Mike, Old Christine,” GQ, June 2010, http://www.gq.com/story/mike-penner-sportswriter-christine-daniels
“There’s a process where”: Mark Davis, personal interview, October 5, 2015.
“Teaching our boys”: “Our Lady of Sorrows Academy Forfeits Arizona Baseball Championship over Female Player, Religious Beliefs,” Huffington Post, May 10, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/our-lady-of-sorrows-forfeits-baseball-girl_n_1507606.html.
“Even when you’re home”: Ron Shelton, speaking at the Cannery Hot Stove League, Newport Beach, California, December 13, 2013.
“Love is the most”: Jay Bergino, telephone interview, March 28, 2016.
About Ila Jane Borders
Ila Jane Borders is the first woman to win a men’s professional baseball game. She has been honored twice at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and was inducted in 2003 into the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals.
About Jean Hastings Ardell
Jean Hastings Ardell is the author of Breaking into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime.
About Mike Veeck
Mike Veeck is a baseball executive and part owner of five teams including the St. Paul Saints and the Charleston RiverDogs.
1. Starting out: in 1975, it was Dad, Mom, and me. (Courtesy of Marianne Borders)
2. In my first year of Little League, the determination shows in my face. (Courtesy of Marianne Borders)
3. At age twelve came my first big media interview. Rick Lozano from KABC-TV in Los Angeles reported on the Little League game I pitched, when I struck out eighteen of eighteen batters. (Courtesy of Marianne Borders)
4. At my high school graduation in June 1993, we look like a happy family, on the outside. Despite everything, I’ve always stayed close to my siblings. Back, left to right: Mom, me, Dad, Leah; middle: Phillip; front: Randall. (Courtesy of Marianne Borders)
5. The spring 1994 cover of Southern California College’s magazine Spirit captures the beginning of “Ila-mania,” the intense media scrutiny that continued throughout most of my career. (Courtesy of Vanguard University Archives, Costa Mesa, California)
6. This shot shows so well my anxieties in college. (Courtesy of Lois Bernstein)
7. After sophomore year in college I spent the summer in Canada, playing for the Swift Current Indians. Life there was always an adventure as we traveled to games throughout Saskatchewan on the “bubble bus.” Pictured are my teammates and me in the back of the bus. (Courtesy of Ila Borders)
8. My rookie card was a baseball dream come true. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Saints)
9. Being on the mural with the Saints’ much-loved Wayne Terwilliger at Midway Stadium was a huge honor! (Courtesy of the St. Paul Saints)
10. In my few weeks with the St. Paul Saints, their groundskeeper Connie Rudolph provided hospitality and so much more. A friendship began then that continued through the years. Here we are biking in Arizona in 2008. (Courtesy of Ila Borders)
11. Waiting to interview me as I pitched for the Dukes, Mike Wallace stood up for me in the stands over an umpire’s call. (Courtesy of the Duluth News Tribune)
12. Mike Veeck always had a hug for me whenever I returned to Midway Stadium. (Courtesy of Connie Rudolph)
13. My Duluth-Superior Dukes teammate, pitcher Dave Glick, was my biggest supporter and closest friend throughout baseball. We were best buddies who looked out for each other. (Courtesy of Ila Borders)
14. Photographer Annie Leibovitz relaxed with Dad and me at Whittier College during our photo shoot in 1997. Talented, humble, and giving, Annie inspired me to live my professional life with integrity. (Courtesy of Annie Leibovitz)
15. It blew me away when I arrived for the opening of Annie Leibovitz’s exhibit Portraits, Profiles, and Progress: Celebrating Women of the Twentieth Century at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC and saw my image in lights. (Courtesy of Ila Borders)
16. After retiring I continued to coach for the World Children’s Baseball Fair. Here I am with Sadaharu Oh, Japan’s Babe Ruth, in 2000. Oh founded the organization with another home-run king, Hank Aaron. (Courtesy of Ila Borders)
17. If Annie Leibovitz showed me how a woman can thrive in the world, Shannon Chesnos taught me how to love. Here we are by the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota, on the tenth anniversary of my debut with the Saints. (Courtesy of Ila Borders)
18. Bill Murray, the actor and St. Paul Saints co-owner, was always easy to talk with. We reunited in 2014 at the last game ever at Midway Stadium. (Courtesy of Ila Borders)
19. I found myself in a friendly new league when I joined the Cornelius Fire Department in the summer of 2015. To my left are Steve Black and Keaton Card; to my right, Jordan Shepard and Ben Sletmoe, the B shift crew. (Courtesy of Dave Neimeyer)
20. Jenni Westphal and I celebrate being together in winter 2014, Flagstaff, Arizona. (Courtesy of Ila Borders)
21. Dusty Baker’s letter of encouragement meant a lot during my hectic freshman year in college. Dusty was one of many African Americans in baseball who had my back—not surprising, as they knew so well the barriers one could face in the game. (Courtesy of Dusty Baker)