Danica Patrick wins Indycar Race

[lcbj68c]

I don't care for open wheel racing and don't follow Danica Patrick, but it is interesting to note that it's another story of women breaking barriers in professional sports. Good for her. To add a Brewers twist, do you ever think we will see the day of women allowed or good enough in the MLB? Lisa Fernandez comes to mind, I'm sure she could hit a fastball and play catcher or something? I'm neither advocating it or ruling it out, just a thought.

[dadofandrew]

There's little doubt a lefty pitcher could be a woman someday, as they often do not throw hard, and always in demand.

[Invader3K]

I don't believe there is any rule prohibiting women from playing in MLB currently...so if there was a woman who was good enough, then it would be possible.

 

To be honest, wouldn't that create a huge amount of problems for a team if they did want to bring a female player onto their roster? Like, would they have to create a separate locker room for the one woman player, etc? Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of women playing sports against men (I don't count Danica Patrick, since driving a car isn't exactly the same as playing on a baseball field)...it's not a sexist thing. I just think it creates kind of a side show thing. If there was enough interest in seeing women play baseball, there'd be a WNBA equivalent for MLB.

[ewizabeff]

I wouldn't hold my breath to see women in MLB, simply because of the lack of baseball opportunities women have growing up. I played baseball "with the boys" until I was in seventh grade. Then you had to start trying out for the team and they basically told me not to even bother. Granted, I wasn't a phenomenal athlete, but I bet I was better than some of the worse guys that made it.

 

That being said, women wouldn't be able to play high school baseball because there's a women's equivalent (softball) at most schools, and they'd have an awfully hard time breaking into the competitive little league teams, so where would they have a chance to showcase their talents for scouts?

 

If women are looking to get involved with baseball, I would think management/front office would be the path to pursue.

[endaround]

Yeah because the softball track takes away most female ball players and that means a different skill set. The most likely major sport with the first female player? Hockey. There have already been some decent female goalies in the minors

[Blancofan1]

I agree with endaround that a hockey goalie would a definite possibility. Other than that, I could see a woman playing professional soccer. I know a lot of people don't really agree that MLS is actually a pro sport in this country, and I am not a soccer fan, but it seems like a pretty logical sport that a woman could compete in at the same level. If Freddy Adu could play at the age of like 16, I would think that a college women's soccer star could handle it as well.

[Sepolevne]

There was Manon Rheaume who played a couple exhibition games back in the 90s. I could see a football kicker being a woman, there was already Katie Hnida at Colorado. I don't think it's too surprising that theres decent female car racers. It's like being a good female bowler or a good female billiards player or good female golfer. There's not a ton of brute strength involved, so the women have just as much of a chance as the men. Maybe golf a little less than the other things, but for finesse positions, I can see a woman being able to play along side men.

 

I'd imagine though with enough training a woman could probably play any position on the baseball diamond.

[jaybird2001wi]

I believe Ila Borders is the last female to compete in professional baseball, mind you it was the Independent Leagues and she pitched for the St. Paul Saints.

Borders actually pitched for a Northern League team in Madison called the Black Wolf, according to the link above where she probably had her most success. But she was an interesting story on ESPN for quite some time during her run as a pitcher in the Indy Leagues.

When I played baseball prior to high school, I played for Racine Youth Sports, and I saw a few girls playing. But females in baseball won't happen for quite some time, if at all. Ever since Title IX occurred in the NCAA, there is now a lot more funding for women's softball, more funding than the obvious pre-title IX days when women fought just to compete in any college sport.

But women are honored in baseball, the last time I was at the Baseball Hall of Fame (during Molitor's induction in 2004), they actually have a special area honoring women who worked hard to save some aspects of the game, but it was obviously for their business approach to the game as front office personnel.

[InsomniacInkRoss]

Danica Patrick is over-hyped

 

She is not that good, given the team she was on, and the insane weight advantage, it's silly how long it took her to win a race

 

I am all for women competing if they can, but, the media loved Danica just because she is a mildly attractive girl who loves to whine

 

These girls have the right idea:

http://www.insomniacink.com/Gallery/DanicaSucks_girls.jpg

[endaround]

Yeah you would think she's as good as Dale Earnhardt Jr. or something....

[jwill535]

Danica Patrick is over-hyped

 

She is not that good, given the team she was on, and the insane weight advantage, it's silly how long it took her to win a race

 

I am all for women competing if they can, but, the media loved Danica just because she is a mildly attractive girl who loves to whine

 

These girls have the right idea:

http://www.insomniacink.com/Gallery/DanicaSucks_girls.jpg

They changed the rule this year to be like horse racing, where everyones car and driver have to weight the same. She kicked and screamed about this because she admitted that it gave her a huge advantage, which of course did her no good before.

 

[orca1963]

Danica Patrick is over-hyped

 

She is not that good, given the team she was on, and the insane weight advantage, it's silly how long it took her to win a race

 

I am all for women competing if they can, but, the media loved Danica just because she is a mildly attractive girl who loves to whine

 

Every year she has raced she has finished in the top ten except her first year. She finished 12th in the standings. (And led all rookies in points)The woman has skills. She is not the best Indy car racer but she is better than a whole bunch of the men. The hype is not just because she is a woman. It is because she is a woman and she is beating men at their own game on a regular basis. As far as it being silly how long she has gone without winning a race there are many men racing who will never win a race.

 

"They changed the rule this year to be like horse racing, where everyones car and driver have to weight the same. She kicked and screamed about this because she admitted that it gave her a huge advantage, which of course did her no good before."

 

And now she has won with the new rule so out goes that argument. Face it people the woman can drive.

 

[igor67]

I do not follow racing closely at all, but it certainly seems like Patrick has more top ten finishes then say Dick Trickle in his entire career.

[gypcasino]

I do not follow racing closely at all,

I never would have guessed that.

[gypcasino]

Every year she has raced she has finished in the top ten except her first year.

Not that impressive if you consider how many cars raced the full schedule during those years.

[pogokat]

she's middle of the pack...yeah, she's with a good team, but she beats the crap out of lots of other guys you've never heard of because they aren't half the talent she is...

 

she's not a top of the line talent, but she's not bad...she's the least "publicity stunt" woman to ever race in a major series...she's competent and fast...

 

without the espn hype machine, people probably wouldn't expect her to be mario andretti

[InsomniacInkRoss]

I did not know about the rule change, which I like, and I will give her credit for overcoming that

 

I agree that you can throw out the "top 10" finishing given the limited amount of people who start every race

 

I stand by the long amount of time it took her to win, esp with the weight advantage and being on Andretti Green

 

If she wasn't so over hyped, and whined soooooo much, I would probably like her a lot more, she is from Wisconsin after all