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Author Borders, Ila Jane, 1975- author.

Title Making my pitch : a woman's baseball odyssey / Ila Jane Borders, with Jean Hastings Ardell ; foreword by Mike Veeck
Published Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2017]

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Description 1 online resource
Contents 1. Beginnings: Little League -- 2. Lipstick adolescence -- 3. College : pitching through adversity -- 4. Mike Veeck and the St. Paul Saints -- 5. Duluth-Superior Dukes : being "Babe" -- 6. The Dukes : nailing a win -- 7. Another team, another town -- 8. Out of the game -- 9. Loss -- Epilogue
Summary "Making My Pitch tells the story of Ila Jane Borders, who despite formidable obstacles became a Little League prodigy, MVP of her otherwise all-male middle school and high school teams, the first woman awarded a baseball scholarship, and the first to pitch and win a complete men's collegiate game. After Mike Veeck signed Borders in May 1997 to pitch for his St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League, she accomplished what no woman had done since the Negro Leagues era: play men's professional baseball. Borders played four professional seasons and in 1998 became the first woman in the modern era to win a professional ball game. Borders had to find ways to fit in with her teammates, reassure their wives and girlfriends, work with the media, and fend off groupies. But these weren't the toughest challenges. She had a troubled family life, a difficult adolescence as she struggled with her sexual orientation, and an emotionally fraught college experience as a closeted gay athlete at a Christian university. Making My Pitch shows what it's like to be the only woman on the team bus, in the clubhouse, and on the field. Raw, open, and funny at times, her story encompasses the loneliness of a groundbreaking pioneer who experienced grave personal loss. Borders ultimately relates how she achieved self-acceptance and created a life as a firefighter and paramedic and as a coach and goodwill ambassador for the game of baseball"--Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references
Notes Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher
Subject Borders, Ila Jane, 1975-
SUBJECT Borders, Ila Jane, 1975- fast
Subject Women baseball players -- United States -- Biography
Pitchers (Baseball) -- United States -- Biography
GAMES -- Gambling -- Sports.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- Business Aspects.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- Essays.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- History.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- Reference.
TRAVEL -- Special Interest -- Sports.
Pitchers (Baseball)
Women baseball players
United States
Genre/Form autobiographies (literary works)
Autobiographies
Biographies
Autobiographies.
Autobiographies.
Form Electronic book
Author Ardell, Jean Hastings, 1943- co-author.
LC no. 2016035649
ISBN 9781496200204
1496200209
9781496200211
1496200217
9781496200228
1496200225