Malibu Times: Shining a sports spotlight on Justine Siegal
From Dick Dornan at the Malibu Times on September 26, 2013, on SABR member Justine Siegal:
“I think about baseball when I wake up in the morning. I think about it all day and I dream about it at night. The only time I don’t think about it is when I’m playing it.” —Carl Yastrzemski
Justine Siegal, 38, has played baseball, not softball, since she was five years old. As a young girl growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, Siegal dreamed of donning the Cleveland Indians uniform and taking the mound at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium where her father took her to games.
Then one day, she did.
In February 2011, Siegal, who moved to Malibu last year, made history when she became what is believed to be the first woman to ever throw batting practice to a major league team, when she tossed BP to the Indians during spring training in Goodyear, Ariz. Later Siegal tossed for the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum, then again to the Rays, Cardinals, Astros and Mets, attracting nationwide attention in outlets such as ESPN, USA Today and the New York Times.
Siegal’s turn in “The Show,” marked the culmination of a remarkable journey, which at one point transformed from a personal quest into something larger.
“This is not my story, but our story,” she said.
At age 23, Siegal created Baseball for All, a nonprofit organization that provides opportunities for girls and women to participate in the game of baseball as players, coaches and umpires. She had always played ball, through youth, through three years of college, in college fall ball and men’s leagues; had coached it, too, for three years as an assistant at Springfield College, where she received her doctorate degree. Many years later, she’d become the first woman to coach men’s professional baseball as the first base coach for the Brockton Rox in Brockton, Mass.
Read the full article here: http://www.malibutimes.com/news/article_97bf786a-261a-11e3-a20e-0019bb2963f4.html
Related link: Justine Siegal makes history with batting practice sessions in Arizona
Originally published: September 26, 2013. Last Updated: September 26, 2013.