A Pitch for the Home Team

Sunday, December 4, 2005

In Japan, women promote baseball

By Jeremy Gottlieb, Globe Correspondent  

When the Lady Spirit All-Star baseball team journeyed to Japan to play a series of games against the Japanese National team last month, the players and coaches were not simply taking a vacation.

''We want to get the message out about women's baseball," said infielder-pitcher Robin Wallace. ''The message is not out there enough and the trip was a way to take another step in the evolution of women's baseball."

Wallace, who serves as executive director of the Lynn-based North American Women's Baseball League and assistant general manager of the North Shore Spirit, was among the 16 players and two coaches who made the trip. The Lady Spirit All-Stars accepted an invitation from the Japanese Baseball Federation in early October to travel east for three exhibition games between Nov. 13 and Nov. 21. The team had barely a month to prepare for the trip and was scheduled to play its first game just 12 hours after arriving in Osaka, after 31 hours of travel.

But the team, led by Wallace, was undeterred. These women were on a mission. They even brought Karen Kunkel and Terry Donahue -- two original members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was the inspiration for the 1992 film ''A League of Their Own" -- along as good-will ambassadors.

There may not be a better locale in which to further the message than Japan, where the national team is considered the best women's baseball squad in the world; so good that it won three straight against the Lady Spirit, who had lost just three times in three years.

''The Japanese baseball program is the elite baseball program in the world," said Al Melanson, commissioner of the North American Women's Baseball League and a part owner of the North Shore Spirit with majority owner Nick Lopardo.

Melanson is also the hockey coach at Lynn English and served as the Lady Spirit's general manager on the trip. ''They have baseball for girls at the youth level, they have it at the high school level, the collegiate level and their professionals in the national program train practically 24-seven," he said. ''When they play, they don't let up."

The women's league has hardly let up in the three years since its inception. Lopardo agreed to back the league prior to the 2003 season if there was a minimum of 60 players to divide among four teams. Now, there is enough interest in the league to necessitate roster cuts during April tryouts. Women are flocking to Fraser Field in the spring from other parts of the world for a chance to play organized baseball; two Canadians and three natives of Australia play for the Lady Spirit All-Stars.

''We've been traveling since our first year of existence," said Wallace, who cited trips to tournaments in Montreal and the Dominican Republic, in addition to the first ever US National Team competing in, and winning, the 2004 International Baseball Federation Women's World Cup in Edmonton, Alberta. ''To be invited by the Japanese to play means that the word must be spreading. The trip was the opportunity of a lifetime for our players."

Two of those players hail from North Shore communities. Megan Sudak, the team's first baseman, resides in Beverly, while outfielder Darcy Doherty, originally from Salem, lives in Hamilton. Sudak and Doherty have been playing in the women's league since it began and both were profoundly moved by the Lady Spirit's trip to the Far East, regardless of the outcomes of the games.

''It was something of a shock, both being in Japan and seeing these women who play baseball for a living," said Sudak, a Beverly High teacher who also coaches freshman girls' basketball and junior varsity softball. ''We were people who play for fun and love of the game going up against pros. The trip was such a good way to continue to forge relationships with other women's baseball teams and really keep the ball rolling as far as growing the sport. It was all a bit overwhelming, but I think that hands down, we achieved something. I'm so proud that we were able to go."

Doherty agreed with her teammate and noted that of all the trips she's taken with the Lady Spirit since 2003, this one was not only the biggest, but the most ambitious.

''As far as promoting the game, this was the most important trip we made," said Doherty. ''It wasn't just about going over there just to play and win, it was our way of trying to help grow the sport and keep and form ties with other countries that play women's baseball. I think we accomplished what we set out to do."

Down the road is the hope of seeing women's baseball become an Olympic event. Melanson thinks that such a leap is possible.

''We had an audience with the president of the Japanese Baseball Federation and were informed that they would like to see women's baseball in the Olympics in 2012," said Melanson. ''We think it's possible. If men's baseball makes it back to Olympic status then we could address the women's game as a gender equity issue with the International Olympic Committee. In the meantime, we'll be gearing up for another World Cup next year and we also held some discussions with the Japanese about an international exchange program."

The players and coaches are still coming down from the excitement of the trip. Wallace, though, has her eye on the future.

''We'd certainly like to expand the league as the numbers increase," she said. ''Every year since the league began, we've had more players try out. As it becomes more feasible, we can expand accordingly. And we'd also like to establish a league for girls from the ages of 13-15. If girls know they have the option to play baseball at that age, that's another way to get the word out." 

© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company