For the Love of the Game

By Jennifer Horn

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Telegraph, The (Nashua, NH)

August 13, 2006
Section: Jennifer Horn

The most athletic thing I have ever done is walk 60 miles in three days to raise money for breast cancer. While this is no small feat, I have to admit my favorite part was making new friends along the route and collecting stickers at each water stop. Really, the stickers were great. Having accomplished the 60 miles multiple times over the last seven years, I was certain, when invited to join the Seahawks professional women's baseball team for a day, that I was up to the challenge. I imagined myself a lead player on "A League of Their Own"-type team, catching hard drives at second base and trading stickers between innings with all my new baseball girlfriends.

As it turns out, there are no stickers in baseball.

In fact, although the women in the North American Women's Baseball League are friends off the field, they take their efforts on the field very seriously. While a 5-foot-4, 130-pound blonde with a ponytail may not be the first person you picture when you think of professional sports, don't let the appearance of these athletes fool you.

They are serious about baseball. And I am so impressed. The North American Women's Baseball League consists of four teams made up of women from all walks of life and varying in age from 13 to 40. They are students and teachers, businesswomen and attorneys. Unlike any other professional league, these women receive no compensation for playing.

"I've loved baseball my whole life, and never had the chance to play before," one told me. "I played as long as I could as a kid, but at a certain age, the boys pretty much take over the game," another said.

Robin Wallace, general manager of the Nashua Pride and a pitcher for the NAWBL Seahawks, sums up the spirit of the league in a single sentence: "On the field, you are definitely competitive," she said, "but this league is about moving baseball forward and keeping the dream alive."

I knew there wasn't much chance of my getting into the game - in the real world, middle-aged, stay-at-home mother of five doesn't usually translate into star player - but I was genuinely thrilled just to be a part of the team.

Like any great sports story, this one is filled with personality. From the 13-year-old Lindsey "Baby Hawk" Davis to attorney/pitcher Robin "Bamma" Wallace to fielder Colleen "Doli" Dolan, every woman in the league has a story to tell.

Seahawks catcher Naomi Grecko-Herlich has just earned a master's in world history and spent the last year traveling around the world. Literally.

Saints shortstop Katie Hickey was accepted into the Watertown (Mass.) Police Academy this spring, fulfilling another lifelong dream - in addition to playing professional baseball.

Forget Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell; someone should make a movie about these women.

After an incredibly enjoyable, but athletically disappointing, warm-up, I understood that my contribution to the team would be made from the bench. I kept an eagle eye on the game, not missing a single moment of the action. I clapped and cheered and punched fists with the other women as they made one amazing play after another.

No one could keep up with our globetrotting catcher, however. Her "chatter," as they call it, was lightning fast and loud enough to be heard all over the stadium. "Let's play our game, 'Hawks, let's play our game! C'mon, one-six, one-six, c'mon. How ya watch! How ya watch! All day! All day! How ya do! How ya do! C'mon, 'Sticks!' Do like ya do! Do like ya do!"

These gals play great ball. They throw hard, they hit hard and they run hard. It was an emotional, hard-fought game. Up one inning and down the next, every player on the field gave 100 percent for the full seven innings. No one dogged it, no one gave up and no one gave less than their all. My fellow Seahawks and I made for strange teammates - they are younger, fitter and by far more skilled than I, but I loved my time as a member of this extraordinary sorority. I was clearly out of my league among these well-conditioned athletes - I was the only Seahawk who grunted "uggghhh" every time I threw a ball and the only one who said "oops" every time I dropped it - but they welcomed me into their ranks all the same, bonded by a shared love of the game.

I have always loved baseball. I love the chills that run down my spine every time a stadium full of spectators rises and removes their caps for the national anthem. I love the camaraderie of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. I love the pure, unadulterated joy of children playing ball in a dusty park on a hot summer day and the unbreakable bond of watching a minor league game with your son - or daughter. And I love the spirit of players who play for the love of it all.

Other than perhaps a Little League field, nowhere else in the world will you find a group of ballplayers who play more from the heart than these women do. The crowds at these games aren't huge, but they get what baseball is all about: the joy of spending a beautiful afternoon with your family, the excitement of great baseball, the thrill of cheering your team to victory. Above all else, however, it is about keeping the dream alive.

(On Monday, Saints shortstop Katie Hickey died unexpectedly. With sympathy and best wishes to her family and friends, this column is dedicated to women everywhere who are keeping the dream alive.)

NAWBL games to be played at Holman Stadium today are: Seahawks vs. Ravens, 6 p.m. Saints vs. Outlaws, 8 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.nawbl.com



Illustration: Staff photos by Peter DiCampo

Columnist Jennifer Horn, back right, joins the Seahawks, Nashua's entry in the North American Women's Baseball League, as they shout "Hawks!" before they taking the field for a game at Holman Stadium in Nashua on Aug. 6.

Copyright, 2006, The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H. All Rights Reserved.