ESPN’s broadcast of Tuesday’s play-in game between the Astros and the Yankees featured baseball analyst Jessica Mendoza, an Olympic softball player who in calling it became the first woman to announce a nationally televised playoff game. I didn’t watch, but my partner, Ted Cox, a longtime Reader sports columnist and Daily Herald media critic as well as a past member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, has been impressed: “She knows her shit, and she’s super up on sabermetrics. And she’s eloquent too.”
Really? A women’s softball slugger as guest analyst on MLB Wildcard Game? Once again ESPN too frigging cute for their own good. — Mike Bell (@mikebell929) Oct. 7, 2015
Even her defenders couldn’t resist patronizing her:
“A viewer emailed me saying the only reason I had my job was because I had used my big mouth to service my boss and male colleagues,” Lada said. “When I responded that such vulgarity towards women set a terrible example for his young child (who was prominently featured in the man’s Twitter and Facebook profiles) he replied that his son and his middle school-aged friends agreed and were laughing at me while watching, as well. Parenting #FAIL.”
Mendoza, a two-time Olympic champion among other significant accomplishments, has kept her cool throughout, telling Good Morning, America that the thing she was most excited about “was the aftermath and how much support there really was.”
“I want to get to a point when we hear a female voice on NBA, NFL, or just anything in men’s sports, and it is like, ‘Sweet. She’s doing a good job.’ ”
