At the age of seventeen, Chattanooga Lookouts pitcher Jackie Mitchell struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game on April 2, 1931. After taking a ball, Ruth swung and missed at the next two pitches, and then Mitchell’s fourth pitch to Ruth was a called third strike. Gehrig then swung through the first three pitches to strike out.
Mitchell was one of the first female pitchers in professional baseball history. Shortly after the exhibition game, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis voided her contract and forbid the signing of women.
I love what Landis did to clean up the game, but it’s very difficult to like the old guy, isn’t it?
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Agreed. I’m always at one end or the other of the pendulum with that guy.
off topic, but this photo could easily be used in the fight for the liberation of cannabis as Jackie Mitchell appears to have a joint pinched between her thumb and index finger and as you have pointed out, she was an effective pitcher.
I never considered that it might be a joint, but that would make a terrific argument. I have seen things like that with track stars and with the likes of Michael Phelps. So why not?