Well, Well, it finally happened

[Kevin Finnerty]

In the 1984 Olympics, I watched a team of studs like Mark McGwire, B.J. Surhoff, Will Clark, Cory Snyder, Barry Larkin and Shane Mack get their asses handed to them by a Japanese team with a bunch of little guys who were built like Ichiro. It was astonishing how a bunch of little finesse guys could beat a powerhouse like that.

So I can see how a woman could finesse her way onto a club and contribute just fine. It is an occasional exceptional gal who brushes with greatness enough to compete at the same level as guys ... the Michelle Wie of baseball, if you will. For people like us to have the door closed seems inappropriate and based almost solely on bigoted thinking.

However, I do not have a stomach for the social and legal nonsense that JKumpire alluded to that often arises from issues like these. I also laugh at specious contentions made about the overall equality of male and female athletes ("The WNBA is just as competitive as the men's NBA, so why don't they get paid like the men?").

We are legally and socially equal, but not physically. A woman who makes it in competitive baseball will do so with a style of play that is based on guile and finesse, along with a huge share of character and determination. It will be a rare and remarkable woman who'll do it, but it can happen.