It Dottie dropped the ball intentionally, then the older versions of Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell would have beaten the snot out of her at the reunion in Cooperstown.
“Helping out kid sister’s self-esteem. Are you helping your kid sister’s self-esteem! There’s no helping your kid sister’s self-esteem in baseball!”
That’s the way I saw it, too. For what it’s worth, I’m the eldest sibling.
I’m in the intentional drop camp- although I don’t think Kit realized the sacrifice. I agree that Kit’s meltdown in the dugout softened Dottie’s heart toward her little sister. I’m a youngest and I guess I want to believe that my big sister’s would always look for me! 
I think the story makes a point of showing her tream mates disappointed, but not devastated after the game (Rosie O’s character going out for a streak dinner with her dad and kind of shrugging it off) to ease the viewer’s “guilt” of knowing that Dottie dropped the ball.
I wonder whether having played competitively may also influence someone’s interpretation.
I’m the oldest sibling in my family, but I also played a lot of competitive sports. To me, Dottie was a competitor and so was Kit. No way either of them would have thrown the game intentionally. It just wasn’t in them.
True, Dottie wasn’t as interested in joining the league as Kit, but that was at the beginning. After she got involved, she took over coaching (before Tom Hank’s character sobered up). She also started the promotional plays with her “splits catch” for the photographers after hearing that the league was in trouble. Dottie was going home to her husband, but I see that more as her last chance to really win something on her own rather than the point where she began to care less about the game’s outcome.
However, while Dottie was a competitive person, she had things outside the league that Kit didn’t. So, in that final play, Kit wanted it just a bit more.
Honestly, I think it works either way, and the way it was shot clearly left plenty of room for argument. But according to a review of the “special edition” of the DVD, director Penny Marshall’s commentary reveals her answer to this burning question.
Don’t click the link if you don’t wanna know. (But if you do, you’ll need to scroll down to see the review. :D)
Edited to add: I should mention that I don’t have a copy of this DVD myself, so I can’t verify if Marshall really does give this tidbit away!
So Dottie also helped Billy Jo drop something off the Tallahachee Bridge too?
Thank you for clarifying!
I beleive she was also the second shooter on the grassy knoll.
I never thought the ending was hazy at all. She clearly drops it on purpose. There are other scenes of her not droping it when she takes a hit so the change it shows is an internal change for Dottie.
Dottie was a hard-ass. She would’ve never dropped the ball on purpose.
Of course, the whole thing isn’t helped by the fact that Geena Davis is probably the least expressive actress ever.
She was also stuffed inside the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.
I have always thought Dottie dropped it on purpose.
Dottie dropped it on purpose. She made it look good, she had to, but she totally dropped it.
I am the elder of two sisters. My sister and I are very competitive. However, were I in Dottie’s position, I would have dropped it, too. You’d have to be obsessively competitive to hold on to that ball in that situation. You have been the star all season, you have a husband and a house and a business and a life to go back to. This is the only thing she has and she will be absolutely devastated if she loses the game for her team. How could you take that little bit away from her, no matter how badly you wanted it?
But Dottie let down her team! She let down a group of women she went through a lot with. She helped make the league. And if she intentionally let another team win, then I’m very disappointed with her.
Now I will no longer cry at the end of the movie and instead yell “CHEATER” every time I see Dottie.
CHEATER!