At least, I loved the first episode. Baseball is a major part of my life and I am a woman (who played many years of softball but never had any plans to be a star) so I am in the series’ target audience.
I didn’t have high hopes for the show, I am bad at liking dramas. But this episode really blew away my expectations! I was expecting a Family Channel Movie or something. But it’s not that! Yet!
Mark-Paul Gosselar was unrecognizeable to me at first with his dark hair and beard. I love his character - he’s a hot shot athlete diva who knows he is. His character’s relationship with Ginny is great. Not too soft, not too hard. Actually nuanced.
Actually every character seems nuanced. And situations so far are nuanced. I was so ready to be hit over the head with caricatures and tropes. Instead I was instantly drawn in to the emotions and story.
Heck even the fact that she is playing for SAN DIEGO and not New York or Los Angeles is nuance to me. I love it.
Anyone else watch it? What do guys think? What do non-baseball fans think?
I hope it can sustain this excellence. If she ever sleeps with a teammate I’m out, tho.
It definitely had a big ole heaping of FOX cheesiness, but I don’t care cause I loved it. It probably won’t last long, but I’ll enjoy it while I can.
I found myself tearing up a lot over a female athlete breaking barriers and it wasn’t even real. I don’t know what I’d do in real life if this show got to me that much.
I just watched it online and it was impressive. Loved the way they faced the issue with her not having a major league fastball and the screwball is a great weapon; most MLB batters have never seen one (though it probably would have been even more realistic if she had a knuckleball). Also liked that they pulled her in the second game – it’s exactly what would have happened in that situation, though Hollywood would have kept her in.
Baseball neep aside, I think they did a terrific job of it. In a rare setup for a TV show, they started things in medias res and filled in the background as needed. You were drawn in to the situation from the start, even knowing nothing about the characters or their background.
And you’re right about nuance, as well as their way of trying to avoid the obvious. The cliches were there, but there was a concerted effort to minimize them.
I have to say the WORST thing about the show is Joe Buck. When I’d have to suffer through his games, it was TORTURE. Hopefully he was an e1 cameo ONLY.
A screwball is how they made her a major league pitcher? Really? The reason why Fernando Valenzuela’s screwball was so effective is because his fastball was 90mph.
Well, many major leaguers these daysdon’t even believe the screwball exists, let alone know how to hit one. They did indicate that people will adjust to it.
They did say she could get up to 88 mph on her fastball. Bartolo Colon is currently successful with pitches at that speed, making up for the lack of speed with great control. There are other pitchers who pitch in that range, though usually as 4th or 5th starters. So, assuming she has great control for the purpose of the show, the setup is not impossible.
A knuckler would be better, but this certainly is plausible.
I really enjoyed it myself. I liked how after she struggled with the yips in the first game, she had a solid, but not amazing second game. A lesser show would have had her throw a shutout or something in Game 2. I am fine with her pitch being a screwball, esp since it’s so rare these days, but we’ll see how they may deal with other folks figuring it out.
The dad being dead was something that I didn’t expect though.
I enjoyed the pilot quite a bit. I’ve read a bit about how they’ve worked closely with MLB to make it all seem realistic, and there’s definitely an aura of authenticity. I definitely hope that she doesn’t end up as the best pitcher in the league, or on her team.
Wouldn’t it make more sense for a somewhat gimmicky pitcher to work as a middle reliever, where she could be brought in in particular situations where her particular skill set would be useful, rather than a starter?
One thing the AV Club reviewer pointed out… the Padres are a national league team, so, has she had at-bats? Will we see some?
I read somewhere that the original idea was to make her a reliever of some sort, but the “experts” that work with the show said that only pitchers with serious heat (over 100 mph, I am guessing) are relievers now, and that, in fact, the most likely scenario for a female pitcher would be as a starter.
Most relievers have a fastball in the high 90’s, only a few can hit 100 repeatedly. But the trend has been to have faster throwing relievers for fewer pitches per appearance. Still, there have been many successful relievers with a fastball that rarely breaks 90 MPH; they rely on location and the ability to disguise pitches.
I think a knuckleballer would have made more sense as well.
There would be the politics and the economics to consider. There is no way that a team would make the first female pitcher come into the majors as a middle reliever. They’d create a huge hubbub about the first woman player and give her the most visibility possible - that means starting the game.
She could be a back of the rotation "innings eater, " similar to what was expected from Tim Wakefield. Nothing flashy, just a solid, reliable, get it done type pitcher. Sure she’s going to put a lot of balls onto the bats, but as long as she’s crafty enough to keep them on the ground, she’ll have at least a season or two of success.
Yeah, it reminded me of Tim too and I wondered why it wasn’t a knuckleball, as suggested upthread. When Tim was on, the look of confusion on every batter’s face was hilarious. When he couldn’t find his pitch (like she did in her first outing), it was slaughter for the Sox.
I still laugh at how excited we were when Mirabelli (the only one who could catch him) got traded back and there were live Catcher-Cam updates on his journey from Logan to Fenway. What other town would virtually stop to watch their backup catcher arrive?
Another female baseball fan here: I loved the pilot! I had to check it out because of the premise, but I didn’t expect to like it – and the lead character – as much as I did. Also, usually I raise an eyebrow when networks/parent companies make themselves obvious, but in this case I think all of the MLB and Fox Sports stuff added needed verisimilitude; the show might not have worked as well without it.
I really hope the rest of the season can deliver on the pilot’s promise.
*THAT *WAS MARK-PAUL GOSSELAR?!? :eek:
I’m usually good at spotting people, especially after I see their name in the credits (plus, I’m still mourning the end of Franklin & Bash). I think I meant to look up who was playing that character during the show, but for some reason I never did.
Oh man, I am *not *a crier and I teared up three times: the little girl with the “I’m next” sign, the first time she walks out into the full stadium, and at the end.
That was such an odd choice for the writers to make. I can see why they’d want her to have a unique pitch, and a screwball is a good choice for that (and everybody throws a circle change); but why didn’t they just show Pop teaching her the screwball?
Which, to my understanding, is an anti-curveball. You throw it like a curve, but snapping your wrist/elbow counter-clockwise (right-handed) instead of clockwise. I believe Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn threw it.
Yes. A screwball is like a curveball, except that its horizontal curve is in the opposite direction. A screwball thrown by a right-handed pitcher will curve from right to left (from the pitcher’s perspective). One advantage of the screwball is that it works well against opposite-handed hitters. It’s relatively easy for a left-handed batter to hit a curveball from a right-handed pitcher, but it’s not so easy to hit a screwball.
The pitchers best-known for their screwballs are Christy Mathewson, Carl Hubbell and Fernando Valenzuela. It wasn’t called a screwball in Mathewson’s day - he called it a “fadeaway.”
A screwball can be hard on a pitcher’s arm. It will be interesting to see whether they have any stories where Ginny Baker has injury problems.
Actually, they’ve analyzed the motion and stresses of a screwball and discovered it’s easier on the arm than a fastball. But it’s a cherished myth of baseball that it ruins arms.
And, really, it’s the same arm motion a quarterback makes when throwing a pass. Admittedly, you throw far fewer passes in a game than you would if you relied on a screwball on the mound, but the football is a lot heavier than a baseball, which would add stress.
Since it’s next to nonexistent in pro ball these days, batters have no experience with it.
