# Settle a debate: In A League of Their Own... \[OPEN SPOILERS IN THREAD\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725 "2011-12-10T12:42:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/1 "2011-12-10T12:42:43Z")
This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. This is a spoiler space. In A League of Their Own…Do you think Dottie drops the ball on purpose at the end?. [This topic was done once before, seven years ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287142), and I remember reading it and being shocked by the number of people who believe Dottie DID drop it on purpose. So now that we have a ton of new members since that one, I’m going to ask for new opinions and thoughts about it. Me, I don’t think she did. They made a very big deal out of showing a close up of her hand and the ball falling out of it in slow motion. I think that was a hint and that it showed Kit had become better than her in Baseball, finally, enough to win the final game against her when it mattered. ---
**Author:** ![kirk1168](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@kirk1168](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk1168)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/2 "2011-12-10T17:01:47Z")
I always thought that she dropped the ball on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![BlakeTyner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/3 "2011-12-10T17:15:52Z")
I’ve always seen it as Dottie deliberately drops the ball. Just asked the wife, who was a catcher all through high school, and she concurs–you don’t drop the rock when the game’s on the line. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/4 "2011-12-10T17:22:10Z")
Dottie dropped it. This is the signal that baseball isn’t _really_ for girls since they care about family and husbands more. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/5 "2011-12-10T17:46:18Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Dottie dropped it. This is the signal that baseball isn’t _really_ for girls since they care about family and husbands more. Well, except for the 99% of the players in the movie that do care about baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/6 "2011-12-10T17:48:14Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Well, except for the 99% of the players in the movie that do care about baseball. Yeah but do you see a woman’s league now? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/7 "2011-12-10T17:56:45Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Yeah but do you see a woman’s league now? That’s because nobody wants to watch women play, not because they don’t want to play. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/8 "2011-12-10T18:03:47Z")
I don’t think she dropped it on purpose. I think she respected her sister too much at that point to condescend to her. It was a major moment of character growth for Dottie. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/9 "2011-12-10T18:05:10Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > That’s because nobody wants to watch women play, not because they don’t want to play. Who said they didn’t want to play? Dottie dropping the ball on purpose to help her sister was symbolic. She was the real natural talent and she gave it all up for her sister and her man. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/10 "2011-12-10T18:33:31Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Who said they didn’t want to play? …You. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/11 "2011-12-10T18:59:15Z")
Voted the same as last time - definitely dropped it on purpose. She loved Kit much much more than she loved the game. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/12 "2011-12-10T19:21:52Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > …You. Sorry. I don’t see where I said that and if I did, I didn’t mean to. What I meant to say was Dottie deliberately dropped the ball because family was more important to her than baseball. It was symbolic of what eventually happened to women’s professional baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/13 "2011-12-10T19:37:03Z")
She dropped it on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/14 "2011-12-10T19:39:38Z")
I never thought she dropped it on purpose. Dottie was a classic, hard-ass (heh!), “team first” player and a leader, who would never have dreamed of such a thing. She could not have deliberately let down people who had a right to count on her, IMO. Her sister had no right to expect such a thing–again, that would have been out of character. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/15 "2011-12-10T19:47:44Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Sorry. I don’t see where I said that and if I did, I didn’t mean to. What I meant to say was Dottie deliberately dropped the ball because family was more important to her than baseball. It was symbolic of what eventually happened to women’s professional baseball. Right. You’re claiming that women’s baseball doesn’t work because women have better things to do. I disagree. There are thousands of women that would do nearly anything to play sports for a living. Women’s baseball doesn’t work because nobody cares about women’s sports. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/16 "2011-12-10T19:51:30Z")
Dropped. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/17 "2011-12-10T19:58:38Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Dropped. I don’t think there’s any controversy over whether or not she dropped it. I can see both sides. I think it’d be an incredibly shitty thing to do to her teammates in order to stroke her sister’s ego. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/18 "2011-12-10T19:59:34Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Right. You’re claiming that women’s baseball doesn’t work because women have better things to do. I disagree. There are thousands of women that would do nearly anything to play sports for a living. Women’s baseball doesn’t work because nobody cares about women’s sports. Waitaminit! That’s not what _I’m_ saying. That is my interpretation of the movie. Dottie dropped the ball so, in the end, there was no a league of their own. According to A League Of Their Own, not according to Biggirl. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/19 "2011-12-10T20:08:33Z")
Yes she did, but the bigger question is why we might need a 19 year old movie spoiler-protected… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725/20 "2011-12-10T20:19:21Z")
She dropped it on purpose. I can see the same thing happening in a movie about brothers. You do see this in real life when two teams will let someone score for a reason other than playing the game. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-a-debate-in-a-league-of-their-own-open-spoilers-in-thread/605725.md?page=2)