A revelatory dive into baseball history as well as a testament of hope, Mark Durand’s Her Game is Hardball is a fascinating documentary that looks at many forgotten eras of American sports history while portending the birth of another. Nine years in the making, the film examines the struggles of women’s baseball in America, while touting some of the young talent that will hopefully help propel the newly formed Women’s Professional Baseball League to prominence. Coinciding with the organization’s first season being held in Springfield, Durand will be on hand to screen the film on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Legacy Theatre. There is no charge to attend and tickets can be reserved in advance.
What with his extensive experience in sports journalism, as a producer and writer for “This Week in Baseball” as well as various episodes of ESPN’s “30 for 30,” Durand is particularly qualified to tell this story. His film displays no shortage of ambition where covering the history of women’s baseball is concerned, citing a reference to the fairer sex playing the game in Jane Austen’s 1798 Northanger Abbey, covering its American beginnings at Vassar College in 1866 to various efforts to start professional leagues in the late 19th century. There were examples of pro barnstorming teams in the 19th and 20th centuries and a couple of later known professional women’s leagues efforts after All-American Girls Professional Baseball League formed in 1943, featured in A League of Their Own.
However, as Durand points out in Hardball, there are numerous reasons to be hopeful this will be rectified sooner rather than later. The most salient point is the ever-increasing number of young women who are not only playing the game, but doing so at a high level. The film charts the journey of numerous players at various points in their careers, each of them knocking on the door of the MLB in their own way.
We see 11-year-old Elise Berger throw a perfect game against an all-boys team in her early years, smoothly transitioning to success at the college level, She moves on to Team USA (yes, there is such a thing) which competes in international competitions such as the Pan Am Games and the Women’s Baseball World Cup. Kelsie Whitmore is one of the few to break into professional baseball, playing in various independent leagues, and she was a member of the Savannah Bananas. Then there’s Laney Fukuoka, an ace with five different pitches, now playing for Emerson.
Of course, the success these women and their peers have achieved was not easily won. Misconceptions regarding their skill level and the resistance to break from tradition have put unnecessary hurdles in their way. Ellie Etemad-Gilbertson, a young baseball phenom in Boston, has been told she can only play softball, despite being better than many of her male peers. Through interviews, myriad other players note that they can show no weakness, must be perfect in everything they do and must work harder than their male counterparts if they want to succeed.
Perhaps the most compelling part of Hardball is the story of Melissa Mayeux, a player from France who comes to the U.S. at the age of 19 to workout with the AAA Lancaster Stormers. The first woman on MLB’s international registration list, we see her raw talent on display as well as her heart and determination to succeed. How she handles being thousands of miles away from home at such a tender age, as well as dealing with the pressure of playing in an all-male environment, is a testament of courage and determination. Yet, there are other unexpected issues that she must contend with as well.
As these stories unfold, Durand intersperses them with looks back at the various women who struggled and broke barriers so the modern players could be where they are today. We hear the story of Maria Pepe who, at the age of 12, was told she could no longer play on the Hoboken, New Jersey, Little League team after she had pitched three games. Her parents filed a lawsuit to overturn this, which they won. However, it was issued long after she was eligible to play. Seeing her today, she’s proud of the steps she took for others.
Then there’s Tamera Holmes, a woman who was able to compete in Little League thanks to Pepe’s efforts. The home-run leader for women’s players, she would join the Colorado Silver Bullets, a team that would play men’s teams. Unfortunately, the team folded, robbing Holmes and her teammates of playing on a national stage. She would go on to find a decade of success on Team USA.
Ending with the draft and footage of tryouts for the Women’s Professional Baseball League, the movie ends on a note of hope. There seems no doubt that eventually a woman will break into the major leagues, though it will continue to be a hard-won goal. The compelling portraits of determination and grit Hardball features offer assurances that these women will not be deterred in not only having a league of their own but in making Major League Baseball a league for all.
