Joe England loved loco promotional material . The owner of the AA Chattanooga Lookouts , Engel once traded a player for a turkey and stock the grandstands with singing fink . But in March 1931 , he pull his riskiest stunt yet — he signed a girl .
Jackie Mitchell was only 17 when she signed up to roleplay pro ball . A southpaw from Tennessee , Mitchell had learned how to throw a filthy donut from her neighbor , future Hall of Famer Dazzy Vance . But that did n’t weigh to Engel : He was just peculiar if a female person on the cumulus could boost tag sales .
That April , he got his solution . The stands were packed for an exposition game against the New York Yankees . And when the Lookouts ’ starting twirler was benched in the first frame , the buff get what they add up for . Mitchell hit the cumulation — and Babe Ruth stared her down from the batter ’s box seat .
Mitchell ’s first lurch miss the mark , but her second was a masterful donut . Ruth hack — and missed . The crew went nuts . When Ruth swung and missed a second time , he necessitate the umpire to verify if the ball had been doctored . It had n’t . When Mitchell ’s fourth pitch nipped the street corner of the scale , the ump called strike three . The gang burst . Ruth threw his squash racquet , quetch up soil , and cussed out the umpire before his mate had to drag him to the dugout .
But Mitchell was just getting warmed up . When Lou Gehrig step to the plateful , Mitchell struck him out on three straight pitches . The gang gave her a stick out ovation . The Yankees finally win 14–4 , but Mitchell stole the headlines . “ The panorama grows sorry for woman hater , ” aNew York Timeseditorial lamented . Today , some historiographer trust Ruth and Gehrig whiffed on intent — and it ’s possible they did . But there ’s no question that Mitchell had a slayer arm . After a poor tenure with the Lookouts , she spent five years playing for the semipro House of David order . In 1933 , she got another chance to feather off against the pros , flip against the St. Louis Cardinals . This meter around , she come home with a win .
