On May 29, 2016, history was made. Jennie Finch, women's college World Series and Olympic Gold medal winner, was the first ever female to manage a professional baseball team. And I got to see history be made. She was a guest manager for the Bridgeport Bluefish, an independent ball club in the Atlantic League, and they happened to be playing the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (the team I work for) that day. Even though she was only a guest, and she only coached third base for 2 innings, seeing her in that role was inspiring. Now... I can't pretend that I knew who she was before this. I had to do my research. However, finding out who she was and then realizing how much of a big deal this was going to be was kind of neat. Jennine Finch, for those of you who don't know, is the face of softball. She was a stud in college and played on two Olympic teams, winning gold and silver respectively. Finch has set several records throughout her career, including consecutive games, 100+ career victories, strikeout leader, innings pitched leader, and tied for no-hitters. She retired in June 2010, but has been in the community doing things like this manager position since then.
The game was a close one on the 29th... The Bluefish had an early start, scoring a run in the 4th. After 2 innings though, Finch did not come out to coach 3rd base anymore. She kept herself in the dugout to manage from there. The Blue Crabs scored one in the 5th, making it a 1-1 game until the 6th inning. The bottom of the 6th, the Bluefish scored 2, and there the score remained. Jennie Finch beat my Blue Crabs 3-1 in her first managerial win. The below article says that SHE was the winning manager, but I beg to differ. Yes, she got up and coached 3rd base for 2 innings and then sat in the dugout like a normal manager would do. But the calls that the article says she made are wrong. She didn't make any calls. She didn't give signs. And she shouldn't have. If the game got into a situation where there HAD to be a sign put on or a pitcher HAD to come out of the game, what was she going to do? I'm sure if she practiced her signs, she could give them. But she didn't. She wouldn't know who the next pitcher to put in should be. I commend her for the guest manager position that she had and I am so happy that a female made that step. But I don't like how this article makes is sound like she did everything. I'm not trying to put her down... That's not what this is. Because she is breaking barriers for females. She's an amazing role model. I just wish they got the story right. She helped. She sat there and talked with the Bluefish manager and probably learned a lot about what it is to be a professional baseball manager. The second article posted is short and sweet and describes exactly what she did.
Other than my opinion of how the article was written, I think Jennie did a great job and is a very inspiring woman. She deserved the win, she earned it fair and square with the help of the Bluefish manager. Take a look below at the articles. Let me know what you think of Jennie Finch!
http://espn.go.com/espnw/culture/the-buzz/article/15809795/guest-manager-jennie-finch-leads-bridgeport-bluefish-win
http://sportzedge.com/2016/05/29/jennie-finch-makes-baseball-history-manages-the-bridgeport-bluefish/
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