Results tagged ‘ Diamond Girls ’
The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
Jackie Mitchell was born in 1914. Her father encouraged her to play baseball and taught her the basics of the great game. While she was playing for a women’s team in Chattanooga, Tennessee she attracted the attention of Joe Engel, the president and owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts. The Lookouts were a Class AA minor league team. He offered her a contract to play for the Lookouts during the 1931 season.
During that season the New York Yankees and the Chattanooga Lookouts were scheduled to play an exhibition game in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Jackie was a mere 17 years old when she was brought in to pitch in the first inning after the starting pitcher struggled. The first batter she faced was none other than Babe Ruth.
Ruth swung and missed at two of her first three pitches. Her fourth pitch to Ruth was a called third strike. Following Ruth was Lou Gehrig who also fanned. A seventeen-year-old girl had struck out two of the greatest hitters in baseball history. Jackie died in 1987. However, she always will be remembered as “The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth.”
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