Pirates manager Clint Hurdle: Women will eventually play in MLB
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Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle believes women will eventually play on Major League Baseball teams, he told reporters on Friday's Jackie Robinson Day.
Hurdle said the day dedicated to celebrating diversity in baseball shouldn’t be limited to just race.
“This isn’t just an African-American celebration. This is about the opening of doors for everybody,” Hurdle said, according to the Beaver County Times. “I still believe firmly there is going to be a day where there is a female player in the big leagues. I got that. Where it goes, I don’t know. I don’t believe I’ll be in the dugout to see it.”
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Last month, SI’s Richard Deitsch asked several MLB reporters whether they thought women would break into the league within the next 50 years, and the responses were split 50–50.
Several women have already broken into the sport. Pitcher Sarah Hudek of Bossier Parish Community College is believed to be the only woman playing college baseball this season. Julie Croteau became the first woman to compete in college baseball when she pitched for St. Mary’s College in 1989.
