The Cheap SeatsA Note from the Editor Willie Steele As I sit at my kitchen table writing this on my trusty legal pad, my youngest daughter, Marianne, is in the living room working on her science homework. Normally, we'd have both finished our work on these projects days ago, but on short notice the week before the Field of Dreams game between the Yankees and the White Sox, we took some time off when my literary agent emailed me two tickets for the matchup in Dyersville, Iowa. It was Marianne's first major league game, so the combination of tenth row seats behind home plate and an upgrade to a Ford Mustang at the rental car counter made this a pretty tough trip to top. Much has been written about father-son relationships and baseball. I've probably been as prone to this as anyone. As I thought about how to put together this final double issue, I wanted to provide a place for authors to consider not only the game's rich history but its current state as well; however, I didn't want to neglect the future of the game either. With that in mind it seemed a good idea to dedicate a special topics issue to women and baseball. I called Jean Ardell, one of the first people I met when I began attending the NINE Spring Training Conference several years ago. As the person who literally wrote the book on women and baseball, I wanted to hear her thoughts on this idea. By the end of the phone call, Jean had agreed to come on board as the guest editor. This is no ceremonial title. Jean and I read each and every submission several times, chose the best among them, and worked tirelessly over ten months to produce what you hold in your hands. More than any of the other volumes of NINE I've edited, this one inspires me. I am moved by the beauty of Jean Fruth's photographs and touched by her thoughtful prose in her accompanying essays. Kat Williams's reflective memoir provides a moving look at one player's formative years in the game and how it led her to where she is today. Sam Marchiano recalls times with her father and her favorite player, former Met Rusty Staub. Jim Overmyer's work [End Page ix] on Effa Manley shows just how far we've come with regards to women in the game, but it also reminds us of how far we have to go. When I was a kid, it was an insult to hear, "You throw like a girl!" Reading Justine Siegal's narrative had me wishing I could throw like a girl. I could go on, but you'll have the chance to read all these and more in the coming pages. This volume includes serious scholarship, witty insights, personal narratives, and reflections on history. But what they all do is remind us that there is room for everyone in baseball. Baseball has women as coaches. With Kim Ng, there is a female General Manager in the majors. We are long overdue for a woman umpire in the major league ranks. It's not so far-fetched to envision a woman taking the field to play against men at the major league level sometime soon. So, this volume is for people who appreciate the game, its history, its growth in accepting women in numerous roles in recent years, and who are hopeful that we will soon reach a point when a women and baseball issue won't be needed to showcase their role in the game. As my daughter and I left Dyersville, pushing midnight with a four-hour drive ahead of us to catch an early morning flight, she thanked me over and over. She leaned the seat back and said, "This was a fun day, Dad." I asked what she liked about baseball. Showing me once again that a thirteen-year-old is far better than her editor-dad at articulating the game's beauty, she said, "It's fun." The line-up of authors in this collection shows that, while it's not...
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