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Sign Her Up

This is just what the A's need.  She pitches and hits.  She's batting .714, but no mention of her OPS.  

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spgirl0519,0,7353820.story?coll=ny-sports-mezz

OAKFIELD, N.Y. -- Katie Brownell is a shy 11-year-old girl of few words. But when she gets on the baseball field, she lets her pitching do the talking.

Brownell is the only girl in the Oakfield-Alabama Little League baseball program in this community about halfway between Buffalo and Rochester. On Saturday, that didn't stop her from accomplishing something league officials can't remember anybody -- boy or girl -- ever doing.

She threw a perfect game for the Dodgers in an 11-0 victory over the Yankees.

How dominant was she? She struck out all 18 batters she faced in the six-inning victory. She never got to a three-ball count on any of them.

"As far back as I can remember, I don't ever recall hearing of a perfect game," said Eric Klotzbach, league president.

Katie said she knew she had a chance for something special in the fourth inning. Fortunately, Katie's coach, Joe Sullivan, realized that, too.

He had intended to pull Katie at some point during the game and was ready to do it when the scorekeeper told him she had a no-hitter going.

"I can't pull her out," Sullivan said after taking a look at the score book himself.

So, Katie kept mowing down the opposition and completed the task. Then the place exploded.

"Everybody congratulated me," Katie said.

Katie, who is in 6th grade, also pitched a one-hitter in the first game of the year. She accounted for all 15 outs in the five innings she pitched in that game. She had 14 strikeouts and got the other out on a grounder to the mound that she tossed to first.

"She's been pitching for three years, but she's really came on and excelled this year," said Jeff Sage, manager of the team, who didn't get to see Saturday's game because of his job as a firefighter in Rochester. "She bats really well. She's a solid, all-around ballplayer."

At the plate, Katie's hitting .714 through the team's first three games.

Her sense for the game developed from playing baseball with siblings and friends.

"She had older brothers and we were always outside, so the minute she could pick up a ball, she was" playing, said her mother, Denise Bischoff.

In her first year with the Dodgers, Katie, the daughter of Mark Brownell, played with her older brothers, Jonathan and Joshua. Initially, she wasn't even going to play baseball this year, and instead eyed the softball team.

"Two weeks before the first game, when was it too late for her to switch over to softball, she decided to stick with hardball," Sullivan said. "Fortunately for us."

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Great article!
A few weeks ago I asked if women were ever allowed to play in MLB. Maybe we'll actually see a female pitcher or something. This is a great article, thanks for linking it!

by Melody on May 18, 2005 5:31 PM PDT reply actions  

A woman, Ila Borders,
pitched in D3 College and Independant baseball about 7-8 years ago.
Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on May 18, 2005 6:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

I know that
A woman was a starting infielder for the york university baseball team (the smaller of the two universities in toronto).  The team went to the national championship tournament.  
I own 2 Tony Armas jerseys! I am an A's fan for life.

by Athletics fan and runner on May 18, 2005 6:48 PM PDT up reply actions  

I think women are allowed to...
It's more a matter of ability (men are just bigger and stronger).  I'm sure there are also all kinds of biases, much like there have been biases against race in all sports.  I read a good article on ESPN (or CNNSI) comparing men and women in various sports.  They felt that in certain sports, men would dominate based on size and strength (like basketball or football) while in others, women can do very well (like golf or car racing).  I think for baseball, they felt that a woman could potentially break through in a middle infielder spot, like second base.  You don't need to be a power hitter to play there and I'm sure that there are some awesome defensive second basemen..err...basewomen in the softball leagues.  Oh, and there is a local under 16 hockey team that has a great female goalie.  They went to the state championships here this year (and beat up on the team my friend coaches).

By the way, the girl in the above article is unbelievable!!!!

by Vaillant on May 18, 2005 6:01 PM PDT reply actions  

this is cool...
not only because it's a girl who threw a no-no, but that's amazing control for any 11 year old, regaurdless of sex.  

by high street on May 18, 2005 6:30 PM PDT reply actions  

we need middle relief help NOW
.... get her to Pac Bell by Friday evening !!

do it !!  Pronto !!

by HerbWashington on May 18, 2005 6:38 PM PDT reply actions  

Quite an accomplishment
I've always thought the first woman in the majors would be a knuckleball pitcher.

But now I'm thinking Katie Brownell's got a shot.

I'll note also that my son is in Little League and by 11 y.o. the players are actually quite good, and have probably been playing ball for about 4 years.

by DavidS on May 18, 2005 7:01 PM PDT reply actions  

If she's going to be drafted by a team
It would be Oakland Athletics. Moneyball is all about thinking outside the box and taking advantage of inefficiencies. Let's not limit ourselves to drafting guys with "manboobs" like Brant Colamarino; let's also start looking at players with the real thing... :)

by OaktownTribesman on May 18, 2005 8:18 PM PDT reply actions  

I forgot the Colamarino 'manboobs' from Moneyball
.... that's funny !!

plus of course, the A's would want to draft her in the first round, but only give her fourth-round money !!

by HerbWashington on May 18, 2005 8:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

ahh, a nice change from the ordinary post
Thanks Timed for a great article!  18 up, 18 K'd, what an accomplishment.  I'd have felt special to be at that game, even if it was an 11-year-old's game.
The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

by JJ on May 18, 2005 9:12 PM PDT reply actions  

She did it the only way
it'll ever happen in Little League - by not relying on her defense to do anything at all.
I just needed something new here, since the season had started ...

by devo on May 19, 2005 9:53 AM PDT reply actions  

Bait for FoolshGame22
Was Byrnes behind her in CF? That'd be motivation for anyone to strike out every batter.

by monkeyball on May 19, 2005 12:19 PM PDT up reply actions  

Well, she's from New York
so maybe it was the Yankees' defense behind her.

As bad as Byrnes might be, his glove would fit in perfectly there. The Yanks are in need of a CF, by the way.

I just needed something new here, since the season had started ...

by devo on May 19, 2005 12:29 PM PDT up reply actions  

More
The story hit the NYT today; look at the difference in the photos between the Newsday snap and the New York Times image.  Just amazing.

And did I mention she's 5'8"?

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

by scareduck on May 20, 2005 12:01 PM PDT reply actions  

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