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"Pitch" changes the face of baseball . The MLB welcomes a starting pitcher, a black woman, to the San Diego Padres. The show is a huge win for female athletes, but it's an even bigger win for black women.
The show opens with everyone crowding around Ginny Baker (played by Kylie Bunbury) as she is one her way to make history by being the first woman to play in an MLB game. Ginny is the starting pitcher for the Sand Diego Padres. Ginny is the biggest headline. She's on every article and the hottest topic on ESPN. Everyone wants their picture taken with her. Ginny has become the media equivalent of a "Kardashian with a skill set", as her agent Amelia Slater (played by Ali Larter) mentions. Black women, Hispanic women, Asian men, white men, black girls are all rooting for Ginny Baker in the stands.
But the positive vibes quickly diminish as she overhears her teammates saying that she was chosen just for ticket ratings. Then she threw her very first pitch, which was way too high. Then she threw her next pitch, which was way too low. And after 10 consecutive unsuccessful pitches, Baker asks to be taken out of the game. Her historic and highly anticipated game ends unexpectedly.
The pressure to succeed, the pressure to prove her teammates wrong, the pressure to live up to the expectations of all young girls haunts Ginny. It's the same pressure that all women, especially black women, face every single day. The pressure to succeed when all of the odds are against is unfortunately what it means to be a black woman. It's to work twice as hard just to prove yourself to everyone who seems to be against you. The will to continue to fight amid your struggle is the plight of black women. But black women survive; it's all that we know. The power to survive is one shared by all black women.
And Ginny's power to survive came from her father's unyielding spirit to see his daughter succeed. His presence and voice is what drives Ginny throughout the episode. But it is at the end of the episode that we learn that Ginny's father died in a car crash-----so it was all in her head. Thus, in her second game Ginny plays significantly better and receives a standing ovation.
The strong message that the show creates for black woman epitomizes black girl magic. The fact that Ginny Baker is a black woman who is playing a professional sport gives viewers a narrative that is not represented on the small screen. "Pitch" will not only redefine black women narratives, but it will inspire a generation of black women and girls.