Fox’s freshman drama “Pitch” gives us Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury), a 23-year-old who becomes the first woman to pitch in majors when she starts for the San Diego Padres.
The show is quick to point out the biological hurdles a woman would face while trying to reach majors, namely that she wouldn’t be able to throw as hard as the men.
One question it has not answered yet: Seeing as Baker pitches for a National League team, can she hit?
In the meantime, while we know suspending disbelief is essential when trying to enjoy TV, sometimes a reality check is warranted. RedEye takes key moments from the show and categorizes them as: Nailed it, Close enough, Serious stretch or Total whiff.
Two security guards are posted outside Baker’s hotel room.
Serious stretch
Um, she’s not the president or even Beyonce.
A huge crowd gathers as she arrives at the ballpark.
Nailed it
It’s definitely believable that there’d be a crowd of reporters and fans waiting for her arrival. The thing is, stadiums generally have a private parking lot for players and VIPs, so it’s unlikely she’d walk through the front door of the stadium.
2-year-old Ginny has a rocket arm.
Total whiff
She picks up a baseball, perhaps for the first time in her young life, and fires it way over her dad’s head some 50 feet away. We get that she’s supposed to be a phenom, but that level of strength and coordination is bionic, even for a fictional child.
She learns to throw a screwball with nectarines.
Total whiff
First, nectarines are delicious, so it’s kind of a shame that hundreds might have been wasted teaching her to throw a pitch. Second, her dad uses the fruit so he can tell where she’s putting pressure on the “ball” with her thumb and index finger. Yet wouldn’t there be other marks on the nectarines as soon as it hit the catcher’s mitt or bounced in the dirt?
She meets the general manager and owner for the first time at the ballpark the day of her first start.
Total whiff
This would make for the worst management in pro sports history. There’s no way the owner and GM would have to introduce themselves to Baker hours before her first start. The general manager would have flown out to meet her when she pitched in the minors, and at the very least the owner would Facetimed her long before her first start.
She’s called up with the intention to start one game.
Close enough
This happens all the time with young players, especially when there’s a doubleheader or a pitcher goes down with an injury. It would have been more believable if she had been summoned to make a relief appearance or two before being tossed into the fire. Still, given that the franchise would want to sell tickets, it makes sense that it would want to make her first appearance a known entity.
She’s forced to change in the clubhouse attendant’s room.
Nailed it
There’s no way she’d be put in a clubhouse full of half naked dudes. Although it would have been laughable if she were put up in stock room, this scenario comes off as realistic.
The star player is a catcher who drives in 130 runs per year.
Serious stretch
The viewer is left to infer that Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who plays star catcher Mike Lawson, has been in the big leagues for a while yet still drives in 130 runs per season. Catchers certainly have produced those kinds of numbers, most notably Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza. However, their best years were in their 20s, so if Lawson’s knees are in good enough shape to do that, we’re talking a Hall of Famer for sure.
There are empty seats during warmups at Petco Park.
Total whiff
Sorry, no. The day a woman plays in a major league game, there will be lines outside the gates for days, and not one seat will be empty once they open. That would be the case even if the fictional Padres are anything like their real-life counterparts, who haven’t finished above .500 since 2010.
She throws 10 pitches in her first start, none of which are close to the plate.
Serious stretch
If Baker spent five years in the minor leagues, presumably with a significant amount of people watching her every move, she would be competent enough to put the ball near home plate at least five out of 10 times.
Her fastball tops out at 86 mph.
Close enough
That’s hard enough to retire major leaguers, especially seeing as the show established that the screwball is her bread and butter. Silver Bullets pitchers reached the high 70s on the radar gun, so it’s not too big of a stretch in Hollywood that Ginny’s got a little extra mustard.
The lights are on in Petco Park late at night.
Total whiff
Baker is shown staring into the stadium the night after her disastrous first start, long after the game is over. This a terrible waste of electricity. Major league teams wouldn’t keep the lights on like that without good reason.
The star player gets bombarded with Baker questions at a press conference.
Nailed it
Short of Mike Lawson running for present and choosing a reality TV host as his running mate, a female major league starter would be all anyone would be talking about.
Lawson’s mound visit in Baker’s second start lasts almost 90 seconds.
Serious stretch
Major League Baseball is trying to shorten games. The umpire comes out at 25 seconds to keep things moving before Lawson lobbies for extra time. A mound visit this long is purely for dramatic effect.
Baker shakes off a sign.
Serious stretch
She’s still in the game with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the sixth with the Padres up 4-3 when she shakes off Lawson’s sign, then throws a screwball to get a strikeout. Even though it worked that time, she’d get a serious talking-to in the clubhouse afterward.
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