On March 26, 1931, the baseball world was stunned as a 18-year female pitcher named Virne Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell of Chattanooga, TN, signed a minor league contract with the hometown Lookouts. Several days later, Mitchell took to the mound for an April 2 preseason game against the New York Yankees, striking out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. With her exploits reported the next day in newspapers across the United States, Jackie Mitchell became a household name
Mitchell's story is detailed in a new book by women's baseball historian John Kovach. Jackie Mitchell: The Girl Who Loved Baseball. It is the most complete look at the life and career of Mitchell. The book is published by Waldenhouse Publishers of Signal Mountain, Tennessee.
As a young girl, Jackie and her family lived in Memphis, Tennessee. The family lived in close proximity to then minor league Memphis Chicks pitcher (and future Baseball Hall of Famer) Arthur Charles "Dazzy" Vance. It was Vance who reportedly taught a young Jackie to throw a baseball.
While previous books about Mitchell center around her appearance against the Yankees, readers will learn a number of new things about Mitchell, both on and off the baseball field. Some of those things include:
- Jackie playing for her first organized team, the Engelettes in 1930
- Jackie pitching for or against teams from eight different minor leagues
- The only female pitcher to hold two major league teams scoreless
- A first-ever, year-by-year record of Jackie's pitching career
- Jackie's challenge to Babe Didrikson to pitch against her
According to popular culture, the possibility that she would be soon a starting member of the Lookouts pitching staff was dashed when Baseball Commissioner, Kennesaw Mountain Landis reportedly banned females from playing professional baseball after her appearance. There is no written evidence of Landis ban according to Kovach. Following the game in Chattanooga, many of the teams she would play for would state that her contrast was "on loan" to their club from the Lookouts.
As a female athlete in the 1930s, Mitchell played both baseball and basketball. Through her basketball playing, Mitchell encountered the legendary Mildred "Babe" Didrikson, playing on her "All American's Basketball Team" as well as the "Stars of The World", managed by Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Kovach creates a unique chapter from interviews with Jackie between 1931-33. Readers will again hear Jackie in her own words tell what it was like to face Ruth and Gehrig; her love of baseball as well as what it was like to play with the bearded House of David team.
The book also touches upon the post-athletic life of Mitchell until her death in 1987. Readers will learn about the deaths of her mother, father and younger sister as well as her brief marriage to Eugene A Gilbert.
Kovach, John W.: - John Kovach has spent more than 30 years as a history professional. He has served as a curator, education director and executive director of two museums. Kovach spent 20 years as the archivist at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana and during that time he was the County Historian for St. Joseph County, Indiana for a record 16 years. In 2007, he curated a major traveling museum exhibition title: Linedrives and Lipstick: The Story of Girls and Women In Baseball. This exhibit traveled for nearly eight years and was hosted by museums, historical societies and other venues from all across the United States. Kovach has continued to create numerous exhibitions on the history of girls and women in baseball as well as giving presentations both nationally and internationally on the subject. He has authored four baseball books, including: From Goosepasture To Greenstockings, Benders! Tales of South Bend Baseball Past, Baseball In South Bend (IN) and Women's Baseball. Kovach is also an activist, helping to create more on the field participation for girls and women who want to play and coach baseball. He helped co-author "The Differences between Baseball and Softball Position Paper" for the Women's Sports Foundation and is consulted on a regular basis by parents, players and attorneys on this subject. He has been a recipient of numerous awards for his advocacy including the Eastern Women's Baseball Conference's, prestigious #10 Award. He is the National Women's Baseball Hall of Fames' only three-time Manager of the Year selection. Kovach has been coaching baseball coach for over 45 years, leading teams on the youth through collegiate to elite level. All three of his daughters played baseball for him. For 20 of those years (1996-2015), he served as organizer and manager of the Blue Sox women's baseball team. Kovach is a member of the Society For American Baseball Research (SABR) and former chairperson of its Women In Baseball Committee; the American Baseball Coaches Association and the National Women's Baseball Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He is also a member of the Small Museum Association. He has also served as an At-Large Board Member for the US National Committee For UN Women's Chicago Chapter. He and his wife Lisa, live in Memphis, Tennessee.
Stone, Karen Paul: - A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Karen Paul Stone holds a BA degree in French and Spanish from the University of Kentucky and founded Waldenhouse Publishers, Inc. in 1995 near Chattanooga. She serves as Editor in Chief and principal designer. She is also Editor of McCoy Farm & Gardens Newsletter in Walden, TN. She was co-founder of Ashland Press in 1975 and for ten years a principal of Transylvania Printing Company, both in Lexington, KY. She is author of several books and writes for "The Mountain Mirror" newspaper.
