Ginny Baker is the biggest story in sports. When we first meet her in the series premiere of PITCH, we learn that she’s the first ever woman to be called up to Major League Baseball. She’s tough and self-confident as she prepares for her first game with the San Diego Padres, but it isn’t long before problems arise.
The team’s manager, Al Luongo, thinks she was just brought on to sell tickets and has no intention of giving her special treatment just because she’s a woman. Her teammates also think she’s nothing more than a gimmick, although team captain Mike Lawson seems willing to give her a chance — but not in front of the other guys. The only Padre who is really on her side is Blip Sanders, an old friend from the minor leagues who knows how skilled she is.
Batting for Ginny is also her agent, Amelia Slater, who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. She’s 100% confident in Ginny’s ability to turn baseball on its head and break through the stereotypes. And she also isn’t afraid to stand up to the team’s general manager, Oscar Arguella, on her client’s behalf.
Ginny’s notoriety and skill is primarily due to her father, Bill Baker. While her brother hung up his bat as a child — not interested in learning baseball from their father — Ginny proved herself to Bill at a young age. And from that moment on he taught her and pushed her to be the best, always telling her there was further she could go, no matter what her gender was. But with a life completely devoted to baseball, it’s also clear that she doesn’t have many friends or interests outside of the game, which also puts a tremendous amount of pressure on her to get this right.
So many girls and women are counting on Ginny to represent her gender and so many men need to be convinced she’s the real deal, which means that she can’t fail when she first steps up to the plate as starting pitcher. Will she succeed? Find out in the series premiere of PITCH airing tonight (September 22) at 8:59 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
