In the minor leagues, women have power.
They’re GMs, Assistant GMs, positions mostly filled in MLB by men. Or make that Assistant GMs are mostly men. GMs are all men. MiLB has made a mark in many ways when it comes to the business of running an affiliated team, but there’s never been a representation of that truth until now. Honestly, television shows about sports teams aren’t exactly a thing, and the most recent, ‘Pitch,’ has been cancelled. Now, there’s ‘Brockmire.’
Early reviews of the baseball comedy ‘Brockmire,’ only mention team owner Amanda Peet, who co-stars with Hank Azaria as Jim Brockmire, in terms of her sexual relationship with the baseball announcer. Writers seem fixated on her hotness, and her hot but unbalanced chemistry with the male star. There’s no mention of her other strong qualities and functions.
Peet’s character, Julia “Jules” James is a vibrant, driven, smart, confident, and creative woman in charge of the Morristown Frackers. Her father is a famous former athlete a needless story addition, since she could have easily been in baseball without a male influence, as many women are; but her interest runs far deeper. She could quit. She doesn’t want to. She’s genuinely trying to be good at the job, because she wants to be. She also wants to understand what makes baseball magical and "interesting" to people, after watching her father and sisters excel in sports. In that way the familial connection helps understand what drives her crazy, but also drives her to baseball. And she isn't taking her mission lightly.
In the episode “Rally Cap,” she tears into Brockmire for his sad-sack behavior, challenging him to step up to the plate and be braver. After all, she's the reason he has another job in baseball after ten years.
“Bite a bullet if that’s what you want,” she tells him, then continues, “but you’ll be missing a hell of a season.”
In condescending tone, he calls her “darling” and explains that he’s seen plenty of baseball, thank you very much. Instead of being chastened, she matches him, calling him “darling” back and explains to him that he’s never seen a season quite like the one they’re witnessing. Before she finishes, she grabs the microphone, slams it down in front of him, and turns it on. It’s him who’s chastened when he speaks to begin the inning. The move might seem to be a subtle one, but it showed she’s in control. In another episode, as he laments about life and baseball to his co-broadcaster Charles, she tells Brockmire, “I ain’t paying you to talk to Charles.” She’s his boss. And she doesn’t let him forget that powerful fact.
For women in the minor leagues, there’s a feeling that we’re more valuable than we would be in an oversaturated, highly competitive market like MLB. And progress has been quicker. But the flip side is that the environment is scrappier and more removed from the spotlight. It’s hard to say what impact we’re having sometimes and where it all might lead. Some teams aren’t owned by the parent club, so working in MiLB can feel a bit detached from whatever is going on in the big leagues. Players, usually young and younger, aren’t yet used to having women around in the clubhouse, but they’re getting a good education in seeing that women can lead. And even when they do see that, some never quite get to figuring out how to show respect for women in the game.
Peet’s character represents that rare bird in popular media that shows what our life is like, the complexities and unique challenges, and how hard women on the business side must work to keep things in order. She embodies the struggles, emotions, drive, sense of humor, and intelligence we need in order to not only keep our heads above water, but swim with the current.
I read someone describe her as out of control. But perhaps they could look closer at the kind of control she has to exhibit to succeed. Jules is a welcome character in the sports landscape that undervalues women. In fiction and reality.
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