Instant Replay: Whitmore Is First Woman To Start Atlantic League Game
May 2, 2022, 9:38 AM
A baseball with MLB logo is seen at Citizens Bank Park before a game between the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies on June 28, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Batting ninth and playing left field, Kelsie Whitmore made baseball history when she cracked to Staten Island FerryHawks starting lineup on Sunday, May 1.
Whitmore had previously appeared as a pinch runner for the FerryHawks on April 21, but this was the first time manager Edgardo Alfonzo had penciled Whitmore into the starting lineup.
BREAKING: Kelsie Whitmore will start in left field and bat ninth for the @FerryHawks today. Kelsie will become the first woman to start a game in Atlantic League history. pic.twitter.com/KKAa2Dgmz8
— Atlantic League (@AtlanticLg) May 1, 2022
A former Cal State Fullerton softball player, Whitmore finished the game 0-2 with a strikeout in her first at-bat and fly out to right sandwiched around a hit by pitch in her second plate appearance. She also handled two fly balls hit her way without difficulty.
Whitmore is a two-way player with the FerryHawks but has yet to appear in a game as a pitcher. She has been working with for major league player Nelson Figueroa on her pitching. She previously pitched and played in the outfield for the U.S. women’s baseball team from 2014-2019.
Kelsie Whitmore takes the field as the first woman to ever start a game in Atlantic League history. Make sure to send this to every little girl who thinks they can’t play professional baseball! Those days are over fans, Kelsie Whitmore has arrived and she’s here to stay! pic.twitter.com/9i7fiCwOYU
— SI FerryHawks (@FerryHawks) May 1, 2022
2022 has been an important season for women in baseball.
In April, San Francisco Giants assistant coach Alyssa Nakken became the first woman to coach on the field during an MLB game when she coached first base for the Giants on April 12. Prior to Nakken’s debut, Rachel Balkovec won her managerial debut as the skipper of the New York Yankees Low-A Tampa Tarpons. Balkovec became the first woman to manage a team affiliated with a major league franchise.
Two other women are known to have previously played in a league connected to MLB. In 1994, Lee Anne Ketcham and Julie Croteau spent time with the Maui Stingrays in the Hawaiian Wineter Baseball League.
