Padres Call Up First Female Player – in New TV Show

The Padres are the team that call up the first female MLB player in a new Fox show “Pitch” that released a trailer of the pilot episode earlier this week.

While it is unknown when exactly the episode will air, chances are Fox will use it to help boost a Fall lineup that might struggle as it seems to be full of series reboots more than anything else.

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You can see the trailer below, which was filmed on location at Petco Park as the Padres and MLB gave a lot of access for the show.

Certainly the idea of a female playing Major League Baseball is pretty intriguing. Little League star Mo’ne Davis was the talk of the 2014 LLWS as she threw a shutout, and 16 year old French shortstop Melissa Mayeux was the first female to MLB’s international registration list.

The trailer shows the premise that Ginny Baker, played by Kylie Bunbury, makes it to the Padres with a nasty screwball. She struggles in her first game Rick Ankiel style which of course raises all kind of questions about the validity of a female in the major leagues.

The trailer shows a flashback to her youth and being pushed by her dad to work harder and prove the doubters wrong.

It will be interesting to see how realistic the baseball action is for the show, and just how many appearances Petco Park makes in the show. Depending on how the show does, it would be interesting to see if MLB stars start making cameo’s in the show.

Next: Carlos Asuaje to be Promoted?

Last year Jessica Mendoza debuted in the Sunday Night Baseball booth as an announcer, an important step as females move away from only being sideline reporters.  Last year the A’s hired Justine Siegal as the first female coach as she helped out as a guest instructor in the Instructional League.

The publicity is good for the Padres and as gender lines continue to fall around the male dominated sports landscape. Hopefully the show does well and we just might be able to see the  Padres in the fall in both scripted and unscripted form.