Speaker 1: I'm Sam Edis and I'm Amy Nelson. Welcome to What's
Speaker 1: Her Story? With Sam and Amy. This is a show
Speaker 1: about the world's most remarkable women their professional and personal journeys. Together,
Speaker 1: we'll hear from gold medalists, best selling authors, and leaders
Speaker 1: of the world's most iconic brands. Listen every Thursday or
Speaker 1: join the conversation anytime on Instagram at What's Her Story Podcast.
Speaker 1: Our guest in this episode is the women's professional baseball
Speaker 1: player who inspired the classic movie and now TV show
Speaker 1: A League of their Own, Mabel Blair. What is your
Speaker 1: chick for keeping in such great shape? Oh? My god?
Speaker 1: Just having fun every day of your life. You know,
Speaker 1: if you can't have fun, you might as well laid
Speaker 1: out and die. As far as I can serve, wife,
Speaker 1: I hang around. Why do you do for fun? Every day?
Speaker 1: When you wake up? What are you looking forward to?
Speaker 1: Looking forward to? Is watching a base small game or
Speaker 1: an athletic game, things like that, because that's why I'm
Speaker 1: very interested in all sports. So, going back to the
Speaker 1: other side of things, When you were a little girl,
Speaker 1: what did you want to be when you grew up?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I never even thought it because I
Speaker 1: was too busy playing baseball with my family, because that's
Speaker 1: all we had to do in our day. We didn't
Speaker 1: have TikTok and rethe this or Yahoo or what all.
Speaker 1: You know, we did have all that stuff. So we
Speaker 1: were very poor. But we had a baseball and we
Speaker 1: had a bat. At our baseball had to have a
Speaker 1: bunch of tape on it because we couldn't afford another tape.
Speaker 1: And our bat was broken a lot, and we just
Speaker 1: hammer in another tack or two. You know, I keep
Speaker 1: playing baseball, and that's what I did. You started your
Speaker 1: own team in fourth or fifth grade? Oh yeah, what
Speaker 1: did your parents think of that? Well, they didn't even
Speaker 1: think anything about it. They just took that for natural,
Speaker 1: you know, because it was at our family. But boy,
Speaker 1: I had all those teachers and even the principal. You know,
Speaker 1: there's all back at me because I don't know, I
Speaker 1: guess they thought. I don't know what they were thinking.
Speaker 1: But anyway, I had my own team, and uh, I
Speaker 1: was so thrilled because one of the teachers had a
Speaker 1: friend that I was right down the street or about
Speaker 1: two or three miles away from where I was going
Speaker 1: to school, and so she talked her into putting a
Speaker 1: team together. So we so I had somebody to play against.
Speaker 1: So we had a couple of games or four five,
Speaker 1: and it was so much fun, and my team one.
Speaker 1: You know, of course, otherwise I went kicked him in
Speaker 1: the rear. Ind So what was next for you after
Speaker 1: your your baseball career was done? After my baseball career,
Speaker 1: I went to work for Northern Aircraft and very fortunately
Speaker 1: I became the third woman manager of northn p Aircraft.
Speaker 1: It was amazing. I was very very fortunate. And when
Speaker 1: I was in there, I wanted to learn how to
Speaker 1: operate all the equipment because he told me, says, maybe
Speaker 1: how you have skills to be a manager? And I said,
Speaker 1: you're out of your cotton pick and mind you know,
Speaker 1: no no way. He says, well, i'd going to try
Speaker 1: to train you to be a badge. I says, I
Speaker 1: don't think so, and he says, yes, I'm going to it.
Speaker 1: I says, well, I won't even consider it unless I
Speaker 1: can learn every piece of equipment that's in this organization.
Speaker 1: So I learned to drive craives, semi trucks, trucks, bandies, forklifts.
Speaker 1: I learned every piece of transportation that was in there,
Speaker 1: and then I said, I was reading. I became a dispatcher.
Speaker 1: I wanted to learn that too, and then from that
Speaker 1: that he may be manager. What was your management style?
Speaker 1: How did you lead? How did I leave with fairness?
Speaker 1: I want to production out of my people. And people said, well, Babel,
Speaker 1: how did you hire? Are six good truck drivers and
Speaker 1: this and that? I said, well, number one, especially in transportation,
Speaker 1: I wanted somebody that had coordination. So where do you
Speaker 1: get it? Into sports world baseball? You've got eyes, you've
Speaker 1: got coordination, you've got quickness. So this is what I
Speaker 1: really went after with athletes crew. So what would you
Speaker 1: say has made it so that you've been successful in
Speaker 1: multiple fields that a lot of people have frankly failed
Speaker 1: in is you've got to be motivated and if you
Speaker 1: do it or something, give it a hundred ten percent.
Speaker 1: That's one thing even about Major League Baseball players today,
Speaker 1: they don't give it there all until it's contract tiber,
Speaker 1: it's getting close to it. Then man, do we go
Speaker 1: out and play it. Our averages start glade up, and
Speaker 1: our field leads better, we make better, spectacular plays. It's amazing.
Speaker 1: And these are the things that you have to go
Speaker 1: buy you just gotta give it. Do you counsel baseball players?
Speaker 1: Do you talk to major league players? Oh? I talked
Speaker 1: to major league ball players. Yes, I don't manage them
Speaker 1: or anything. No, I could talk. I talked to them.
Speaker 1: But my goal is to have a league of our
Speaker 1: own again for the girls. And I go to Baseball
Speaker 1: for All with Justine Siegel. I've been with her ever
Speaker 1: since she started Baseball for All and all these little
Speaker 1: girls all they want to do is be able to
Speaker 1: play baseball, not softball. So we're trying to give them
Speaker 1: a chance in life to have this. This is why
Speaker 1: what the International with as Baseball Center for Women in Rockford, Illinois,
Speaker 1: where we could have a home of our over we
Speaker 1: can develop our old umpires at all of this because
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, girls have eyes. We could
Speaker 1: be umpires. We don't have to go compete with them
Speaker 1: in as far speed and strength of that, and you know,
Speaker 1: being a major league baseball player, but we can't stand
Speaker 1: behind that plate and see if it's over the plate
Speaker 1: or not. We got those eyes and we know the
Speaker 1: rule book back and forwards. So what's the problem. Why
Speaker 1: can't we They have it in football and basketball and
Speaker 1: They're much harder to referee and ump player than baseball.
Speaker 1: I have to say. I have four little girls who
Speaker 1: are eight, six, five, and three. I got how wonderful,
Speaker 1: and three of them are playing softball regular already asked
Speaker 1: me why do girls play softball and boys play baseball? Oh? Really,
Speaker 1: you're getting it already. Well, is because Jolie, the good
Speaker 1: old boys have pushed them into softball on account of scholarships.
Speaker 1: And believe me, I understand that thoroughly. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: if you could have the parents get a scholarship, saves
Speaker 1: thousands of dollars for your family and yourselves. But I'm
Speaker 1: hoping it will change where it will be a baseball
Speaker 1: for women. But after they get out playing uh softball,
Speaker 1: they could play baseball because I played professional softball also,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people don't know that, but I
Speaker 1: play both. And the girls that played the professional baseball
Speaker 1: in the league of their own all Americas. We went
Speaker 1: from league to league, you know, back and forth. It
Speaker 1: could happen. And these are the doors that we want
Speaker 1: to open up for girls in baseball. Well, it does
Speaker 1: start early. My daughter is a varsity softball player in
Speaker 1: high school. But I will say that it frustrates her
Speaker 1: so much how much attention and sort of money is
Speaker 1: put into the baseball program versus the softball program. For you,
Speaker 1: having seen so much in all of your ninety five years,
Speaker 1: what would you say is sort of the biggest excitement
Speaker 1: and disappointment that you see today in terms of gender equality.
Speaker 1: It's getting closer. Our problem is, uh, if you're a
Speaker 1: paid customer, you want to see the best. And this
Speaker 1: is this is one of our problems now until the
Speaker 1: girls get better in their sport. The basketball and the
Speaker 1: soccer are coming along great right now as far as
Speaker 1: a fan participation, and if we keep up the good quality.
Speaker 1: We got to have the quality for somebody to go
Speaker 1: out and see it. You're not going to go out
Speaker 1: there and see a girl miss a ball that should
Speaker 1: have caught right in her hand, or you know, miss
Speaker 1: a basket nineteen times and the scores four to six
Speaker 1: at the end of the game. You want like they're
Speaker 1: doing today. Well, it's growing and it's will grow as
Speaker 1: long as we keep up the good uh quality of
Speaker 1: our ability. And this is why I like to see
Speaker 1: the league of their own or a new league start
Speaker 1: for women's baseball. You've got to have the quality before
Speaker 1: people will pay. And I don't blame them. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: go see it either, even as you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I mean, it makes sense if you think about you know,
Speaker 1: women and soccer. Women like the women's soccer teams in
Speaker 1: the United States are just remarkable. They're getting much better.
Speaker 1: But when they were compleating about the salary, well, I
Speaker 1: could understand the owners. They gotta make money. They can't
Speaker 1: pay you a hundred thousand dollars and you a hundred
Speaker 1: thousand dollars. And the guys that are the guy's got
Speaker 1: twice attendance that you're getting. How can I pay you
Speaker 1: a hundred thousand? Right, these are the reasons because we
Speaker 1: got to have the quality, and they're getting it now,
Speaker 1: and you notice the attendance will start even going higher.
Speaker 1: They're starting in right now, going great for the women's
Speaker 1: soccer and I love it and basketball and basketball, and
Speaker 1: just like the w n b A and the NBA,
Speaker 1: you've got to realize, our greatest women basketball player right
Speaker 1: today is either Sue or of Candas Parker. And they
Speaker 1: couldn't sit out amids mab a bitch because they're not
Speaker 1: strong and physical enough not that they're the greatest in
Speaker 1: their ability, Yes they are. But the women and fans
Speaker 1: now are going to go see these girls play because
Speaker 1: they are so good and when they go to that basket,
Speaker 1: when they shoot it, they're going to get it in.
Speaker 1: But you know, when you've got Shack O'Neil under there
Speaker 1: and Canadas Parker, you know who's going to win the battle. Right,
Speaker 1: There's just no doubt. This is why we got to
Speaker 1: have the good product out there and we're doing it.
Speaker 1: And now a quick break. Now, your personal life recently
Speaker 1: came into a lot of sort of a spotlight and
Speaker 1: you came out as gay. What kind of bravery did
Speaker 1: that take and what made you decide to do that? Well,
Speaker 1: it took a lot of bravery. It took ninety five
Speaker 1: years to come out because I've been gay all my
Speaker 1: life and it was my whole life. I could have
Speaker 1: ruined it very early in life because nobody understood how
Speaker 1: es gay people are. It's not that we choose our sexuality.
Speaker 1: It's there like they say, well, it's because I've been
Speaker 1: hanging around with Da Da Da. Well that's not true.
Speaker 1: You could hang out with me for years and you
Speaker 1: wouldn't change your mind, right, right, Well, it's the same
Speaker 1: way you're not going to change anybody's sexuality. In fact,
Speaker 1: I have a lot of gay friends that have raised
Speaker 1: daughters and sons and they're not gay. You know, by God,
Speaker 1: what else is more closer than mother mother or two
Speaker 1: mothers or two fathers right, or single gay girl or
Speaker 1: a single gay guy. And I have known so many
Speaker 1: of them. Girls or boys are just perfectly normal because
Speaker 1: that's your sexuality. You can't help it. So what made
Speaker 1: you come out now? Because at I said to myself
Speaker 1: that if I could help one individual, I would be
Speaker 1: thrilled to death. If I could just do it and
Speaker 1: let people know at my age now that it's not
Speaker 1: bad to be gay, that people now are understanding and
Speaker 1: I can understand what's going on, And if I could
Speaker 1: keep open that door a little bit more where more
Speaker 1: people get the idea, it would be worth coming out
Speaker 1: at And if I could save one little boy or
Speaker 1: one little girl, all the misery that I went through
Speaker 1: trying to hide it by going out with men that
Speaker 1: I didn't want to go out with, and I was
Speaker 1: just miserable, but I had to put on a good act,
Speaker 1: and I did. And now I'm out and I'm very
Speaker 1: happy about it. How has your life changed since you
Speaker 1: shared your story publicly, Well, it's been only about six months.
Speaker 1: My family has accepted me. So many people now have
Speaker 1: accepted me, and I am so thrilled about it that
Speaker 1: I don't have to hide and I can be myself.
Speaker 1: And that's what it's all about, be yourself, if you
Speaker 1: can be yourself and live your life, because life is
Speaker 1: very short, as I finding out, and and I got
Speaker 1: just take in there, and uh, I got trying to
Speaker 1: get that door open and get a league of their own,
Speaker 1: for our women to be able to have a league
Speaker 1: of their own in a home of their own in baseball.
Speaker 1: Before I get under the grass and sit on this
Speaker 1: side of it, you've been fighting a very long for decades.
Speaker 1: What keeps you going? The determination I'm determined to help
Speaker 1: if I can at all, until I'm going to give
Speaker 1: it all by all until I on the other side
Speaker 1: of the dirt. Let's put it that way. What's your
Speaker 1: morning routine? Oh, I get up and God, I gotta
Speaker 1: shut up my cap because she's always hungry. So that's
Speaker 1: the first thing I do is I have to feed her. God,
Speaker 1: she's a Oh, she's wonderful, but starts sweetest scan I've
Speaker 1: ever hit my life. Excuse me, I get up and
Speaker 1: make my coffee and have toasted, get my friend and
Speaker 1: feed her and open the break and just like everybody else,
Speaker 1: is everybody you do when you get up, for God's sake,
Speaker 1: same thing every day. Tell me, in speaking of longevity
Speaker 1: and routines, what do you think are a few tips
Speaker 1: that have helped you and the people that surround you
Speaker 1: who have lived longer lives. What are the patterns you've seen? Well,
Speaker 1: the main thing is you've got to enjoy life. Don't
Speaker 1: go someplace that you don't want to go because you're
Speaker 1: gonna be miserable. Don't go, I mean, you know, don't
Speaker 1: make everybody else miserable. Right. If you're not going to
Speaker 1: have a good time, stay home. And if you do
Speaker 1: have a job, be sure that you enjoy it, because
Speaker 1: if you're not enjoyed it, if people working for yours
Speaker 1: not going to enjoy it either, So don't even give
Speaker 1: it a try. So go to something else that you
Speaker 1: can enjoy. And uh, there's doors opened all over the place.
Speaker 1: If people would take advantage of education or falling their dreams,
Speaker 1: it would be a wonderful place. But you can't give up.
Speaker 1: And this is what the problem is. People will not
Speaker 1: do it. They will put out the effort, and you've
Speaker 1: got to have effort before you do anything. I don't
Speaker 1: care what it is. If you had to put your
Speaker 1: career into three words as a story, what would your
Speaker 1: story be? I will, I will, And that's why it's
Speaker 1: got to be is I always? I will, and it
Speaker 1: will be done. Thank you so much, made Val, You're amazing. Oh,
Speaker 1: thank you. I appreciate that. I know got it. I'm
Speaker 1: very happy, you know, and I'm going to be happy
Speaker 1: until I die. I think the temptation when you meet
Speaker 1: someone like may By Blair, who's and such a histol.
Speaker 1: I don't know how else to describe her but to say, oh,
Speaker 1: she's so cute, but like she would she would eat
Speaker 1: you for breakfast. I mean, she is cute, but she
Speaker 1: is a fighter and you don't mess with me Bell No.
Speaker 1: I mean I think that it's remarkable to me just
Speaker 1: how many different things she is still doing every single
Speaker 1: day and she's years old. I like, started our speed
Speaker 1: round without really warning her, and I just said, well,
Speaker 1: what's her morning routine? And She's like, what does anyone
Speaker 1: do in the morning, I do what everyone else says.
Speaker 1: She's just so funny, you know, she doesn't she pulls
Speaker 1: no punches totally. She does pull up punches, and like,
Speaker 1: it was really amazing to hear about her baseball career.
Speaker 1: It's amazing to hear about what she's working on now,
Speaker 1: trying to really continue to advance women's baseball. But one
Speaker 1: of the things I loved learning about me about and
Speaker 1: didn't know it was like her corporate career. I mean,
Speaker 1: she became like the third women's manager for North Rep,
Speaker 1: which is a massive corporation. I think one of the
Speaker 1: things that I loved hearing from her is she was
Speaker 1: talking about you have to always give a hundred and
Speaker 1: ten percent. But she really was basically saying, like most
Speaker 1: people aren't trying hard enough. And I know you and
Speaker 1: I share that kind of sentiment where it's like the
Speaker 1: people who try hard are the ones who are going
Speaker 1: to succeed. And she put it into her baseball career,
Speaker 1: and then she put it into her corporate career, and
Speaker 1: now she's putting that energy and effort into creating a
Speaker 1: women's baseball league. And I wouldn't doubt that she can
Speaker 1: do it, Like I feel like I would never ever
Speaker 1: bet against Maybel. Right. The other thing I think that
Speaker 1: has to be noted is that she's someone that is
Speaker 1: still constantly evolving, and I think that there is this
Speaker 1: sense or just assumption, and maybe it's just an American
Speaker 1: culture that like, you turn sixty or seventy and like, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's all over now, nothing new will be happening to
Speaker 1: you in life, like nothing new to dream about, or
Speaker 1: do you know? Maybel came out as lesbian in her nineties, right,
Speaker 1: like she's still learning, still changing, and still participating in
Speaker 1: a cultural discourse. And when she did speak out publicly
Speaker 1: for the first time about her sexuality, she did it
Speaker 1: because she wanted young girl ball players to feel comfortable.
Speaker 1: The fact that she came out at she might be
Speaker 1: the oldest public figure to come out, right, But what's
Speaker 1: remarkable about it is, like I found it. She's a
Speaker 1: tough person. But then there was something like almost heartbreaking
Speaker 1: when she said, you know, I don't want a young
Speaker 1: person to have to suffer the way I did when
Speaker 1: I was all my life going out with men. I
Speaker 1: didn't want to go out with I mean, when she
Speaker 1: puts it in those terms, It just it kind of
Speaker 1: it really pulls your heart strings. I have the chills
Speaker 1: just thinking about it. I mean, imagine for nine years
Speaker 1: hiding who you are, and it really puts things in
Speaker 1: a different light when you hear it that way, a
Speaker 1: life that you look back on and realize that the
Speaker 1: entire higher time you were socializing for nine years, you
Speaker 1: weren't able to be your authentic self or to share
Speaker 1: your authentic self with everyone. So I mean, I'm thrilled
Speaker 1: for her that she was able to finally do that,
Speaker 1: but it it does break your heart a little when
Speaker 1: you realize how many people are probably suffering that way.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to What's Her Story with Sam and Amy.
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