Friday, June 22, 2012

ATCRCS: First Pitch Friday - Jennie Finch

Because of the recent box breaks and trades, its been a while since I featured one of my ATCRCS cards. And its been three weeks since I did a First Pitch Friday write up. With most of my packages from those out in the mail and no big card releases on the horizon (not interested in A&G beyond the Cubs cards) and a need to save money for the National, I'm glad to be back on track. I've also temporarily disabled my Trade List page because I threw in some extras into my packages to make up for my tardiness. As I continue the organization process, I'll continue to add more items. On to First Pitch Friday.


I'll admit I don't know much about softball. I think, for the most part, the rules are similar to baseball. I've seen a few games, usually during the Olympics or College World Series, though nothing in person. When I was looking for photos to use for my First Pitch cards, I was a little surprised when I found the one of Jennie Finch. She was wearing a Chicago jersey but it was orange. I had no idea there was a professional softball league.

I assumed most baseball stats would translate over to softball. Wins, ERA, etc. Either I'm wrong or Jennie Finch is some kind of softball goddess! A record of 119-16 in college with a 1.07 ERA? What? As a member of the US National Team, she was 36-2 with a 0.42 ERA. Crazy! No wonder it's not an Olympic sport anymore, they had to stop her somehow.

In 2005, Jennie Finch was fresh off a gold medal from the 2004 Olympics in Athens as a member of the USA National Women's Softball team and a pitcher for the brand new Chicago Bandits. What better way to promote the new local team than to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before an interleague cross-town rivalry game between the Cubs and White Sox? Good demographic to target. I couldn't find any video of the first pitch but I'm glad I found a photo.



5 comments:

  1. Jenny can make even tthat uniform look good.

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    1. I understand the confusion because the jersey is in black and white and grey but its really an orange Chicago Bandits jersey, NOT a White Sox jersey.

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  2. I've coached fast-pitch softball for the better part of a decade. The rules are pretty similar for the most part with the biggest differences being the smaller field, no leading off, pitchers don't need time to recover, and the pace of the game is MUCH faster. If you have two pretty good teams of equal talent, then the games are generally low scoring. Regardless, Jennie Finch is one of the best ever. Nice choice!

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    1. You have to admit, you did serve up a "softball" there!

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