Jessica Mendoza, a former Olympic gold-medalist softball player, made history on Tuesday night as she became the first woman analyst to call a nationally televised MLB playoff game.
But her inclusion in the game’s commentary angered a lot of people on social media who expressed outrage that a woman was involved in the broadcast.
Mendoza provided colour commentary in Yankee Stadium alongside Dan Shulman and John Kruk as the Houston Astros pulled out a 3-0 victory against the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game.
Quite a few posts turned ugly, attacking Mendoza while commenting on her gender.
“No better way to ruin playoff baseball than to have a woman commentator,” said one Twitter user.
Another said he would not watch any more games that she covered. “No one wants to hear a woman in the booth. I will not listen or watch those games she is on.”
A former Olympic gold medal winning softball player, Mendoza began calling ESPN ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ games in September, replacing Curt Schilling who was suspended over posting an inappropriate meme.
In an interview with Allure Magazine, Mendoza said she has learned to take the criticism in stride.
“I have definitely heard everything good and bad you could hear from people, and it doesn’t bother me,” she said. “Because when it’s something like a tweet that says, ‘Women don’t know baseball; they shouldn’t talk about baseball,’ it’s like, ‘OK, welcome to 2015. Where have you been for the last 20 years?'”
Despite the criticism, there were many on social media praising Mendoza’s game-calling during last night’s playoff action.
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