Celebrating women in baseball around the world — See Her Be Her documentary to premiere on MLB Network
Read more about the documentary and pre-order See Her Be Her, the companion book!
Sharing the stories of girls and women in baseball, around the globe.
Grassroots Baseball celebrates the amateur game around the globe and promotes the benefits of sports in people’s lives, through baseball. Sports isn’t merely a diversion, and its influence doesn’t end at the chalk line. Playing sports offers so much more than just the final score on the field, especially in historically underserved communities, where they can empower and transform the lives of youth, minorities, and women. READ MORE
Grassroots Baseball: Women
Sharing the stories of the past, present and future of girls and women in baseball, on and off the field, around the globe.
Jean Fruth’s third book, See Her Be Her!
Companion book to the See Her Be Her documentary
The companion book to the See Her Be Her documentary will be available in October, and will be the third book in the Grassroots Baseball series, following the success of 2019’s Grassroots Baseball: Where Legends Begin and 2022’s Grassroots Baseball: Route 66.
See Her Be Her celebrates the women of baseball, from the glorious past of the players made famous by Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own, to the ongoing exploits of the most talented females in the game today, to the very real possibility that a woman will one day make her major league debut.
Photographer Jean Fruth traveled the globe, shooting on three continents and assembling the over 250 strikingly beautiful photos that illustrate this book. Also shining a light on both the constant struggle for equality and the joyful passion of baseball are profiles of pioneers like Lois Youngen, players like Kelsie Whitmore and Ayami Sato, and such women of influence as Justine Siegal and Veronica Alvarez.
Lending their perspective are Tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King (Foreword), Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken (Introduction), baseball writer Claire Smith (Preface), the first female to be awarded the Hall’s Career Excellence Award, and Maybelle Blair (Afterword), a one-time pitcher in the All-America Girls Professional Baseball League.
Grassroots Baseball: the Route 66 Tour
Grassroots Baseball launched in Chicago in 2019 and spent the next three years exploring and promoting the passion, devotion and commitment to the National Pastime that runs deep along the Mother Road.
Traveling in an RV stocked with Rawlings baseball and gloves, and Big League Chew gum, Grassroots Baseball staged clinics in underserved areas along the historic highway to introduce the game to children for the first time. Hall of Fame legends Johnny Bench, George Brett, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Jim Thome and Ozzie Smith, and retired major league stars Bill Hatcher and Bob Shirley who grew up along Route 66, shared their life lessons and wisdom as Clinic Legends… READ MORE
Starting in the mid-19th century, the amateur game was part of the fabric of the United States, and when Route 66, the first federal highway connecting the Midwest to Southern California opened in 1926, baseball had already become the vehicle of dreams.
Hall of fame know-how.
Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman teaches a young man about arm angle and throwing at a Grassroots Baseball clinic at Hodgetown Stadium in Amarillo, TX.
“You learn discipline, you learn time, you learn to say thank you, you learn manners you learn failure, you learn how to deal with failure because this, let’s face it, this is a sport of many failures, you learn success and how to balance failure to success. We want everyone to be a Hall of Famer. Not everyone can be, but we can each be a great teammate.”
— Hall of Famer Jim Thome
“The beauty of the game is that it parallels life in many ways. I tell parents all the time that whether or not your kid makes it to the big leagues is irrelevant. It’s about the journey and what the game teaches you. Even if you don’t make the big leagues, you are going to be a better person with anything else you do, because of baseball.”
— Hall of Famer Goose Gossage
“Practice, practice, practice. By playing catch, fielding ground balls, and hitting, you will improve your skills.”
— Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers
“The importance of being part of a team, and showing up on time for practices and games. I learned that games were a team concept not something you did individually. By listening and learning from your coaches you get better with every practice and game.”
— Hall of Famer Jim Palmer
“The overall team effort determined the outcome of the game, not an individual performance.”
— Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan
Hall of famer Little League moments
Juan Marichal, the first player from the Dominican Republic elected to the Hall of Fame, imparts his wisdom with Little Leaguers in Santo Domingo.
“On Opening Day 1958 I was 11 and playing for the 7-Ups. I hit two home runs, one to left field and one to right. I’ll never forgot it. My dad gave me $2, one for each of the home runs.”
—Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers
“Getting to walk on to the Oakland A’s field on Little League Day. Growing up 45 minutes east of Oakland, the A’s were my favorite team and Vida Blue was my favorite player. When I was with the Mariners, I was warming up in the bullpen in Oakland, and here it was again, Little League Day. It came full circle for me.”
—Hall of Famer Randy Johnson
“My parents would take me and some of my Beverly Hills Yankee teammates to Hamburger Hamlet, win or lose. Of course, the hamburgers tasted better after wins!”
—Hall of Famer Jim Palmer
“When I played in Asheville, NC we came within one win of going to the Little League World Series. It was such a great experience. It was disappointing as I was the losing pitcher in that game but I remember that experience vividly to this day.”
—Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.
“Pitching seven no-hitters, and, listening to my dad who was my coach and who made me a catcher.”
—Hall of Famer Pudge Rodriguez
“I lied about my age. I was an 8-year old as you had to be nine to play. I made my mom take me. They found out. I went home and cried, and then played the next year. I pitched a perfect game when I was 12. The umpire missed the call on what should have been the final pitch, but I still ended it by ringing up the hitter. I’ll never forget it.”
—Hall of Famer Tom Seaver
“I threw a no-hitter and lost, 1-0, on my own error.”
—Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt