Melissa Mayeux on MLB International Registration List

In terms of talent, she is a below average 16 year old American boy.  

Rheaume was used as a publicity stunt by men's hockey to draw attendance. She played goal in one Lightning exhibition game. It was their first season. She spent seven years in the low minors as a third goalie only playing 24 games.

When I was in HS in my Jr. year we had a below average boys basketball team that I was on and a State Championship level girls team that sported one of the best players in the state.

 

One day at lunch one of the football guys was riding my butt about how she could beat me one on one.  I was 5 inches taller, could jump 20 inches higher and probably lift 100 lbs. more than the young lady.  She had good basketball skills but was nowhere near as athletic or skilled as me.  So I told him he was full of it for those reasons.

 

That was in the 1970's very shortly after Title IX and there is no question that women's sports is significantly better now than then.  But at the highest levels where the size and strength differences can still be measured in 6" and 100lb. increments men's sports will continue to enjoy an advantage in explosiveness and athleticism. 

 

At some point though there will be a few women that will be at the high end of the curve and may be able to compete with men.  Sports like soccer, golf, tennis, kickers in football and who knows maybe a pitcher in baseball may emerge.  She will have a choice of being a dominant basketball player at UCONN or taking over for Serena Williams or banging her head all alone to pursue a career in men's sports both in college and then professionally.

 

I think it will actually be a much higher hurdle than Jackie Robinson's to get over and do not see it getting a serious contender for another 50 years.  Michelle Wei probably derailed a much better golf career by trying the men's tour in golf as an example.

 

 

I am all for Melissa Mayeux or Chelsea Baker (the knuckleballer in Florida) or Ghazaleh Sailors (the former D3 pitcher) or Sarah Hudek (the LHP who signed to play JUCO ball in Louisiana) or any other woman having every opportunity to pursue baseball as far as their talent and drive take them.  

 

I think it does them a disservice to make them bear the mantle of potentially becoming the first woman to play MLB (even though all of these women I've named have handled the hype with grace and humor).  And I think it does them no favors when articles exaggerate their accomplishments, competitive standing, and likelihood of achieving what has so far been an impossible dream.

 

No teenager who isn't already accomplishing the kinds of things that MLB prospects do in their teens needs the pressure of being held to the standard of reaching the majors.

 

What will it take for a woman to play in MLB?  

 

Remembering that advancement in baseball is a game of attrition at every level, current averages suggest we will see a woman play MLB only after about 20 women get drafted and play in the minor leagues, which will happen only after about 200 women play D1 baseball, which will happen only after about 20,000 women play varsity high school baseball.  

 

Maybe someone will emerge as a bolt out of the blue, but the odds are against it.  In sports that are easily measured (track and field, swimming, etc.), the top women in the world generally post accomplishments about on par with the best 15 year old boys.  I have no reason to believe the complex athleticism required to excel at baseball will make baseball more accessible to a trailblazer.  

 

Enjoy watching them play. Root for them. Give them every opportunity to develop and compete.  But don't lay the burden of reaching the majors on them.

One other note:

 

I find articles hyping these women's chances to be disrespectful of . . . 

 

. . . the game of baseball.

 

They are generally written by people who don't know the game, don't understand its physical demands, and underestimate the amazing athletic ability of ML baseball players.

 

Could you imagine an article touting a teenage girl as a future player in the NFL or NBA?  Of course not. Everyone intuitively knows the glass ceiling in those sports is solid rock.

 

What is it about baseball that makes people think just about anyone has a chance to excel at it?

 

I feel the same way about dumb movies depicting the sudden transformation of little kids or unathletic men into baseball phenoms within the scope of a single season.

I had never heard of the "MLB International Registration List" until I started seeing articles about Melissa Mayeux's amazing accomplishment of being listed on it.

 

So I googled around a bit.  If you search for that phrase minus Mayeux, you don't get many hits, but the MLB International Registration List is indeed a real thing.

 

It was instituted a few years ago by MLB as part of new rules governing the signing of young international players.

 

Basically, no team is allowed to sign a 16-year old unless the player is on the list before the international signing period.  I suppose the list prevents teams from kidnapping prospects and keeping them sequestered in secure training facilities away from the prying eyes of rival scouts.

 

All teams have access to the list, but they don't get to see who registered the players on the list.

 

How does someone get on the list?

a) Teams can register them. 

or

b) Players can register themselves upon establishing their identity and  age.  

 

The wording of NPR's story suggests Melissa Mayeux's appearance on the list may have been the result of the second method:

 

"In what Major League Baseball says is a first, French baseball player Melissa Mayeux has had her name added to the list of international prospects who could be signed by clubs on July 2" (emphasis added).

 

 

Several years ago after being the star of the USA Women's World Cup and Olympic Gold Medal Soccer Team Mia Hamm was asked if she was considering playing in the MLS (U.S. pro soccer that is second or third tier compared to pro soccer in Europe). She laughed. She asked if the sportswriter understood the difference between men's and women's sports. She said (paraphrasing), "We're women's worl's champions. We struggle against boy's U19 American state champion soccer clubs.

A knuckleballer is the only way I could see a woman playing MLB baseball.

If she is as talented as the other guys, she deserves a shot.  Looking at video of her, she is not.  Glove looks average.  Not sure about arm strength, but doesn't appear to be above average.  In BP, it looks like she lacks strength and the bat is too big for her.

Even tho the elite coastal dwellers would'nt agree.On average there really is a difference with gender.Like it or not.Luv, back in my ole 8th grade year my best bud and myself were at our local YMCA shooting winter hoops.At the other end of gym were some very lovely young ladies doing same.Talked them into a game or two.around a hour or so later of getting our a$$s handed to us by a long shot we took a break.Found out the two lovelys were the starting point gaurd and foward at Lewis U.Pretty embarrasing for a young guy generally embarresed around the girls at that age anyways.!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with that entirely and had a similar experiance.  There were a couple of ladies from the local DIII college basketball team that came to the Y gym and they dominated most of the high school age and older guys.  Only the really fit 17-25 year old guys could handle them and that was in Jimmy Carter's day.

I think most people would be stunned if the UCONN Women's team showed up somewhere how big, strong and fast they are.  Nevertheless I doubt they could crack the HS Top 100 in boys basketball.  The best player in Women's College Basketball is 6'4" and a decent athlete.  Every top HS team in the country has 4 or 5 of her that are probably stronger and jump higher.  It becomes really evident on the defensive end of the court where the quickness, length and strength smothers offense.

 

As far as women in MLB it seems entirely unlikely barring someone that is a multi-generational freak athletically.  Even at that if a 6'6" woman with even mid major DI athletic ability came along they would still need to find their way to a baseball field which seems unlikely.  They would likely be steered toward something more lucrative like tennis or basketball.  It is far more likely that such a woman who could play above the rim would be the person that would have the hopes of the WNBA pinned on her and not the SD Padres.

I read a fun book a few years ago called "Andy Roddick beat me with a Frying Pan".

 

The author tests out all kinds of different scenarios from sports - would a pro bowler be good at skee-ball, would a pro golfer be great at mini-golf, would a sumo wrestler make a good NFL lineman, etc.

 

One of the subjects he gets into is Men vs Women in sports.  There were very few examples of women coming even close to the performances of men.  He interviewed members of the US Women's soccer team (the Mia Hamm World Cup team) and they said that they often scrimmaged boy's 14U teams.  Once the boys got to 16U they were typically too strong to play against.