Speaker 1: Well, thanks Tim. We are pinch hitting for Rick Monday
Speaker 1: today because we are joined right now by Acclaim Sports
Speaker 1: photographer Gene Fruth, who has done a remarkable job of
Speaker 1: really bringing to light how women should be more part
Speaker 1: of baseball. And there is a great documentary that is
Speaker 1: going to debut on MLB Network between Games two and
Speaker 1: three of the World Series. It's titled Women's Baseball Around
Speaker 1: the World, See Her Be Her, And Gene is here
Speaker 1: at Dodgers Stadium. Thank you so much for the time
Speaker 1: and great to see you and Jeff Idelsent back at
Speaker 1: Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's so fun to be back here and especially
Speaker 2: talking about See Her be Her. You know, it's come
Speaker 2: We work three years on this project and to be
Speaker 2: here and now having it seen on the MLB Network
Speaker 2: during the World Series. The only thing that could be
Speaker 2: better is if we have the Dodgers playing in Games
Speaker 2: one and two.
Speaker 1: That would be beautiful. Gene, But I'm just curious what
Speaker 1: inspired this because it is so global, this documentary. It's
Speaker 1: not just a little mid West town. This is global,
Speaker 1: from the United States to Canada to Uganda.
Speaker 2: When I'm finishing up my second project, Grass Food's baseball
Speaker 2: Route sixty six. I got a chance to shoot an
Speaker 2: all girls baseball game. Never shot at all girls baseball
Speaker 2: game and not softball baseball, and it was such an experience.
Speaker 2: I've always shot one girl on a little league team
Speaker 2: with all boys and people say, oh, there's the girl. Look,
Speaker 2: you know there's a girl pitching tonight. Do you see
Speaker 2: that girl in the right field this They were all
Speaker 2: just athletes. It wasn't the girl. And the more girls
Speaker 2: are growing in the sport, that just the more exciting
Speaker 2: that this sport is becoming and why not? Why not girls?
Speaker 2: And we're seeing all around the world, not just in
Speaker 2: the United States, the sport girl for girls and women,
Speaker 2: and girls are staying in the game longer, and they're
Speaker 2: playing in high school and they're playing in college. So
Speaker 2: just like all the other sports, women's sports are growing
Speaker 2: and getting more popularity. Look at basketball, look at hockey, yeah,
Speaker 2: and soccer. So here's girls baseball and women's face.
Speaker 1: I know you set out with a vision on this
Speaker 1: documentary see her be her, But is there anything that
Speaker 1: surprised you as far as putting this project together and
Speaker 1: what you experience and what we may experience.
Speaker 2: The big surprise to me was how big women's baseball
Speaker 2: was in some of the other countries that we spent
Speaker 2: time in. Japan has such a big presence in girls
Speaker 2: and women's baseball, and they have professional baseball where women
Speaker 2: getting paid to play baseball. South Korea, though they're not
Speaker 2: getting paid, there are fifty over fifty teams now of
Speaker 2: all women's baseball teams, and even countries like Uganda now
Speaker 2: have eight excuse me, regions where women and girls are
Speaker 2: playing baseball. So the sport is growing and that is
Speaker 2: surprising and also really encouraging. So we're just really excited
Speaker 2: to be able to just give these women visibility with
Speaker 2: the hopes to provide more opportunities for them.
Speaker 1: Gene Fruth is our guest. The documentary is titled See
Speaker 1: Her Be Her. It's on women's baseball around the world,
Speaker 1: and I just shared with you I am a proud
Speaker 1: girl dad my daughter Adriana would love to play baseball.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like this may inspire the next generation
Speaker 1: of women and little girls?
Speaker 2: It really I have a lot of women who will
Speaker 2: come over to me and say, hey, you know, my
Speaker 2: daughter wants to play baseball. What do you think are
Speaker 2: their opportunities and I say, please, please encourage her and
Speaker 2: help her get those opportunities, because that's how the sport
Speaker 2: is going to grow. Help her with her dream, allow
Speaker 2: her to dream. And I really hope with this film
Speaker 2: little girls will see it and they'll know that they
Speaker 2: also can be it.
Speaker 1: Gene Fruth is our guest and also part of this
Speaker 1: documentary has a very special executive producer, and that's Dodger
Speaker 1: co owner and one of the greatest tennis players we've
Speaker 1: ever seen, Billy Jean King. How did she get involved
Speaker 1: and what is her level of involvement.
Speaker 2: Yeah, arguably, Billy Jean King is certainly probably the best
Speaker 2: tennis player of all time, but I would say even
Speaker 2: beyond that, more than being the best women tennis player
Speaker 2: of all time, she is a crusader and she is
Speaker 2: an advocate for women's sports and women's equality. And when
Speaker 2: we said would you like to be involved in this,
Speaker 2: would you help us read the word, it took her
Speaker 2: all of two seconds to say yes. She's so behind
Speaker 2: it and she just wants to see women's baseball grower
Speaker 2: around the world.
Speaker 1: So special in standing next to us is the former
Speaker 1: president of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Jeff idelsin. You
Speaker 1: guys have collaborated for a couple of books, and the
Speaker 1: third book, Grassroots Baseball Series, is on the horizon. Tell
Speaker 1: us about that exciting project.
Speaker 2: Yes see Her be here also as a companion book
Speaker 2: that goes with the film. And Billy g and King
Speaker 2: wrote a wonderful essay in our book. Also cal Ripken
Speaker 2: junior Claire Smith, longtime journalist. I'm sure yeah you know her.
Speaker 2: And then also all of our shiros we call our
Speaker 2: hero shiros. So we have a woman from Japan who
Speaker 2: is the best woman baseball player in the world, a
Speaker 2: Yami Sato, women in Cuba, in Canada, the United States,
Speaker 2: South Korea. So you'll see the book hat shows women's
Speaker 2: baseball and girls baseball all around the world. And there's
Speaker 2: also a thousand Girls under an Umbrella Baseball for all
Speaker 2: where girls are playing on her old girls teams. And
Speaker 2: so Justin Siegel, the founder of that program, also does
Speaker 2: a wonderful essay about women's baseball that's so awesome.
Speaker 1: Man standing behind us is one of those sheiros, the
Speaker 1: great Jessica Mendoza.
Speaker 2: Jessica Mendoza has been a supporter of See Her Beer
Speaker 2: from the very beginning. We're so excited to have her support.
Speaker 2: She also wrote for the book, and she's been a
Speaker 2: very big supporter. And I mean it's just the point
Speaker 2: of someone like Jessica. She is a trailblazer, and that's
Speaker 2: what these women are. They are the first, right, She's
Speaker 2: a first and the idea is not to have a lass.
Speaker 2: So when your daughter turns on the TV and sees Jessica,
Speaker 2: she says, Dad, I want to do that. Look, a
Speaker 2: woman's doing that. That means I can do it too.
Speaker 1: So inspirational and being a girl, Dad, Now I feel
Speaker 1: like I understand it even better. Thanks a lot for
Speaker 1: the time, and thank you for putting together such a
Speaker 1: great project, The Grassroots Series Part three that's accompanying See
Speaker 1: Her be Her the documentary on women's Baseball, which we'll
Speaker 1: debut between Games two and three of the World Series
Speaker 1: on MLB Network. Gene Fruth, great to have you at
Speaker 1: Dodgers Stadium, and also great to have Jeff Idelson here.
Speaker 2: Oh it's such a pleasure. Go Dodgers. Have a great game.
Speaker 1: Tonight, Dodgers. We'll see the Dodgers in the World Series
Speaker 1: with Gene Fruth and see Her be here