Uningrained

What can basketball teach us about women’s baseball and fastpitch softball? Maybe more than you think. We examine two different hoops variants for women—netball and Iowa 6-on-6—that emerged shortly after James Naismith invented basketball in 1891.

Featuring Dr. Jan Todd from the University of Texas at Austin, Iowa high school basketball legend Tammi Blackstone, longtime Iowa sportswriter Jane Burns, Netball America CEO Sonya Ottaway, and MLB outfielder-turned-netball commentator Brian Anderson.

Expanded show notes at uningrained.com and the Uningrained Substack.

The new women’s pro leagues in baseball and fastpitch softball are both fun, both promising—but also very different. The WPBL is a bat signal to prospective players that women’s baseball exists, while the AUSL aims to propel softball to the big time.

Featuring Amira Hondras, Meggie Meidlinger, Sabrina Robinson and Justine Siegal from the Women's Pro Baseball League, and Cheri Kempf and Morgan Zerkle from the Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

How did men’s baseball and women’s fastpitch softball get paired up? Here’s the story of the breakup of men’s and women’s softball, and how high schools, universities and the Olympics brought two disparate diamond sports together—propelling softball's growth.

More Uningrained on Substack, including show notes and a second podcast with long-form interviews, Uningrained Extended Play: uningrained.substack.com.

While baseball boxed out women in the early 1900s, another fast-growing sport—softball—welcomed them into a world of elite competition, big crowds and long careers. Featuring Hall of Famer Lorene Ramsey, as well as midcentury AAGPBL baseball players.

In the early ‘70s, girls sued Little League for the right to play baseball. And won. So why didn’t women’s baseball take off? One reason is that baseball excluded women. But women’s athletics leaders didn’t go to bat for baseball, either—a choice that was a hundred years in the making.

Featuring Little League pioneer Carolyn King Lewis, as well as women’s sports scholars Victoria Jackson, Jennifer Ring and Jan Todd.

More Uningrained:

https://www.uningrained.com/

https://uningrained.substack.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@Uningrained

Expanded interviews and show notes on Substack

What happens when a girl decides she loves baseball instead of softball? What happens if she turns out to be great? The stories of MLB draft pick Carey Schueler and former pro pitcher Ila Borders illustrate the challenges women face when they pursue American’s National Pastime.

More Uningrained:

https://www.uningrained.com/

https://uningrained.substack.com/

Why do people autocorrect to “softball” when they hear about women playing baseball? What are the consequences of boxing women out of the National Pastime? The first season of Uningrained tackles those questions with a deeply reported look at both baseball and softball that features Hall of Famers, pioneers and current stars from both sports.

More Uningrained:

https://www.uningrained.com/

https://uningrained.substack.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@Uningrained

• 2024-25 girls' high school sports participation (National Federation of State High School Associations)