Quote:
Originally Posted by kq76
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by cohort. If you mean a couple dozen, no. If you mean a few, yes. I also don't think it's likely that they can be just as fast, just as strong, etc, but I do think there can be the odd one, two, or three that could be competitive (i.e. not embarrass themselves) among the men. It would depend on the sport and role of course (e.g. anything that takes max strength is probably a no go). And I do believe sexism is probably holding them back.
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A cohort is a collection of people that is treated as a group for a specific purpose. In this case, it would mean, for instance, the top 1% of female athletes taken against the top 1% of male athletes. What I was asking was, is it only sexism bred into our culture that keeps the top 1% of females athletically inferior to the top 1% of male athletes? Or is it a clear physical limitation of the female sex versus the male sex that cannot be overcome?
Sounds like you agree with me that it's not just sexism, that there is a physical reason as well. I don't think any reasonable person could argue that the cohort of the top 1% of female athletes is equal in speed, strength, and power to the cohort of the top 1% of male athletes, and practically everyone would agree they will not be equal in the foreseeable future. Maybe in tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years women will evolve to equal status with men in size, strength and speed, but we won't be here to see that.
I am piqued by your statement that there could be that "odd one, two, or three that could be competitive (i.e. not embarrass themselves) among the men", depending on the sport. I would agree that in certain sports, women who are, forgive the term, "freaks of nature" could compete against men, and maybe even eke out a living. Is Serena Williams an example of this? Perhaps. She's considered by many to be just such a physical "freak". We could debate whether she would be 4th or 5th in the world among men, as you believe, or more like 40th or 400th, but boy, would I love to see her playing a top male player while she is still at her peak, so we could see how she measures up.
I think the less speed and strength are a factor in the sport, the more likely the best women at it could be competitive with the best men. Because of this, I don't think baseball is that sport. Speed and strength are both very important in the game, everywhere: at bat, on the bases, in the field and on the mound. I can't help but believe that your example of the 5' 9", 150 pound best-baseball-playing woman imaginable would be completely overwhelmed by the speed and power of the major league game. Hell, every year thousands of men much, much larger, faster and stronger than that are overwhelmed by the speed and power of the game
several levels below the major leagues and end up plateauing at best, and more likely going backwards, aging out, or quitting.
Even at pitcher, the one position at which everyone (including me) agrees that a woman would have the best chance of making a major league team, the physical challenge of performing at a legitimate major league level is simply too great.
The highest recorded speed by a woman pitching is 82 MPH. That's a lot faster than I can throw, and maybe faster than you can, too. But compared to current big league pitchers, it is not only
some 10% slower than the average fastball, but it is also slower than the average cutter, slider, split finger and even changeup.
Think about that for a minute: the fastest pitch ever recorded by a female is still slower than the average major league changeup!
I think the bottom line is this: for a woman to even get to the major leagues in the first place, she is going to have to do more than just "not embarrass" herself to make it. She is going to have to be one of the best 750 baseball players
in the world,
out of tens of millions of people who actively play, at any given time. Believe me when I say I would love to see it happen, and I know some people in this thread are going to be pissed at me to laying it all out like this, but I think it's just too tall an order to fill to find even one who can make even the last spot in the bullpen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kq76
It's interesting what Joe posted and I'd love to see a woman join the PGA, but even if they're not officially prohibited, I have to imagine they would be unofficially unwelcome by a lot of people, players, fans, and management. Still, maybe one day one woman will be headstrong enough and just go for it. I'd hope she'd be the very best at her sport though so she has the best chance at being competitive otherwise it might set them back even further. I'd be very curious to hear whether past top women athletes had considered it and why they chose not to.
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It's interesting you mentioned Annika Sörenstam earlier, and your desire to see a woman someday play in the PGA, apparently not realizing that Sörenstam did precisely that. She was the #1 ranked woman golfer in the world when amid a good deal of discussion in the media,
the PGA invited her to play in a PGA tournament in 2003. The result: she tied for 96th out of the 111 who finished the first two rounds, and missed the cut.