Meet the Players: International Women’s Day Edition with Melissa Sage-Bollenbach
Let’s celebrate Melissa!
According to the International Women’s Day website, March 8 is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
Women should be celebrated daily. I like to think that’s the case at South Side Sox as we consistently lift the voices of our diverse group of writers and editors. A quick look at our masthead will show you how many women have key roles in our group, and hell, all of our social media accounts are run by women.
I wanted to start with my partner-in-crime, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach. In less than a year, Melissa became one of the key players for the site — and the two of us become the bosses here when the regular boss is gone. Last season when news broke of Rick Hahn and Ken Williams being let go, I had Melissa next to me among the chaos of emergency podcasts, stories, and editing. She handled it with grace then, and continues to do so. It’s an absolute honor to be in the same space as Melissa, especially while our White Sox team is an absolute disaster.
The incredible women of South Side Sox agreed to answer some questions about our life in a male-dominated field, so take the time to get to know the incredible ladies who bring you so much of our content year-round.
What questions are you tired of being asked as a woman in sports media?
Any question that assumes I lack the knowledge about what I am covering. This has been the story since I was a young girl, as well. Boys would always try to “challenge” me with questions to see if they could trip me up and if I really was knowledgeable about baseball. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen as much today as it used to.
Also, as the social media moderator for our South Side Sox Facebook page, people often assume I’m a man. Even though it clearly says that Melissa Sage-Bollenbach posted. With that said, though, our community there has been great. I’ve been fortunate and have not faced any issues surrounding my gender there.
How did you arrive at South Side Sox?
In August 2022, Brett contacted me on Twitter to see if I was interested in writing for the site. I thought for sure he had meant to message someone else. I only took about five minutes to think about it and said, “Yes! I’m absolutely up for that!” Despite having no background in writing about baseball, Brett and everyone affiliated with the site has been extremely wonderful in teaching me the ropes!
What particular challenges have you found in covering baseball?
Since I’m old, the statistical stuff was all new to me. When I started watching baseball in the early 80s, the slash line and anything from the box score was pretty much all you needed to understand. So, learning what all the advanced metrics mean and how they fit into the game’s bigger picture has been an adventure. There’s still a lot to learn, though, and I’m naturally an ambitious person, so I try not to let it intimidate me too much.
What particular satisfaction have you gotten from covering baseball?
Building relationships, hands down. I’ve only been on this journey for about 18 months, and one of the best things about it has been finding an incredible community of creators and fans who support one another. White Sox fans are a passionate group, and I’ve met and developed friendships with some awesome people.
If you could say something to the next generation of women in sports media, what would you say?
Find a supportive mentor. It would be great if that person were a woman, but there are plenty of men out there who really support women being in the industry. So find those people who want to encourage you in your journey.
What brought you to love baseball?
My family were all White Sox fans, except one of my grandmas, who was a Cubs fan. However, it was my stepdad who got me into baseball in the early 1980s. Then, once the 1983 White Sox won the division, I was hooked for life. We went to a game in September of that year, and the park was rocking. The club went on to win in extra innings, and I will never forget the energy of Old Comiskey Park that night.
The sports world thankfully has plenty of trailblazers now, is there someone you look up to or who inspired you to start covering baseball?
This is 100% Nancy Faust for me. I remember everything about baseball when I was a child was centered around men. Going to the park as a young girl, each year I would get a set of team baseball cards and I was always so excited to see Nancy have her own card. I still have all of them.
I wanted to be an umpire or an announcer when I was in middle school, and there weren’t any women at all that I knew of in those arenas. For that and many other reasons, I fell into a profession that had nothing to do with baseball or sports. At 50 years old I thought that dream had passed me by. But alas, here I am with a middle-age reinvention! That little girl who always dreamed of somehow being professionally involved with baseball gets the great luck to do it and with my favorite team finally. I’m blessed!