Meet the Players: International Women’s Day Edition with Year of the Hamster

Let’s get to know Employee No. 1

Well, it falls to me to introduce our enigmatic Year of the Hamster.

She is, in fact, Employee No. 1 in this Mach 3 of South Side Sox. It is also true that I insisted she partner with me in this endeavor and would not have taken the job without her. And she’s been a fast learner and workhorse for our site, taking on more than her share of the mundane but still breaking out with a stunner every so often. And on an incomparable staff of women here, I don’t know anyone stronger.

So here we are, seven years later, together. Her role has changed, now piloting much of our offseason coverage and quieting down a bit, but not completely, in-season. There’s much more I would like to tell you about my closest friend, but I am bound to honor the pen name and so must instead activate her cloaking device.

But there is more to learn, below. Here’s to a great run here so far, Hamster!

What questions are you tired of being asked as a woman in sports media?
Not too many people in my everyday life are aware I have been in sports media, but I can twist the gist of this question. My job outside of these pages now is somewhat akin to an ex-player retiring and working in sports media, and I immediately tire of the incredulity I still am met with, with almost 30 years of experience. I do not have to imagine how I would be questioned as a woman in sports media, because already I am questioned as a woman in my industry — although I suspect that it would be worse in the sports arena. It is exhausting, infuriating, and insulting.

But you can gather up your toys and go home, or you can fight. I am still fighting.

How did you arrive at South Side Sox?
Well, for those of you still around who bore witness to the transition to South Side Sox’s third editor, Brett, you will recognize I was his Employee No. 1. In fact, I authored the first of many delightful forays into absurdism published during his tenure, which was the companion piece to his introduction to the site — a counterargument to his hiring. While I have written many other stories I have been proud of on these pages, it has yet to get better than that prank (?) takedown.

What particular challenges have you found in covering baseball?
I was not a sportswriter and hardly had a passing interest in the game — and sports in general. But Brett pressed me. He was taking on an enormous responsibility to the SSS readership and made the decision early on that he was not going to shoulder it alone. He did see something in me I did not in myself. So despite my initial indifference and discomfort, his faith drove me. The mentorship he gave me here I am sad to admit I have not done a good enough job paying forward to many others on our staff, but I am willing and do try.

One thing I remember early on that was instructive was his experience covering hockey up close — namely, having no experience playing, or even much watching the sport. And his writing on that beat was very, very good. And that drew me in, because yes, I believe I am a better writer than he is. And I foun that belief turned against me: If you can write [subject X], you can write baseball. Show me how good you are. You would have thought my master’s thesis was not about fashion but the run values of a sacrifice bunt with how many times he wore me out with lines like that. So yeah, I gave in. And somehow I am still here.

What particular satisfaction have you gotten from covering baseball?
It’s the team.

Not, not the White Sox. It’s the team here at SSS, seeing a dozen or two active writers on site, or a full slate of podcasts, or a kind comment/tweet ... seeing the machine that is South Side Sox in action. And within that, witnessing newcomers taking initiative, and blossoming. You can see people grow in real time, and even if I am not there in the SSS “locker room” to share in a victory celebration, knowing our writers are feeling those victories is very satisfying. I have too much tenure here to not share in those joys, even from afar.

Also, getting almost immediate kudos from the upper management at SBN, who extolled the makeup of our staff and provided early encouragement — even to the degree of telling other SBN sites now THIS is how you diversify a masthead. Realizing back then that I was at the top of our masthead and was at that moment one of the few and highest-ranking women’s voices for SBN and on the White Sox was initially terrifying, but also satisfying. (On the other hand, it is really a bit sad that outside of SSS, women are not being elevated to positions of prominence in White Sox coverage.)

And in a line-item sense, and a fitting mention during this series, is the Estrogen Power Hour. While sadly it never had the chance to grow and legs were hardly beginning to get under it, the chemistry, verve and acidity (given the podcast’s origin story was a coalescing of women to rip on terrible takes from dumb male fans) was magic from the jump. Honestly, I hate that it is not celebrating its 100th show by now. But for a brief moment, South Side Sox had the premier middle finger thrown up at the baseball patriarchy.

Personally, though, sure, all the badgering from Brett getting proven right, that I can do it ... contributing to this site and pulling it off without being exposed stark naked as a newbie was a satisfying accomplishment.

If you could say something to the next generation of women in sports media, what would you say?
YOU BELONG HERE. And don’t let ANYONE tell you that you do not. (And that is not just something that applies to your writing, but your appearance, expertise, work ethic ...)

If anyone challenges you using bogus criteria, kick them in the balls (figuratively, literally, whatever works) and write even harder hell out of your next piece.

Be open to mentoring, or at the very least an alliance with someone facing the struggle with you. Fear is real, but too much fear is foolish. Write through it.

And, one more time: YOU BELONG.

What brought you to love baseball?
Not the traditional route of my father, who couldn’t tell baseball from cricket from jai alai. I never played baseball or was close to someone who played or grew up loving it. Coming from far outside the lines, I am captured by the drama surrounding the sport: Front office acrobatics, player posturing, celebratory wins, the mental game. I choose to see the game cinematically, which may be a product of loving, say, A League of Their Own or The Natural on the big screen before I ever did a single team, player, or game.

The sports world thankfully has plenty of trailblazers now. Is there someone you look up to or inspired you to start covering baseball?
Most immediately, it was Brett who invited (pushed) me here, and I will be frank: It wasn’t just him insisting that I could do this, or that it wasn’t as hard as it seems. It was learning that there was some really great writing published in the sports realm (and to be honest, had Brett’s work not been so good, I would never have bought into that).

Katie Preusser’s position at SBN’s Lookout Landing helped ease me into the notion that I could fill a somewhat similar role at South Side Sox. She was a pioneer, and remains an SBN force.

While I realize (and regret) that a significant percentage of my writing on this site tends toward the dry and rote, there are many contemporary writers outside of the sports world who have influenced and impacted me, pushing me to try to fill every inch of the canvas in whatever it is I do. Beyond the mentors and collaborators in my current field, that includes novelist Susan Orlean, fashion icon Iris Apfel, and the utterly brilliant essayist and New Journalist E. Jean Carroll.