Meet the Players: International Women’s Day Edition with Hannah LaMotta
Our next batter: Hannah LaMotta!
Hannah might be one of the youngest in the South Side Sox family, but she’s also one of the most hard-working people on the site. From planes, different cities, time zones, countries, and even in the park during a game, she has never missed a scheduled game recap. Hannah is the true definition of determined and a huge asset for all of us.
Her knowledge of the game and love for the White Sox, even on their worst days, is unmatched. It has been an absolute joy to watch her grow into a stalwart with our group and to know she is impacting young girls everywhere.
My biggest hope for Hannah is to see her absolutely crushing it just like her sports media icons, because I have a good feeling she’ll be a breakout star no matter what she does in life.
What questions are you tired of being asked as a woman in sports media?
This isn’t a question I’m asked, but as a woman in sports media it honestly tires me to have to prove my knowledge well before a male would have to, even have a casual conversation. For example, sometimes when I am trying to talk to men about sports they feel the need to quiz or test me before taking me seriously, instead of just taking my word for it. And then it’s like they think I get some sort of satisfaction when they say to me afterward “Oh, wow! You do know your stuff!” It’s like … yeah of course I do, I already told you that, you just felt the need to quiz me first to make sure my knowledge is up to your standards.
If you know your stuff, you know your stuff. That’s all there is to it, yet people try and complicate it sometimes.
How did you arrive at South Side Sox?
I specifically remember how I got to South Side Sox. It was almost midnight, I was 19 years old and sleeping over at my friend's house. I think I had said that I was a journalism major and had all of the sports teams I am a fan of in my Twitter bio, and Brett reached out to me. He said they were looking for writers and if I was interested to email him. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t take it seriously at first. I thought it was some sort of joke or someone just trying to get my information. I immediately texted my dad, like hey, look this guy up and this website. Is this real? He did his research and got back to me and told me this was real, and the rest is history.
What particular challenges have you found in covering baseball?
Well, the first challenge is having to cover a losing team. I mean, it just stinks to have to write a recap about quite literally everything that went wrong that day. But in all seriousness, baseball seems to have the least amount of challenges out of other sports that I have covered. I think the only thing that really sticks out to me is how statistically-based baseball is. I am not good at math, numbers, or any of that ... that’s why I’m a writer. I also grew up watching baseball the old-school way, so having to kind of perfect all the new terms and what they mean has been a process. But it’s part of the game, and there are always new things to learn in any sport or job.
What particular satisfaction have you gotten from covering baseball?
Honestly, it seems cheesy but I get happy in the simplest ways when covering baseball. When I was younger, I always wanted to be someone impactful when I grew up. I had a shirt that said “Someday I’ll Be Famous” and wore it around, loud and proud. I started writing speeches about women's empowerment in sports when I was 12. I was a die-hard White Sox fan by the time I was eight or nine. So even knowing that one person is reading what I wrote, or that one person knows who I am now because of all of this, is the best feeling in the world. The connections I have made within the White Sox fandom are amazing. I feel so proud when I tell people that this is what I get to do. As someone who just graduated college and feels so up in the air about what I am doing with my life, I know that I will always have a home here at South Side Sox and a sense of feeling like I am making an impact.
If you could tell the next generation of women in sports media, what would you say?
Never be afraid to put yourself out there. I know it’s hard, especially when you’re younger, to stand face-to-face with a grown man and feel like you have to prove yourself, but confidence is key. I knew by the age of 13 that if you put me up against any other sports fan to test my knowledge I would shock them with how much I knew. When it comes naturally, there’s not much to be nervous about. Also, if there are any young girls out there reading this or any parents of young girls reading this, I am always here to help or just be a person to talk to.
What brought you to love baseball?
I give my dad a lot of credit for bringing me to love baseball. I was going to White Sox games at U.S. Cellular Field when I was three, with a little pink jersey and a bow in my hair. I was in softball by the time I was six, up until college. So there isn’t one specific moment I can remember that I became a fan, I was just born into it. I’m also a very nostalgic person and love tradition, so I became very passionate as I got older after already growing up with baseball being a vital part of my life.
The sports world thankfully has plenty of trailblazers now. Is there someone you look up to or who inspired you to start covering baseball?
Growing up, I remember idolizing Erin Andrews. For some reason when I was like six years old, I loved Dancing With the Stars, and she was a contestant on it. I thought what she did was so cool. So after loving her on that show I followed her career after that and always wanted to be her when I grew up. For one of my class finals last year I had to do a presentation about a journalist or reporter and I talked about her in front of my class for 45 minutes. When I think of women covering sports in the early 2000s, she and Doris Burke come to mind, and it makes it even more special that they’re still out there killing it now.