Anyone who pays attention to social media or any news source knows, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series on October 28. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 in the series, with a final victory in Los Angeles for game five. As a Red Sox fan, this feeling of excitement is unlike any other. Watching Chris Sale throw that final pitch for the strikeout left us all with our chins on the ground.
Like every other Red Sox fan nationwide, I proceeded to wear one of my many Red Sox t-shirts to classes the next day. The confusing looks that I received from so many different men that day was unbelievable.
No, I do not only watch for the hot players with their cute butts in their baseball pants. Believe me, I like watching Benintendi run into the dugout with his hair bouncing just as much as the next girl, but his good looks surprisingly aren’t the only reason why I’m double tapping on all of his Instagram posts. Can we talk about how his statistics these past few seasons have been comparable to Babe Ruth? Or how his friendship with Brock Holt is knocking down the ever so frustrating stereotypes revolving men being close friends with other men.
Being a female baseball fan in a world so dominated by egotistical male sports fans can be challenging. We are constantly surrounded by those who believe that we know nothing about baseball, or any sport in general. Although we all know that we can list off everything that “qualifies” us to be true baseball fans, why should this be necessary? Men have no qualifications to be a sports fan; they automatically get added to all of the fantasy leagues while we have to request to even be considered to be a part of any league.
So many men are dismissing women who actually care about sports in today’s society. By rejecting women who care about their team just as much as they care about their own families, many fans are being left alienated. The Red Sox were not made for only male fans. Baseball was not made for only males. All sports were made for males and females to enjoy together, a way for our disagreeing society to finally agree on something.
So, to all you ladies who are sports fans, this is my calling to you to not be afraid to show men that we know what we’re talking about. It’s definitely not necessary to list off everything that you know; men should listen to us when we say that we’re sports fans the first time. Let’s remind men that we are female sports fans, we understand more than you would think (possibly even more than men), and we’re here to stay.