Shutout! The Battle American Women Wage to Play Baseball has been selected for screening at
the 13th annual Baseball Film Festival on 9/22 at 7pm in the Bullpen Theater.
Shutout! explores the social, political, and cultural factors that led to the systematic exclusion of
American girls and women from the game, celebrates those who’ve succeeded in the face of such
challenges and considers the path forward to make baseball available to everyone.
Jon presented his latest academic paper, “Swing and Miss: How MLB Teams Fail Creating an Engaging Fan Experience and How to Fix It,” at both the NINE Spring Training Conference and the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture. He recently presented it to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ executive management as well!
Jon recently produced and directed a promo piece for Season Four of “The Sweet Spot” on Amazon Prime and Vimeo On Demand: “Baseball: A Special Kind of Magic.”It features a collection of short stories: “Lefty” O’Doul & the Case of the Missing Left Arm, Baseball’s Unknown Iron Men, the hazards of catching, and a life saved at the intersection o baseball and religion.
Jon did a book signing at the National Baseball Hall of Fame during their annual symposium on Baseball and American Culture in March. The book is a companion to his baseball series on Amazon Prime and is the first of several volumes to be released on Amazon.com.
Jon with three of the pioneers from the book: (L-R) Maybelle Blair, pitcher/ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, umpire Perry Barber, and infielder-outfielder Shirley Burkovich from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Jon will be presenting two days of baseball documentaries from his groundbreaking TV show on Amazon Prime, “The Sweet Spot.” He’ll screen his film on gender bias in baseball, “Shutout! The Battle American Women Wage to Play Baseball” (8/25) and stories about race in baseball, featuring episodes with Jim “Mudcat” Grant and Jackie Robinson (8/26). Jon will also be doing book signings both days for his new book, “Baseball Pioneers.” 1:00 p.m. start both days. Free and open to the public!
Jon with former Cleveland Indians pitcher Jim “Mudcat” Grant, the first African-American to win 20 games in the American League. Mudcat appears in Jon’s new book, “Baseball Pioneers,” as well as three episodes of his series on Amazon Prime and Vimeo on Demand, “The Sweet Spot.”
I was asked to provide commentary and perspective on the 2017 World Series on global news network i24. It was a great World Series and I had seen every inning of every game.
Jon celebrated Women’s History Month by touring his latest film and book from “The Sweet Spot” TV series from San Diego to San Francisco.
The film, “Shutout! The Battle American Women Wage to Play Baseball”, tells the story of over a hundred years of gender discrimination against American women, celebrates those who’ve succeeded in spite of it, and considers the path forward to make the game accessible to women at all levels of the game.
His new book, “Baseball Pioneers: True Stories of Guts & Glory as Told by Men and Women of the Game”, is a companion to “The Sweet Spot”, and four of the six pioneers are women! The two men featured are Jackie Robinson and Jim “Mudcat” Grant. Robinson’s story is told by world-class writer Ron Rapoport of the Los Angeles Times.
The March 24 tour stop featured a historic gathering of some of the most accomplished women to play baseball: pitcher Ila Borders, Colorado Silver Bullet Rachelle “Rocky” Henley, Team USA outfielder Lilly Jacobson, and San Jose Spitfires catcher Alex Oglesby. All joined Jon for a spirited discussion and featured a ceremonial first pitch from Ila Borders to 13-year-old slugger Lola M..
In conjunction with the tour, Jon has done numerous radio interviews around the country, including the biggest station is the San Francisco Bay Area: KGO, KCBS, KQED/NPR, and KNBR.
L-R: “Rocky” Henley, Alex Oglesby, Jon, and Ila Borders
My PR firm, Rick Cerrone Communications, set me up with 20 interviews with local, national, and syndicated radio programs across the US to talk baseball, Season Three of the Sweet Spot, and the 2017 World Series. It was a whirlwind, but fascinating and enjoyable to meet so many different people across the country.
KCBS – SAN FRANCISCO:
KATE DELANEY – AMERICA TONIGHT:
TIM HANLON – GOOD SEATS AVAILABLE: http://bit.ly/2jTdv4E
FOX SPORTS – ROCHESTER, NY:
i24 TV NEWS: http://bit.ly/2AZ5SVg
MAD DOG SPORTS RADIO, 730 WFVN-AM, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN:
THE ED KALEGI SHOW:
The entire season is dedicated to “A Star-Spangled Scandal” – the systematic exclusion of girls and women from baseball for over a hundred years, continuing to this day.
All nine episodes explore the social, cultural, and historical factors that drove this exclusion, stories from players, coaches, parents, and analysis by experts. Positive steps being taken and the path forward round out our story, entitled, “Shutout! The Battle American Women Wage to Play Baseball.”
Season three features stories and perspectives from some of the games most accomplished female players and experts: pitcher Ila Borders, Team USA players Lilly Jacobson and Alex Sickenger Oglesby, former Colorado Silver Bullet Rocky Henley, author and political scientist Jennifer Ring, journalist Lisa Nehus Saxon, and author Jean Hastings Ardell.
Look for it on Amazon, ROKU and Vimeo On Demand around October 25!
Click here to watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/225695418
Click here to watch Season 3 on Amazon:http://amzn.to/2znafbI
Click here to watch Season 3 on Vimeo On Demand: http://bit.ly/2xXToYX
Our afternoon of baseball and storytelling was a grand slam, bringing together baseball and culture fans from across the Southland. World Champion pitcher Jim “Mudcat” Grant, former Yankee batboy Matthew McGough, and writer Ron Rapoport kept the crowd in rapt attention from start to finish.