Blazing a trail for women
Jenny Dial Creech writes about Jessica Mendoza’s role as MLB’s first female analyst.
It’s a big Sunday at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros are still the league’s best team despite being bitten by the injury bug and suffering a few losses of late. It’s Father’s Day. The Red Sox are in town. On top of all of that, the game will be featured on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.”
And with the return of the prime-time TV spot is also the return of Jessica Mendoza — the first female analyst for Major League Baseball.
The trailblazing Mendoza has covered the Astros twice before in this role — once last year and again earlier this season on Derek Jeter day at Yankees Stadium.
The Stanford alum was thrilled when she found out she would be back in Houston.
“I’ve been pushing to do the Astros,” Mendoza said in a phone interview earlier this week. “They are an exciting team to watch, and I love what they are doing. I’m excited to be there this week, and we have some things planned.”
Likes Astros’ makeup
Mendoza, who has followed baseball closely for years, has been fascinated by analytics in the game. She has watched the way the Astros have used stats and analytics to build their team.
She’s going to look further into what the Astros have done in a one-on-one sitdown with fellow Stanford alum A.J. Hinch that will air on Sunday.
“I do these interviews every week,” she said. “They are usually with a player. We are going behind the curtain for a look into a team that uses analytics and data. I am really into that stuff, so I’m excited to really dig in and take a closer look.”
The numbers are one thing that make the Astros an interesting team, she said. Another is its star players.
“You look at this group of guys like (Carlos) Correa, (George) Springer, and even (Jose) Altuve is still young, and you see their talent just exploding,” she said.
People were already interested in the Astros thanks to the young guns before this year.
The team got more intriguing this season.
“They went and got these veteran players like (Carlos) Beltran, (Brian) McCann and even Josh Reddick, who has a good amount of experience, and we’ve all seen the results,” she said.
Mendoza has good memories of being at Minute Maid last October, even though it was marred by a sexist tweet from an Astros minor league (who is no longer with the organization). Brooks Marlow tweeted “no lady needs to be on ESPN.”
Mendoza, like a lot of other females in sports media, has seen too many tweets like this to count. That one likely rolled off her back like the others, as she never had any comment on it specifically.
This season, Mendoza is a year into her role.
The comfort level shows in her broadcasts, and it also does in baseball conversations with her.
She’s smooth, confident and really knows her stuff about the teams and the game.
“I’m glad I’m not a rookie anymore,” she said. “Things like being able to go to a stadium and know where to go, know more of the players, know about them and what to ask about. I’m a lot more at ease.”
Others could soon follow
Hopefully, we will get to the point in the near future where women in her role are the norm.
Until then, it’s special to have Mendoza in town as she continues to make history.
It’s also special to have a team that is earning the type of recognition it takes to bring the “Sunday Night Baseball” team to town.
The Astros’ winning ways are drawing local and national attention. Attendance is up, excitement is high, and the team continues to garner interest from all corners.
“They are a special team and what they are doing is fun to watch,” Mendoza said. “It’s good baseball. When you go back to where they were a couple of years ago and where they are now, it’s great to see.
“Look at what the Cubs did. The Astros are a team we are all watching. This is a World Series-caliber team.”