ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza loving growth of softball
When former National League MVP Bryce Harper comes up wanting to talk about Oklahoma pitcher Paige Parker, Jessica Mendoza knows the popularity of softball is continuing to grow.
Mendoza, the first female Major League Baseball analyst at ESPN and the first woman to call an MLB postseason game, is in Oklahoma City as part of ESPN’s broadcasting crew for the Women’s College World Series.
“All of these female athletes that we’re covering,” fellow ESPN broadcaster Holly Rowe said, “they’re looking at her like, ‘That could be us.’”
With the top eight seeds in OKC, what do you think of this year’s field?
Mendoza: “As much as you love the underdog that gets in, sometimes, the team that sneaks in and has that upset in the supers gets here and they 0-2-barbecue, they’re home, so to see the teams that got the seeds that they got and then to win supers, the confidence is there instead of that scared puppy look of ‘Oh my gosh, what is this?’ Instead, we get eight teams that are like, ‘Oh, we’ve kind of been preparing for this.’”
What do you attribute to the growth of the Women’s College World Series?
Mendoza: “I do give credit to that the company we work for, ESPN. … When you think about the growth, at the end of the day, people want to come here and they want to watch it. I go back to Major League Baseball, and I’ve got Bryce Harper coming up to me and being like, ‘Did you see Paige Parker?’ Literally, he couldn’t stop talking about softball, and it’s because of the fact that it’s now seen.”
How has your work with baseball helped with your work with softball?
Mendoza: “Just being outside of my comfort zone. In the beginning, doing things that I hadn’t done before, being on stages that I hadn’t been before and then just pushing myself beyond a boundary I didn’t know existed, which I always felt I had done as an athlete. Hadn’t done it necessarily in my broadcasting career, so then coming back to softball, it’s like there’s a confidence that’s there that I always felt like I could do this and I loved it. … You come back with your girls and your family, that’s what feels so good, to be around people that I know are so supportive.”