JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 30, 2022 | QUADRACCI POWERHOUSE
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IA R. DIA BY LYD
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DIRECTE
-BOLDEN E S E J A ASHE K
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www.MilwaukeeRep.com | 414-224-9490
JANUARY 11 – JANUARY 30, 2022 | QUADRACCI POWERHOUSE
By Lydia Funded in part by a grant from the
R. Diamond |
Directed by Tinashe
Production Support provided by
Executive Producers Robert Burrell • Judy Hansen
Kajese-Bolden Production supported in part by
Associate Producers Chris and Katie Hermann
Table of Contents The Play-by-Play of the Play...........................................................................................3 The Starting Lineup: Characters.................................................................................4
Mark Clements ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Chad Bauman
From Diamond in the Rough to Baseball Diamonds: Toni Stone’s Story................................................................................................................5
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Toni’s Teams..........................................................................................................................7
PLAYGUIDE WRITTEN BY
Barnstorming to the Big Leagues: Negro League Baseball..................................8
Lindsey Hoel-Neds CONTENT WRITER
Breaking the “Color Line”: The Integration of Major League Baseball..........................................................10
PLAYGUIDE EDITED BY
The First, But Not the Last: Trailblazing Women in Sports..............................12
Deanie Vallone
Issues of Gender-Based Inequality in Sports..........................................................14
LITERARY DIRECTOR
Lisa Fulton CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
2
From the Batter’s Box to Backstage: Theater and America’s Favorite Pastime.................................................................16
Toni Stone – PlayGuide
The Play-by-Play of the Toni Stone follows the story of pioneering baseball player Marcenia “Toni” Stone, the first woman to play in the Negro Leagues. Toni narrates her story for the audience through a series of vignettes from her life, from her childhood to the dugout to the team bus to her eventual home. Toni provides commentary as the audience follows her quest to become a permanent member of a team instead of a substitute player and her final placement as a member of the Indianapolis Clowns.
Play
Production photo from 2019 Roundabout Theater Company production. Photo Credit: New York Times.
Toni also takes the audience into her personal life as she develops a relationship with a man many years her senior, Alberga, who later becomes her husband. Her close and only female friend, Millie, a prostitute, also plays a vital role in Toni’s story after their meeting when the team stops to stay at her place of employment for a night. The play addresses the sexism Toni faces trying to be taken seriously as an athlete and the racism the entire team faces as members of the Negro League. Toni also struggles with her interpersonal relationships throughout the play, with the conflict coming to a head when her husband tries to take control of her playing career. Toni is a strong and independent person and will not let her story end without a mitt on her hand and a ball in her glove. April Matthis as Toni Stone in the Roundabout Theater 2019 Production. Photo Credit: New York Times.
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The Starting Lineup Characters in the Play
In Toni Stone, the ensemble members play multiple characters in Toni’s life story and change throughout the duration of the show.
Toni Stone - the protagonist of the play, the first woman to
play in the Negro Leagues. Quirky, personable, and one heck of a ballplayer.
Alberga - a dapper and charming older man whom Toni
meets at Jack’s Tavern who eventually becomes her love interest.
Millie - a prostitute and Toni’s best friend whom Toni meets
Woody Bush - a player with a lot of attitude and a foul mouth.
Elzie Marshall - tough left-handed player. A man whom ladies love, but who other players think is gay.
King Tut - the most famous player on the team, a master of comedy and “clowning.”
Spec Beebop - the intellectual of the team who is popular
when the team stops at her place of employment to spend a night.
with women.
Sydney Pollack - the white owner of the Clowns.
Mother - Toni’s mother who doesn’t approve of her daughter
Rufus McNeal - utility man on the team, plays wherever he is needed and keeps to himself.
Jimmy Wilkes - the flashy rookie of the team. Willie Brown - the left-fielder who seems to like drink
more than baseball.
playing baseball.
Father O’Keefe
- a priest from Toni’s childhood who wanted her to play baseball on the church team.
Coach Gabby - former Major League Baseball player from Toni’s childhood who let her join his fancy program for rich white boys because of her talent.
Willie Gaines (Stretch) - the catcher, team manager, and coach.
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Toni Stone – PlayGuide
From
Diamond in the Rough Baseball Diamonds: Toni Stone’s Story
to
“A woman has her dreams, too. When you finish high school, they tell a boy to go out and see the world. What do they tell a girl? They tell her to go next door and marry the boy that their families picked for her. It wasn’t right. A woman can do many things.”
- Toni Stone
Marcenia Lyle “Toni” Stone was born in Bluefield, Kentucky on July 17, 1921 to Willa and Boykin Stone. The Stone family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1931. At an early age, Toni had an affinity for baseball and was nicknamed “Tomboy” because of her interest in what were, at the time, considered masculine pursuits. She was a natural athlete and played football, basketball, tennis, hockey, golf, swam, and figure skated, but her heart always belonged to baseball. Her parents were concerned about the young girl’s prospects as they saw her interest in baseball as a dead end for a Black girl. Her family pastor, Father Keefe, saw the passion “Tomboy” had for the sport and invited her to play in a Catholic league team. Toni became a fixture in the tight-knit Black community of the Twin Cities, with the Minneapolis Spokesman declaring in 1937, “We do not hesitate to predict that she some day will acquire the fame of one Babe Didrickson.” At the age of fourteen, Toni stumbled upon Coach Gabby Street doing drills with young white boys at the Lexington Park baseball field. Toni kept coming to watch practices until Street, an admitted racist and KKK member, relented and let her show her stuff. Toni was unaware of Street’s history of bigotry and Klan membership; she just wanted to play and learn. She showed up all the white boys at the camp and Street let her join, later recalling, “ I just couldn’t get rid of her until I gave her a chance. Every time I chased her away, she would go around the corner and come back to plague me again.”
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Toni playing with the New Orleans Creoles. Photo Credit: Oakland Museum of California.
As a teenager, Toni saw a group of men practicing and she asked the person in charge, George White, if she could shag balls for them and he said yes. After he discovered that Tomboy could do more than shag balls, he asked her if she’d like to barnstorm (play on a traveling team) on the weekends with his team, the Twin City Colored Giants. Toni convinced her mother to let her play as a way to make extra money. She was only sixteen and the only woman on the team. She was a talented player who drew the attention of fans and media alike. In 1943, at the age of 22, Toni arrived in San Francisco to comfort her sister who was dealing with a rocky marriage, and to find a new start. Toni eventually secured a job welding on the docks, but actually had no practical experience as a welder. By the time her boss realized she didn’t know what she was doing her personality had already won him over. Toni became a driver on the docks, joining the ranks of Rosie the Riveter women all over the country during the war. In San Francisco, Tomboy changed her name to Toni to match her more sophisticated, adult life. Toni found a new home in the Black community of the Fillmore district and a watering hole that suited her just fine, Jack’s Tavern. At Jack’s, Toni met Aurelious Rescia Alberga, a dapper
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man full of stories and charm. Once Toni started telling Alberga and the owner of Jack’s, Al Love, about her barnstorming days, they were determined to get her on a local baseball team. Toni jumped at the chance to play ball again and joined an American Legion team. Determined to make a move to bigger things, she approached her coach and he suggested she check in with the San Francisco Seals minor league team, a white team. There were no Negro League franchises out west, as the black population was not as large as in places like Detroit or Birmingham. That changed during and immediately following the war. In 1945, a group of entrepreneurs gathered and established the West Coast Negro Baseball Association, but due to financial troubles, it folded after only eight weeks of play. Two teams, the Oakland Larks and San Francisco Sea Lions, were not willing to give up, and soldiered on. By 1949, Toni had secured a place on the Sea Lions at second base as the team barnstormed across the country. Due to tensions with teammates and her discovery that she was paid less than her teammates, Toni left the Sea Lions for the New Orleans Creoles. After a game in Iowa, Joe Lewis, one of her idols, sought her out to congratulate her on a great game and it was the sign Toni needed to know that her decision to keep going forward with her baseball career was the right one.
But Toni could never really stay away. In her later years she coached local teams and played on multiple recreational teams in the Bay Area. Much of Toni’s time was directed towards her husband’s care as Alberga got older. When Alberga turned 100 he asked Toni to give up “sandlot ball” and Toni put away her glove for good at the age of 65. When the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum opened in Kansas City, women players such as Toni were back in the collective sports fan memory. St. Paul invited Toni back for “Toni Stone Day,” a baseball complex was renamed in her honor, and local playwright Roger Nieboer wrote a play called Tomboy Stone that premiered at Great American History Theatre in St. Paul. Toni was floored when the Women’s Sports Foundation elected her to their Hall of Fame. Of all these honors, Toni was most moved by the inclusion of her and her Negro League colleagues in an exhibit in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Hank Aaron presented the medallions at a banquet in their honor. Toni Stone died November 2, 1996. She was a true baseballer, a pioneer, and a woman whose love for the game shone through every aspect of her life.
During this time, Toni’s personal life took a surprising turn when she accepted a proposal from Alberga, her much older beau. In December of 1950, the 29-year-old Toni married her 67-yearold husband and they moved into his home in Oakland. Now that they were married, Alberga wanted Toni to stop playing baseball. He was a prominent activist in the Black community in California, but his pushes for equality did not extend to his wife. Toni took a year off, but could not continue to stay away from her first love: baseball. By this time, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League had risen to prominence and Toni wanted to join other women baseballers. But, the league was segregated and Toni was turned away. When Hank Aaron left the Indianapolis Clowns for the major leagues, a call to Toni was made. She joined the Clowns in 1953. Toni became a hit with crowds and the media, and she kept playing quality baseball even if they wanted her to be a novelty attraction. For the 1954 season, the Clowns would be hiring two new female players, and offered Toni $50 less a month than she had earned in the previous season. Manager Syd Pollack also put in a call to the Kansas City Monarchs who made Toni another offer that was less, but promised her a place in the starting lineup. Toni chose to go to the Monarchs. At the end of the 1955 season, Toni hung up her cleats.
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Illustration from Catching the Moon: A Young Girl’s Baseball Dream by Crystal Hubbard, illustrated by Randy DuBurke. Photo Credit: Lee & Lowe Books.
Toni Stone – PlayGuide
1945 Clowns jersey. Photo credit: Online Sports
Replica 1846 Sea Lions jersey. Photo credit: Ebbets Field Flannels.
Replica Monarchs 1945 home jersey. Photo credit: Ebbets Field Flannels.
Toni’s Teams In the play, the Indianapolis Clowns represent an amalgamation of Toni’s many teams. Throughout her career, she played for multiple franchises in different leagues. A bit about each of the teams who were lucky enough to have Toni wear their jerseys. San Francisco Sea Lions
New Orleans Creoles
The San Francisco Sea Lions were one of six teams in the shortlived West Coast Baseball Association. By the time the league formed in 1946, the writing was on the wall for the integration of the major leagues and the slow demise of the Negro Leagues. After the league folded, the Sea Lions remained as a barnstorming team, playing around the country.
This semi-pro team was one of several teams in New Orleans for Black players that were created in response to the color line of the popular minor league team, the New Orleans Pelicans. Team owner Allen Page was noted for bringing the popular Toni Stone to the team and also creating the annual North-South All Star Game. While New Orleans never had a professional Negro League team, the Creoles and other New Orleans teams made a mark on baseball in the South.
Indianapolis Clowns The Clowns began as entertainers more than ball players in 1930. They were one of the first teams to incorporate humorous antics into their game play to add to the entertainment value for audiences. They have been called “Baseball’s Harlem Globetrotters.” The clowning did not detract from the quality of their game play once they moved into more serious baseball. In 1941, they won 125 games in the season, and in the early 1950s won three straight league championships. They were a team of firsts. The Clowns were the first home for a young shortstop, Hank Aaron, who was quickly hired by the Braves, where he became a Milwaukee and an MLB legend. The hiring of Toni as the first woman in the Negro Leagues after Aaron’s departure was followed by the hiring of two other women, Connie Morgan and Mamie “Peanuts” Johnson. In 1968, they were the first team to acquire a white player, Jim Cohen. The Clowns were the longest incorporated team, playing for 59 years before they folded in 1989.
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Kansas City Monarchs The Monarchs were formed in 1920 from a barnstorming team and was one of the Negro Leagues’ most famous and most successful franchises throughout its history. In 1930, team owner J.L. Wilkinson mortgaged everything he owned to buy a lighting system, introducing the first night games to baseball. Those night games helped the Monarchs and some other teams survive the tumult of the Great Depression. The Monarchs were one of the charter teams in the Negro American League in 1937 and became a powerhouse in that league as well. The Monarchs produced more future major leaguers than any other Negro League franchise, including Satchel Paige, Ernie Banks, and Jackie Robinson. First baseman and manager Buck O’Neill also became the first Black coach in the MLB. The Monarchs continued barnstorming tours even after the leagues dissolved, finally folding in the early 1960s.
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Barnstorming to the Big Leagues Negro League Baseball
In the late 1800s, African-Americans began to play baseball on teams in the military, schools, and company teams. Some went on to play on professional teams with white players, but the integration was short-lived as Jim Crow laws and discrimination halted the integration of professional baseball teams by 1900. Black players began forming their own teams and playing anyone who would agree to compete with them, “barnstorming” across the country.
under the guise of baseball is keeping us down and we will always be the underdog until we can successfully employ the methods that have brought success to the great powers that be in baseball of the present era: organization.” Foster continued to advocate for a formal league organization for African-American teams throughout the 1910s, both through his conversations with other owners and through a series of columns in the Chicago Defender newspaper. In 1920, an organized league was developed in the Midwest under the umbrella of the Negro National League. Foster and other team owners came together at a YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri to incorporate the official league. Soon thereafter, leagues formed in the southern and eastern states, leading to Black baseball teams throughout the United States, parts of Canada, and also parts of Latin America. The Negro Leagues became beacons for economic development in many Black communities and maintained a high standard of play and entertainment for fans. Throughout the 1920s, the leagues grew, attracting spectators that rivaled or surpassed those of the white teams. Unfortunately, as the Great Depression took its toll on so many things in American life, so too did it end almost all of the Black baseball leagues.
Andrew “Rube” Foster. Photo credit: Baseball Hall of Fame.
Black baseball teams were drawing crowds during the 1910s, but the popularity of the teams often did not lead to profits for the owners or players due to the machinations of white booking agents. Manager of the Chicago American Giants, Andrew “Rube” Foster said of the practice: “The wild, reckless scramble
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In 1937, a new league emerged out of the ashes: the Negro American League, with many of the same teams as before. The Negro American League continued its success until the color barrier was broken by one of its own, Jackie Robinson, in 1947. Robinson’s recruitment led to the integration of Major League Baseball and the eventual end to the Negro Leagues. Regardless of its end, Negro League Baseball is an important part of professional baseball history. “The leagues died having served their purpose,” said baseball writer Steven Goldman, “shining a light on African-American ballplayers at a time when the white majors simply did not want to know.”
Toni Stone – PlayGuide
be Poster for a game Cit tween the Kansas y Monarchs and For t Niagara, 1942. Ph oto credit: Heritage
Members of the Milwaukee Bears. Photo credit: OnMilwaukee.
Auctions.
Milwaukee’s Own Negro League Team:
The Bears
In 1923, for less than one season, Milwaukee had its own Negro National League team, the Milwaukee Bears. Unfortunately, as was the case with many Negro League teams, the Bears received little media coverage. Because of this and the short existence of the team, it is hard to pin down specifics, stats, and history. Regardless of that fact, every year, the Brewers celebrate the legacy of Milwaukee’s one and only Negro League team. For more on the Bears, check out this OnMilwaukee article! Negro League team logo s. Ima
ge credit: Behance.net.
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Papers like Negro Sporting News covered Black baseball teams when other papers did not and advocated for integration of Major League Baseball. Photo credit: Baseball Hall of Fame.
Breaking the “Color Line”
the
Integration of Major League Baseball
Starting in the 1930s, reporters at African-American newspapers around the country started a campaign to integrate Major League Baseball. This group of journalists published open letters to team owners, polled white players and managers, brought Black players to open tryouts, and kept the issue in the public consciousness. Several white journalists from major papers joined the push. Unions and civil rights groups staged protests outside Yankee Stadium, Ebbets Field, Comiskey Park, and Wrigley Field. In 1940, an “End Jim Crow in Baseball” demonstration occurred at the World’s Fair. Activists gathered over a million signatures on petitions calling for Major League Baseball to recruit Black players. In 1941, a delegation was sent to meet with Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis to ask for integration. Paul Robeson, the prominent Black entertainer and activist, spoke at the 1943 baseball owners winter meeting, where he was patently ignored by owners under the direction of Landis. In 1945, a member of the Boston City Council threatened to deny the Red Sox a permit to play on Sundays unless they auditioned Black players. The Red Sox did so, with no intention of hiring someone as did their fellow MLB teams the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox who also held auditions for Black players. Even though they had no intention of hiring, the public nature of the conflict put even more pressure on team management. Other politicians also used their platform to push for integration. Ben Davis, a Black New York City Councilman, distributed leaflets with a picture of a dead Black soldier and a baseball player with the phrase “Good enough to die for his country, but not good enough for organized baseball.” The New
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York state legislature passed an anti-discrimination in hiring law and began an investigation into MLB hiring practices. New York City Mayor LaGuardia established a committee to push New York teams to hire Black players and Congressman Marcantonio, who represented Harlem, called for an investigation into racist practices in baseball. In October 1945, Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey announced that they were recruiting Jackie Robinson to their roster from the Kansas City Monarchs. Robinson was placed on the Dodgers minor league team in Montreal for the following season, and then made his Dodgers debut on opening day 1947. In 1952, a full five years after Robinson broke the color barrier, less than half (6 of 16) major league teams had a Black player. It was not until 1959 that the last non-integrated team, the Boston Red Sox, finally brought a Black player onto their roster. Between 1949 and 1960, Black players won eight of the twelve Rookie of the Year awards, proving the naysayers wrong about Black players being “less qualified” to play in the major leagues. Unfortunately, integration didn’t automatically lead to equality. Academic studies done from the 1960s to the 1990s made clear that discrimination was still rampant in baseball. Teams were more likely to hire a weak-hitting white player over a weakhitting Black player as utility man and Black players had less lucrative and fewer commercial endorsement deals. No team had a Black manager until 1975 and no general manager until 1977. Earvin “Magic” Johnson was the first African-American owner of a franchise when he joined a group who purchased the Dodgers in 2012.
Toni Stone – PlayGuide
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” - Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson and Dodgers teammates. Photo credit: Baseball Hall of Fame.
Protestors take to the streets to demand integration of Major League Baseball. Photo credit: National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Sports reporter Wendell Smith, who was a leading voice in the fight for integration, with Jackie Robinson. Photo credit: Associated Press.
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Wilma Rudolph. Photo credit: Telegraph.co.uk
The First, But Not The Last:
Trailblazing Women in Sports There are so many trailblazing women in sports that there is no way we could list them all here. A few notable names that belong alongside Toni Stone’s as women who broke the glass ceiling in the world of sports. Ryneldi Becenti - In 1997,
Becenti became the first American Indian woman to play in the WNBA. Becenti was also the first woman inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
Ryneldi Becenti. Photo Credit: Associated Press
Serena Williams - One of the most formidable athletes of all-time, Serena Williams has won numerous championships, come back to the tennis court as a mother, continued playing into her late 30s, and been an activist and advocate for women of color in sports. Kathryn Smith - Hired in 2016 by the Buffalo Bills, Smith was the first full-time female coach in the NFL.
Janet Guthrie - Guthrie was the first woman to qualify for the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500 in 1977.
Althea Gibson - The first Black player to play at Wimbledon in 1956, Gibson won the tournament the following year. Manon Rhéume - In 1992, she became the first woman to play in any of the major four American sports leagues when she played an NHL pre-season game for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Alice Coachman - Coachman was the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the high jump in 1948.
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Florence Griffith Joyner - Considered
the fastest woman of all-time, “FloJo” set records and won medals as a sports icon in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
Florence Griffith Joyner. Photo Credit: Essence.
Billie Jean King - King fought for equal pay for women in tennis, but is most famously known for owning Bobby Riggs in the infamous “Battle of the Sexes,” disproving his claim that women’s tennis was subpar to men’s tennis.
Wilma Rudolph - Her successes at the 1956 and 1960
Olympics made her an international icon and raised the clout of track and field in the United States.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias - In 1938,
she was the first woman to appear in a PGA event. She was also an accomplished athlete in baseball, Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Photo boxing, track, tennis, swimming, credit: Olympic.org. and basketball. Didrikson Zaharias was selected the best female athlete of the first half of the 20th century by the Associated Press.
Victoria Roche - Roche was the first girl to play in the Little League World Series in 1984.
Victoria Roche. Photo credit: Little League Baseball.
Toni Stone – PlayGuide
Ibithaj Muhammad - The
Nancy Lieberman - At the age of 17 she made the U.S.
Olympic basketball team in 1976 and in 1986 she became the first woman in a men’s pro league with the Springfield Fame of the United States Basketball League.
Steffi Graf - Graf is the only tennis player to ever achieve
a Golden Slam in history, winning all four Grand Slam tennis titles and an Olympic medal in the same calendar year at only nineteen years old.
Sarah Attar - In 2012, Attar
was the first woman from Saudi Arabia to compete in track and field at the Olympics. Sarah Attar. Photo credit: Associated Press.
Ronda Rousey - The MMA superstar began her career as
an Olympian in judo, and then transitioned to Mixed Martial Arts where she dominated the traditionally male-oriented sport.
Kathrine Switzer - Switzer was the first woman to “officially” run the Boston Marathon in 1967, although Roberta Gibbs had done it the previous year by jumping out of the bushes and onto the race route. Chantal Petitclerc - Canada’s Petitclerc dominated the
wheelchair racing competitions at multiple Paralympic Games, sweeping all races in back-to-back games in 2004 and 2008, at the ages of 34 and 38.
Trischa Zorn - Zorn won an
unprecedented 46 Paralympic medals, in various swimming events between the years of 1980 and 2004. 32 of those medals were gold. Her total medal count is eighteen more than the winningest Olympian, Michael Phelps.
Ibithaj Muhammad. Photo credit: Time.
Dara Torres - Torres was the first Olympic swimmer to represent the U.S. in five Olympic games and at 41, was the oldest swimmer to earn a place on the team. Viridiana Álvarez Chávez - An accomplished
Mexican mountain climber, Chávez climbed three of the world’s tallest mountains in under a year, placing her in the Guiness Book of World Records.
Trischa Zorn. Photo credit: International Paralympic Committee.
was only the second transgender woman to be accepted into a professional competition, playing in the 2004 Ladies European Tour.
Surya Bonaly
- Bonaly was known for her acrobatic jumps and combinations during her figure skating career as well as her identity as one of the first Black skaters at her level of competition. She is the only Olympic figure skater of any gender to execute a backflip and land on one blade.
Dr. Renée Richards
Richards is a transgender tennis player who fought for the right to play when the United States Tennis Association barred her Renée Richards. Photo credit: from competing in 1976. She later Tennis.com. became a coach to other tennis players, and coached Martina Navratilova to two Wimbledon victories. - The first Asian-American Olympic Champion in 1948, Manalo Draves won gold medals for both platform and springboard diving.
- Hired in early 2021, Smith is the first Black woman to coach in professional baseball for a Red Sox minor league team.
Victoria Manalo Draves. Photo credit: Crescenta Valley Weekly.
Michelle Kwan - Kwan is the most decorated American
figure skater of all-time with five world championships, nine national championships, and two Olympic medals (silver and bronze).
Kim Ng - Ng is the first woman to be named General Manager of a MLB franchise, the Miami Marlins.
Bianca Smith
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Viridiana Álvarez Chávez. Photo credit: CNN.
Victoria Manalo Draves
Mianne Bagger - Bagger, a Danish professional golfer,
Bianca Smith. Photo credit: Boston Globe.
first American woman to compete at the Olympics while wearing a hijab, Muhammad won bronze in Women’s Individual Sabre fencing in 2016.
Kim Ng. Photo credit: NPR.
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Billie Jean King. Photo credit: Britannica.com.
Issues of
Gender-Based Inequality in
Sports
“Everyone thinks women should be thrilled when we get crumbs, and I want women to have the cake, the icing and the cherry on top, too.”
Title IX has served as a tool for those fighting against discrimination of women athletes from the inequality seen in benefits for NCAA Tournament basketball teams to availability of women’s sports to equality for transgender athletes.
The Wage Gap
- Billie Jean King
Women in the Olympics The modern Olympic Games began in 1894 and were only reserved for men. Women were added to the docket in 1900, but only in sports that were considered inline with their “femininity and fragility” such as tennis, sailing, equestrian events, croquet, and golf. The Women’s Sports Federation began lobbying for equality for women in the Olympics and Women’s Olympiads were organized from 1922-1934 in order to put pressure on the International Olympic Committee. Progress slowly moved along as the century continued, but in 2007 the Olympic Charter included mandatory presence of women in all sports.
Title IX: Breaking Down Educational Barriers In 1972, Title IX legislation stated: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” In the fifty years since the passage of Title IX, opportunities for women to participate in sports at the K-12 and collegiate level have grown immensely. Before the legislation, many schools did not offer sports for women or offered more limited or only intramural options for female athletes.
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Soccer star and activist Megan Rapinoe speaks to Congress on Equal Pay Day 2021. Photo credit: ABC News.
The fight for pay equity for women in athletics is an ongoing struggle, most recently highlighted by campaigns spearheaded by Megan Rapinoe and the World Cup-winning US Women’s Soccer team. According to Forbes, the only sport in which women have earnings comparable to their male counterparts is in tennis, and that is often because of high profile endorsement and sponsorship deals, not prize money. In team sports, where earnings come from salaries in addition to endorsements and prize money, the discrepancy is stark. The past several years have been a watershed moment in the fight for equal treatment and pay equity. In 2019, Team USA soccer filed lawsuits against their governing organization and the organization responded with claims that, “WNT and MNT players do not perform equal work requiring equal skill, effort
Toni Stone – PlayGuide
and responsibility under similar working conditions.” The team has not backed down. WNBA players recently came to an unprecedented labor agreement guaranteeing them improved pay and health benefits. In May of 2019, 175 players left the National Women’s Hockey League to protest low wages. In early 2021, Megan Rapinoe spoke with President and Dr. Biden about equal pay as well as testified in front of a House Oversight Committee on pay discrepancies between men and women.
The Fight for Equality for Transgender Women Athletes Side-by-side of Women’s and Men’s weight rooms at 2021 NCAA basketball tournament. Photo credit: Instagram @kersner.ali.
Protestors march to support trans athletes. Photo credit: Associated Press.
The fight started years ago on the professional front by athletes such as Renée Richards and Mianne Bagger has come to the forefront in school sports recently, especially over the past year. During 2021, over 35 bills were introduced by state legislatures around the country meant to limit athletic opportunities for transgender girls and women. Many of these bills indicate that only those “assigned female at birth” or with “female genital and sex characteristics” should be allowed to play sports on girls’ or women’s teams. While proponents of the bills argue that they protect cisgender competitors and equal the playing field, opponents see the bills as a violation of the rights of not only transgender girls and women, but all athletes, especially considering that some bills allow for “physical inspections” of private areas of the bodies of minor children. The bills take away the rights of transgender, non-binary, and intersex children and adults who simply want to compete against their peers.
NCAA March Madness Controversy In 2021, the inequality between women’s and men’s teams was brought to the forefront of the public eye when social media posts emerged from teams playing in the NCAA March Madness tournaments. Athletes on the women’s teams posted photos and videos of the facilities, food, and other “amenities” provided to their teams in comparison to those provided to the men’s teams. Some examples that were highlighted included an expansive weight room and equipment for the men’s teams versus one small rack of weights and yoga mats for the women’s
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teams, overflowing “swag” bags from the NCAA and sponsors for the men versus much smaller and lower value bags for the women, and catered buffet style food for the men versus school lunch style options for the women. The public attention brought to the stark differences forced NCAA to acknowledge the discrepancies in treatment of the different teams, but initially the organization tried to downplay the inequity.
Women in Major League Baseball In April of 2021, ESPN published an extensively researched article about women working for MLB. While 2020-2021 saw some groundbreaking firsts for baseball with the hiring of Kim Ng as Marlins GM and Bianca Smith (formerly of Waukesha’s own Carroll University) as a coach for the Red Sox minor league organization, there is still so much further to go. Ng has been working in baseball for thirty years, and yet there are numerous men in their 20s and 30s who have risen to the GM position in recent years with much less history in the field. In 2020, only 225 out of the over 4,900 baseball operations roles were held by women. Many women working in baseball indicate that at best many male colleagues don’t know how to relate to them or work with them, and at worst men harass and discriminate against them. Even the most basic things like bathroom facilities are often overlooked for women in baseball organizations. MLB is trying to rectify this situation and grow through the hiring of Michele Meyer-Shipp as their first Chief People and Culture Officer who is working to find ways to even the playing field. Women working for MLB are still skeptical.
“Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.”
- Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Rudolph. Photo credit: Getty Images.
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From the Batter’s Box to Backstage Theater and America’s Favorite Pastime
Bebe Neuwirth and Victor Garber in the 1994 Revival of Damn Yankees. Photo credit: Playbill.com.
Damn Yankees - The most well-known of theatrical ventures into baseball, Damn Yankees is a classic musical with a Faustian deal for an avid Washington Senators fan who makes a bargain with a mysterious stranger to become a baseball star, but eventually misses his former life.
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Toni Stone – PlayGuide
Diamonds - This Off-Broadway musical revue ran for 122
performances from 1984 - 1985. Many composers created this tribute to America’s favorite pastime.
David Alan Anderson and Edgar Sanchez in Fences at Milwaukee Rep, 2016. Photo credit: Tim Fuller, Milwaukee Rep.
Fences - Fences is part of August Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” that features Troy, a garbage man and former baseballer, as he grapples with his lost dream of playing major league ball, his son’s current athletic prospects, his struggling marriage, and the difficulties of being Black in 1950s Pittsburgh.
Court Miller and David Alan Grier in The First. Photo credit: Martha Swpoe.
The First - The First was a musical retelling of the story of
Jackie Robinson as the first African-American in Major League Baseball. The musical starred David Alan Grier as Robinson for which he received a Tony Award nomination, but the show did not see a long run on the Broadway stage in 1981.
Cast of Take Me Out original Broadway production. Photo credit: Joan Marcus.
Take Me Out - The Tony Award-winning play by Richard
Greenberg explores the events surrounding the hypothetical coming out of the first gay player in Major League Baseball. The play explores themes of masculinity, homophobia, racism, and class in sports. A Broadway revival is set to open this spring, with a television adaptation to follow.
www.MilwaukeeRep.com
Cast of National Pastime at the Keegan Theatre. Photo credit: The Keegan Theatre.
National Pastime - In this musical, a failing radio station
in Iowa creates an unbeatable baseball team and broadcasts phony games in order to draw listeners. The musical not only enjoyed an Off-Broadway run, but also a stint at the auditorium at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
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VISITING
MILWAUKEE REP Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex is located in the Associated Bank River Center downtown at the corner of Wells and Water Streets. The building was formerly the home of the Electric Railway and Light Company.
VISITING THE REP
TheRepertory Ticket Office is visiblePatty on the leftJay upon entering theComplex Wells Street doors. The Quadracci Milwaukee Theater’s and Baker Theater is located in the Milwaukee Powerhouse is located Mezzanine andStreets. can be accessed via escalator or elevator. Center downtown at the corneron ofthe Wells and Water The building was formerly the home of the Electric Railway and Light Company.
The Ticket Office is visible on the left upon entering the Wells Street doors. The Quadracci Powerhouse is located on the first level.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT MILWAUKEE REP TO: THE ENABLES REP VALUES YOUR SUPPORT
Financial support enables The Rep to: Maintain our commitment to audiences with Advance the art of theater with productions ✯ Advance art of theater with that inspirespecial individuals createour community dialogue; thatthe inspire individuals andproductions create community needsand through Access Services that ✯ Provide a richer theater experience by hosting Rep-in-Depth, TalkBacks, PlayGuides to better dialogue. include Americanand Signcreating Language interpreted productions, captioned theater, infrared inform our audiences about our productions; listening systemsarea andwith scriptRep synopses to ensure ✯ Educate over a21,000 at 150+ schools in the greater Milwaukee Immersion Day Provide richer students theater experience by hosting that theater at Milwaukee Rep is accessible to all. experiences, studentTalkBacks matinees, workshops, tours and by making connections with their school curriculum Rep-in-Depth, and creating PlayGuides through classroom programs such as Reading to better inform our audiences about our Residencies; productions. Educate the next generation of theater ✯ Maintain our commitment to audiences with special needs through our Access Services that include professionals our EPR Program whichand script American Sign Language interpreted productions, captioned theater,with infrared listening systems gives newly degreed artists a chance to hone synopses to ensure that theater at The Rep is accessible to all; Educate over 20,000 students at 200+ schools in their skills at Milwaukee Rep as they begin to ✯ Educate nextMilwaukee generationarea of theater professionals our EPR Program which gives newly degreed thethe greater with Rep Immersion with pursue their theatrical careers. We value our artistsDay a chance to hone their skills at The Rep as they begin to pursue their theatrical careers. experiences, student matinees, workshops, supporters and partnerships and hope that you and by making connections with their that you We valuetours our supporters and partnerships and hope help to expand ways Milwaukee willwill help us us to expand thethe ways Milwaukee RepRep school curriculum through programs community. has a positive impact on theater andclassroom on our Milwaukee has a positive impact on theater and on our such as Reading Residencies.
Milwaukee community.
Donations can be made on our website at Donations can be made on ourat website at www.MilwaukeeRep.com or by phone 414-290-5376. www.MilwaukeeRep.com or by phone at 414-290-5376 THE REP RECEIVES SUPPORT FROM: MILWAUKEE REP RECEIVES SUPPORT FROM:
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation The Richard & Ethel Herzfeld Foundation The Richard & Ethel Herzfeld Foundation The Shubert Foundation
