Playing hardball

Sporting News, The, May 30, 1994 by Susan Fornoff

Most of the Silver Bullets attended college on softball scholarships. Even McAnney -- whose father, Jim, played for the White Sox, brother, Jim, was drafted by the Angels, and cousin, Tim Layana, played for the Reds and Giants -- abandoned baseball.

"The boys kept getting bigger and I stayed the same size," she says. "And it was clear there really wasn't going to be a future for this. I knew. They knew."

Julie Croteau is the only member of the Bullets who refused to play with the girls. She has been a baseball player since she was 6, playing for a semipro team when she lost her suit to play for her high school team. In 1989, she became the first woman to play NCAA baseball, starting at first base at St. Mary's College in Maryland. Another first: Croteau, 23, was assistant baseball coach at Western New England College when the Silver Bullets called.

"I've been through things people shoudn't have to go through to play a game," Croteau says. "This is the prize, I guess, for not letting them get to me. There have been some great people along the way. But I've also had people spit on me, people call me names, call me in the middle of the night.

"I've never played with girls or women, ever, so this has been an adjustment. But I'm real impressed. This is the most mentally tough team I've played with. Everyone here is fighting for something special."

The women are a joy to work with. They apologize to Niekro for their mistakes. They pick up after themselves in the clubhouse. They thank their general manager for every perk provided them and complain about no quirk in their grueling travel schedule.

They know they are lucky. Satriano was ready to pay $2,000 to go to Fantasy Camp. This summer's reality camp is putting $20,000 in her pocket. Rachelle McCann wrote in her high school "I Have a Dream" paper, "My dream is to play professional baseball." And she's living the dream.

But regret tempers the joy. "Why now? Why am I so lucky?" wonders McAnaney, who is 30. "And why not 10 years ago, 20 years ago?"

And what about five years from now? The three-to-five-year plan includes international tours and the establishment of a farm system. Next year, the team hopes to find the best talent in the country -- those who missed the tryout process or waited for these 24 to blaze the trail. It may establish a home base and play in a league, if a suitable level emerges.

The Silver Bullets probably will not participate in an all-women's league, however, until the public is ready to play to watch women play against women. This team wants to make sure there are plenty of young girls in the stands, getting the point.

"My brother's a high school baseball coach who went out and recruited a woman playing softaball," Satriano says. "He said, 'Have you ever thought about playing baseball?' She told him, 'I didn't think I could.'"

Now she can.