Melissa Mayeux is a baseball shortstop in France. By all accounts and the little video available she can hit. She is just 16, but already seems destined for big things in a game associated with men. A recent MLB.com story about her describes her smashing a line drive single off a pitcher throwing 91mph. And in a matter of weeks she could sign a contract with a Major League baseball team.
The chances of her getting such a contract are not great. But the fact Major League Baseball placed her name on an international registration list this weekend is a step the sport has never taken. No female has ever been raised to the status of prospect who can be signed. Not by baseball officials. And it means plenty of people inside and outside the game will be watching her these next several months as she plays for France’s U-18 team in international competitions.
Mayeux’s addition to the list was first reported by MLB.com, who announced the move in a column on Sunday. In the article, baseball’s director of international game development, Mike McClellan was quoted saying: “She’s a legitimate shortstop who makes all the plays and is very smooth and fluid in the field.
“She swings the bat well and is fearless,” he added.
Mayeux, who also plays for France’s national softball team, will be participating in a European elite skills camp in August. She is one of only four French players invited to the camp that will be run by Major League Baseball.
“I would like very much to continue playing baseball in France until I’m 18 years old, and then pass the BAC in France and then have the opportunity to leave for university or another opportunity abroad and stay in baseball as long as possible,” Mayeux said in a video produced by MLB.com.
While she is eligible to be signed on 2 July, a greater possibility is that she will continue to go through baseball’s development system and play for the French national team, then possibly play college baseball if her skills improve.
Regardless, the fact her name even appeared on baseball’s signing list is a huge step for baseball and for women who play the game worldwide. While women have been given opportunities to play professional basketball and soccer with men, baseball has been less-welcoming. Over the last 100 years women have played on oldtime barnstorming teams and even had their own league during the second world war, which was celebrated in the movie A League of Their Own. But in those cases women were treated as box-office attractions, rather than prospects.
Attitudes have changed in the last year, however, as Mo’Ne Davis led her team to the Little League World Series and became an international sensation, even becoming the first Little League player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Davis is 14, now, and still playing baseball. Suddenly the thought of a woman in pro ball isn’t so foreign. In fact it might be closer than anyone ever imagined.
