Another League Of Their Own
Persistence, dedication and an email can go a long way in launching women's baseball.

 

Christina Burrill could not stand it.

She could not just sit there watched her league, the New England Women's Baseball League slowly wither away like a flower in autumn.

In a final effort to save her sport and past time, she sent an email to Nick Lopardo of the North Shore Spirit of the Northeast Independent League.

Her plea: to have a meeting to discuss the possibility of the Spirit sponsoring a women's team this year.

Within 48 hours, she received a call from Al Melanson, part owner of the spirit. A meeting time and place was set.

Three women, Burrill, Megan Zuckerman and Emily Christy went in with three proposals.

"One that was a fantasy (their own league), one that would make us happy (a traveling team) and one we would settle for (use of Fraser Field once)," Christy said. "We pretty much walked out of there with the ultimate."

Lopardo blew them away when he said he would sponsor a league with four teams playing 12 games each.

It is a full-blown league, including playoffs, with an All-Star team - the Lady Spirit - that will be selected to play in several tournaments throughout the U.S. and Canada.

For the ladies involved, the fruits of the past years' struggles have finally been reaped.

The women, who basically just want a place to play the national pastime, feel this is Heaven on Earth.

"It still makes me giddy thinking about it," said Robin Wallace, an Alabama native who is in law school at the University of Alabama.

She and many of the other players are working for the Spirit at Fraser Field.

"It will be very pleasing to me to see kids at the railing getting autographs from young women," Melanson, the Spirit owner said. "There's no reason why we should have a men's professional team and not women's baseball. This is good for the Spirit, good for the city and good for the North Shore. A lot of it had to do with the women I met with. They are very serious about baseball and they want to make this something special."

Lopardo is doing something few have done, and he will be appreciated for years to come.

The players in the league represent 11 states and Canada. They also come from all walks of life, including: lawyer, EMT, policewomen, ESPN staffer, computer engineers, graphic designers, teachers and coaches.

After paying their own way the last two years and wondering if they would even have a league to play in this year, the NEWBL players are on top of the world.