You can see Kelsie Whitmore’s memorabilia in this little town in central New York, Cooperstown, where two of Whitmore’s batting helmets, a bat and some batting gloves keep company at the Baseball Hall of Fame with memorabilia once used by guys named Ruth, Cobb, Williams, Mantle, Ryan, Seaver — and Robinson.
“I’ve always been a fan of Jackie Robinson and knowing my stuff is in the same building as Jackie’s gives me chills to this day,” Whitmore said.
You can read about Kelsie Whitmore in such publications as the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Athletic, ABC News and even England’s Guardian — all of which made the requisite pilgrimages to Staten Island, N.Y. over the previous two seasons to chronicle Whitmore’s history-making summers playing for the Staten Island FerryHawks.
Whitmore spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons playing for the FerryHawks, a team in the independent Atlantic League, where she was the first woman to play professional baseball that high up the baseball pyramid in more than 70 years. The Atlantic League is akin to Class AAA, one level below the major leagues, which explains why Whitmore’s teammates included former major leaguers such as Julio Teheran, Rusney Castillo, Justin Williams and David Martinez.
It also explained why she’s a novelty to the naked eye on so many levels.
“I didn’t expect that kind of impact or interest. I was not expecting that at all,” a still-bewildered Whitmore said about the media attention. “I’m not playing baseball to try to get that kind of attention. It just happened. And that’s the best part, when things happen organically and naturally.”
By the numbers, Whitmore batted .026 (1-for-39) in 2022 and was 0-for-13 in 2023. On the mound, she had a 12.19 ERA in 2022, lowering that to 9.49 last season throwing a pitch called “The Thing” — basically an offshoot of the knuckleball Whitmore discovered while “messing around with some other pitches.”
Nelson Figueroa,…
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