SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – MARCH 21: Billie Jean King announces “It’s time for Dodgers Baseball” prior to the 2024 Seoul Series game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome on Thursday, March 21, 2024 in Seoul, California.
The sky is the limit for Billie Jean King.
The tennis legend — dubbed “Equality Champion” — is setting her sights on a new mission: to create the first-ever women’s baseball league.
"Baseball was my first true love,” King said. “But I never got the chance to play because I was a girl.”
King, a minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers who helped kickstart the Professional Women’s Hockey League, is continuing her widespread efforts by joining Grassroots Baseball. She will be an executive producer for the documentary “See Her Be Her,” which covers women’s baseball around the world.
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"It is my hope that 'See Her Be Her' will encourage girls and women to pursue their dreams no matter what others say is possible, and that one day soon women once again have a league of their own,” King said.
Baseball holds a cherished spot in King’s heart, stemming from her childhood days spent playing the sport with her father and her brother, former MLB player Randy Moffitt.
The allure of the sport quickly waned when she realized “all the players down on the field were men,” King said in a foreword to the "See Her Be Her” book. “It crushed me," she wrote.
The film is scheduled to premiere on the MLB Network during the World Series with an accompanying book set released a few weeks earlier. The mission is to inspire women and girls who love baseball to pursue their dreams. It will highlight the backgrounds of women including Ugandan catcher and shortstop Lillian Nayiga and world-renowned Japanese pitcher Ayami Sato.
“Any time you can be 'the first' is a major accomplishment, you just never want to be the last," King told USA TODAY Sports. "If we can create a role for one woman, we can create a place for more women. It’s so important we provide an opportunity and a pathway for every young girl to have the dream they can be a professional baseball player, or have a professional career in Major League Baseball."
