Pitch‘s Ginny Baker “is Hillary Clinton with sex appeal. She is a Kardashian with a skill set. She’s the most important woman on the planet right now,” according to her agent, Amelia Slater (Ali Larter). Saying she’s the “most important woman on the planet” is a big burden to place on anyone, especially someone who hasn’t really been on the national, or even the global, stage before.
But baseball player Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury) seems up to the task, saying early on in the pilot, “I’ve been ready my whole life.”
Pitch Premiere Photos: Ginny Baker Makes History in Major League Baseball >>>
Pitch is one of the most anticipated shows of the fall TV season because the premise sees Ginny becoming the first female athlete to play in Major League Baseball. She’s breaking glass ceilings and making history.
Like with anyone who’s trying to make history, it’s not going to be smooth sailing. She may be signing autographs for little girls in the crowd who want to grow up to be just like her, but for Ginny, there are definitely obstacles to overcome — starting with the fact that some of her teammates (who are obviously all men) don’t want her on the team because she’s a woman. They make fun of her behind her back and glare at her when she’s in the room. Some of them think she’ll only be on the team for a couple games to get attendance up and then she’ll be gone.
Ginny is tougher than that, and she won’t be pushed around, no matter how hard it will be. She even tells another player to not slap her butt like the guys usually do with each other; that’s not her style.
When game day arrives, Ginny makes her MLB debut as the pitcher. But just like the road to get here, there are even more hurdles. As the whole world is watching, Ginny’s pitching skills are put to the test. Some of the balls go high, some land in the dirt. It’s not going the way anyone thought it would, let alone Ginny herself.
See, Ginny has been playing baseball ever since she was a kid. Flashbacks show her father teaching her and pushing her hard to excel. She has been ready for this her whole life. Does she overcome the stress and pressure of this whole situation to win the game for her team? You’ll have to watch to find out, but you can be sure that even when it seems like giving up is the easy way out, she knows she has to push through it and do everything she can to right the ship when it’s going down.
Meet the Cast of Pitch >>>
Ginny is someone who’s easy to root for; you want to see her succeed. And the actress who’s playing her, Kylie Bunbury, does a fantastic job showcasing Ginny’s strengths and vulnerabilities.
As far as the rest of the cast goes, there’s a lot of familiar faces in the mix, including Mark-Paul Gosselaar as team captain Mike Lawson, Ali Larter as Ginny’s agent Amelia Slater, Mark Consuelos as general manager Oscar Arguella, Dan Lauria as team manager Al Luongo, and Mo McRae as Ginny’s friend and fellow Padres player Blip Sanders.
It really is a great cast that the producers have brought on board for this show. They all mesh together really well. It will take more than one episode, of course, to get to know a lot of these supporting characters’ personalities, but just from the pilot, we’re already seeing that Mike Lawson, for example, might be a bridge between Ginny and the rest of their teammates. He’s going to be a big presence on the show.
Pitch isn’t just any ordinary sports story. There’s an authenticity to it because the show has partnered with the real-life Major League Baseball, which means that logos, stadiums, teams, etc. are featured on the show. In fact, the team Ginny plays for is an actual MLB team, the San Diego Padres, and the show films inside their stadium, Petco Park. Of course, the characters and storylines should always be at the forefront, but this partnership does bring Pitch up to a whole different level; it’s as if we’re there witnessing it all in person or watching the game on a sports network.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of baseball or not; Pitch is a must-see show about overcoming obstacles and making history. If you love baseball, you’ll love Pitch. And even if you’re not a sports fan, I have no doubt you’ll still love it anyway because you’ll be hooked in by the story.
Check out a preview of Pitch below:
Are you excited to watch Pitch? Are you hoping it lives up to the hype?
Pitch season 1 premieres Thursday, September 22 at 9/8c on FOX. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image and video courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
