Well, thanks Tim. We are pinch hitting for Rick Monday today because we are joined right now by Acclaim Sports photographer Gene Fruth, who has done a remarkable job of really bringing to light how women should be more part of baseball. And there is a great documentary that is going to debut on MLB Network between Games two and three of the World Series. It's titled Women's Baseball Around the World, See Her Be Her, And Gene is here
at Dodgers Stadium. Thank you so much for the time and great to see you and Jeff Idelsent back at Dodger Stadium.
Oh, it's so fun to be back here and especially talking about See Her be Her. You know, it's come We work three years on this project and to be here and now having it seen on the MLB Network during the World Series. The only thing that could be better is if we have the Dodgers playing in Games one and two.
That would be beautiful. Gene, But I'm just curious what inspired this because it is so global, this documentary. It's not just a little mid West town. This is global, from the United States to Canada to Uganda.
When I'm finishing up my second project, Grass Food's baseball Route sixty six. I got a chance to shoot an all girls baseball game. Never shot at all girls baseball game and not softball baseball, and it was such an experience. I've always shot one girl on a little league team with all boys and people say, oh, there's the girl. Look, you know there's a girl pitching tonight. Do you see that girl in the right field this They were all
just athletes. It wasn't the girl. And the more girls are growing in the sport, that just the more exciting that this sport is becoming and why not? Why not girls? And we're seeing all around the world, not just in the United States, the sport girl for girls and women, and girls are staying in the game longer, and they're playing in high school and they're playing in college. So just like all the other sports, women's sports are growing
and getting more popularity. Look at basketball, look at hockey, yeah, and soccer. So here's girls baseball and women's face.
I know you set out with a vision on this documentary see her be her, But is there anything that surprised you as far as putting this project together and what you experience and what we may experience.
The big surprise to me was how big women's baseball was in some of the other countries that we spent time in. Japan has such a big presence in girls and women's baseball, and they have professional baseball where women getting paid to play baseball. South Korea, though they're not getting paid, there are fifty over fifty teams now of all women's baseball teams, and even countries like Uganda now have eight excuse me, regions where women and girls are
playing baseball. So the sport is growing and that is surprising and also really encouraging. So we're just really excited to be able to just give these women visibility with the hopes to provide more opportunities for them.
Gene Fruth is our guest. The documentary is titled See Her Be Her. It's on women's baseball around the world, and I just shared with you I am a proud girl dad my daughter Adriana would love to play baseball. Do you feel like this may inspire the next generation of women and little girls?
It really I have a lot of women who will come over to me and say, hey, you know, my daughter wants to play baseball. What do you think are their opportunities and I say, please, please encourage her and help her get those opportunities, because that's how the sport is going to grow. Help her with her dream, allow her to dream. And I really hope with this film little girls will see it and they'll know that they also can be it.
Gene Fruth is our guest and also part of this documentary has a very special executive producer, and that's Dodger co owner and one of the greatest tennis players we've ever seen, Billy Jean King. How did she get involved and what is her level of involvement.
Yeah, arguably, Billy Jean King is certainly probably the best tennis player of all time, but I would say even beyond that, more than being the best women tennis player of all time, she is a crusader and she is an advocate for women's sports and women's equality. And when we said would you like to be involved in this, would you help us read the word, it took her all of two seconds to say yes. She's so behind it and she just wants to see women's baseball grower around the world.
So special in standing next to us is the former president of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Jeff idelsin. You guys have collaborated for a couple of books, and the third book, Grassroots Baseball Series, is on the horizon. Tell us about that exciting project.
Yes see Her be here also as a companion book that goes with the film. And Billy g and King wrote a wonderful essay in our book. Also cal Ripken junior Claire Smith, longtime journalist. I'm sure yeah you know her. And then also all of our shiros we call our hero shiros. So we have a woman from Japan who is the best woman baseball player in the world, a Yami Sato, women in Cuba, in Canada, the United States, South Korea. So you'll see the book hat shows women's
baseball and girls baseball all around the world. And there's also a thousand Girls under an Umbrella Baseball for all where girls are playing on her old girls teams. And so Justin Siegel, the founder of that program, also does a wonderful essay about women's baseball that's so awesome.
Man standing behind us is one of those sheiros, the great Jessica Mendoza.
Jessica Mendoza has been a supporter of See Her Beer from the very beginning. We're so excited to have her support. She also wrote for the book, and she's been a very big supporter. And I mean it's just the point of someone like Jessica. She is a trailblazer, and that's what these women are. They are the first, right, She's a first and the idea is not to have a lass. So when your daughter turns on the TV and sees Jessica, she says, Dad, I want to do that. Look, a
woman's doing that. That means I can do it too.
So inspirational and being a girl, Dad, Now I feel like I understand it even better. Thanks a lot for the time, and thank you for putting together such a great project, The Grassroots Series Part three that's accompanying See Her be Her the documentary on women's Baseball, which we'll debut between Games two and three of the World Series on MLB Network. Gene Fruth, great to have you at Dodgers Stadium, and also great to have Jeff Idelson here.
Oh it's such a pleasure. Go Dodgers. Have a great game.
Tonight, Dodgers. We'll see the Dodgers in the World Series with Gene Fruth and see Her be here