My jaw dropped as I stood in the cafeteria of my elementary school in St. Charles, Mo. 

A few seconds prior, one of my third grade classmates had just yelled across the lunch line in my direction telling me how much the Los Angeles Dodgers sucked. 

He insulted my favorite team. A team I had just traveled 800 miles to watch play two games against the Astros in the World Series at Minute Maid Park. A team I cried over the year before as I watched the Cubs eliminate them in the  2016 NLCS. A team that had power over 8-year-old me from March to October.

After I attempted to defend my favorite team to him, he started acting like I – a girl – would never and could never understand baseball like he does. 

It didn’t matter that the first song sung to me after I was born was “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” It didn’t matter I attended the 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, meeting Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell and more. It didn’t matter I went to the Astros’ Spring Training in 2014, or that I was always watching and keeping my own scorebook of all the baseball games on television I could.

I tried to change his mind on the Dodgers, but I realized it wasn’t worth my time to try to fix a stubborn 8-year-old. 

Little has changed over the years. I am constantly underestimated on my ability to understand and enjoy Major League Baseball as a girl. 

Over the summer, I was telling a friend how much I loved following baseball. His first instinct was to quiz me. He asked me if I knew what a balk was or if I could name every player in the Dodgers’ starting lineup? Answer after answer wasn’t good enough for him. 

I’ve been called “delusional” for my takes, solely because I am passionate and confident in my opinions and knowledge of baseball, especially when it comes to the Dodgers.

It seems like no matter the research I’ve done or the amount of games I have attended or even watched on television it’s hard for people to comprehend that a girl  is able to have an educated conversation about that specific team or league.

They clearly haven’t heard of Alyssa Nakken, who became the first full-time female coach in MLB history with the San Francisco Giants in 2020. They obviously don’t know Kim Ng, who spent four years as the general manager for the Marlins from 2020-24 – the first woman GM for a men’s team in North America. And they have never listened to Jenny Cavnar call an A’s game after she became the first woman to serve as a team’s lead play-by-play announcer in 2024. 

As I’ve gotten older I’ve become more interested in different sports leagues that are dominated by male faces such as the NBA and NFL. And I still get the same weird faces and quizzes, so they can “verify” I am allowed to have an opinion. 

I also follow the WNBA and NWSL, but I’ve never been challenged on my knowledge of those leagues. I’ve never had to prove myself to be a fan of a “league for women.”

Why I am constantly told I can only be educated on sports leagues my gender plays in will never make sense to me. Sports are universal and no matter who you are or where you are from, you can follow along with a game you love. That is what is so special about sports. They unite more than just the people you see in your local communities. 

I love sharing my love for sports with all my friends who will listen. I don’t mansplain or shame them for not understanding. I make connections to things that will help them find an interest. And when I find the rare friends who love talking sports with me without diminishing me, it’s the best conversations ever.