July 31, 1935 – Kitty Burke bats during a night game between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds oversold the game, and the overflow crowd was seated all over the field. Ms. Burke, a nightclub entertainer seated near home plate, was heckling Cardinal outfielder Joe Medwick and pitcher Paul Dean mercilessly when Medwick shouted, “You couldn’t hit if you were swinging an elephant!” Fuming, Burke grabbed a bat from on deck hitter Babe Herman and strode to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Momentarily stunned, Dean decided to lob a ball to her underhand, after Ms. Burke yelled, “Hey you hick, throw me a pitch!” She swung and grounded it back to the pitcher and he retired her 1-3. Since Burke wasn’t on the Reds roster, the at bat was unofficial and didn’t count, even though Cardinal manager Frankie Frisch protested that the Reds should be charged with an out. Reds general manager Larry McPhail presented Burke with a Reds uniform that she went on to wear on stage during her act. Babe Herman summed it up: “It’s the first time a woman ever pinch hit for me.”
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