PORTLAND, Maine — For years, female athletes have had to break down barriers just to enter the world of sports, once dominated by men. On Thursday, the Portland Sea Dogs celebrated them with their "Women in Sports" night.
The Portland Sea Dogs is only the second team in all of professional baseball to have a broadcasting team made up entirely of women. Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay sit in the WPEI booth to commentate the games. Representatives for the team said this day in particular is a great opportunity to showcase this job is not just for men, and women can do it just as well, or even better, in some cases.
Emma Tiedemann said it's been a journey for her to get here, starting with the challenge of breaking into baseball as a woman in 2018, when she began broadcasting for the Lexington Legends. In 2020, she was hired by the Sea Dogs.
Tiedemann said she hopes the trend doesn't stop at just her and Rylee. "I think having Rylee and I talk about being in these roles has made it more accessible, hopefully, for young girls to take their dreams into the broadcast booth. I hope one day this is no longer a news story and we're just a bunch of broadcasters calling games together."
The game wasn't just about celebrating women in baseball, but women in all sports, including basketball icon, Mackenzie Holmes.
Holmes threw out the first pitch at the game, and the first 1,000 fans to show up were given bobbleheads modeled after her. She had a record-breaking basketball career at Indiana University and was even drafted by the WNBA. Some loyal fans who have been coming to this themed game for years were happy to see Holmes and other female legends honored, saying they appreciate the tone it sets for female athletes.
"This messaging is inspiring for girls and women of all ages when they see that you can help open doors for others. You can follow a passion from childhood through college and then make a career out of sports," Sheila Brennan Nee, a Sea Dogs fan at the game, said
The inspiration is also going further than Hadlock Field. Sports commentators Emma and Rylee made such an impression on even the Major League Baseball market that the Red Sox invited them to commentate a game on Monday, Aug. 26, for National Women's Equality Day.