Just let me be the 1st to say the Dodgers suck ;)

"The only comparable woman is the Yankees’ Suzyn Waldman, who unfortunately is best known for crying on camera."

I'll disagree twice.

1) I'm pretty sure you are referring to the Yankees losing the ALDS in 2007 and Suzyn crying on air, but not on camera. She is the color commentator for the Yankees' radio broadcast, and youtube and google searches only yield the audio. I could be wrong...

2) As I write this two miles north of Yankee Stadium as the Yankees beat up on the Rangers, Suzyn Waldman is best known (at least in these parts) as being a mildly-to-majorly annoying radio personality who is a bit excitable.

Personally, I don't mind her or her cohort John Sterling all that much, but they are not well loved by the masses. And I'll admit that when the best question they can get off when talking to an astronaut is "What does Earth look like from up there?", I turn on MLB radio and listen to the voice of my youth, Bob Uecker.

PS - We miss you King! (Not knock on Caitlin...it is just rough to read anything sports on Salon and not have it come from King.)

Forget the announcers, the day I see women on the field is the day I'll start paying attention (and cash) to professional baseball.

Gag all you want, it's pointless. Women have been targeted for advertising since the dawn of mass media. Who do you think those diaper and fabric softener ads are aimed at, anyway? Twenty-six-year-old bachelors?

You are also missing something rather glaring, which, truth be told, you probably would have picked up if you actually DID know something about professional baseball: LA is one of the worst cities in America to own a baseball team from the front office's POV. During most games the stands are relatively empty, certainly compared to crowds at Fenway, Wrigley, Camden Yards, Arlington or (old) Yankees Stadium. If you watch a Red Sox game when they play in Anaheim or in interleague play at Dodgers, you can hear Red Sox, not local, cheering. That's because there is a full(er) stadium when the Sox, or the Yankees, or Mets are in town, because that draws out the transplants from the East. Quite simply, southern CA is more apathetic to baseball than probably any other market.

So the owners need to fill seats, and the Mannyville strategy's busted. Why not create a LASTING fan base, one around the team instead of a disgraced player, using the town's greatest asset--celebrities? Hey, that's what the Lakers did 25 years ago, making the Lakers game the Place To Be Seen for half of Hollywood. That, and trying to create a female fan base in a town that has little fan base, might help McCourt and Friends.

So, vent if you will, but remember, if it helps fill the stadium, it's a smart play.

if the NBA/WNBA is any guide, it will be a looong time before we see women in AA ball, let alone the major leagues.

The Jays have had a Ladies Night section for Thursday home games for a few years now. You get a free hat and an invite to a post game Q&A with a couple of players.

As a female fan of baseball, the pink hats, Touch clothing line and female centered pandering are annoying. It lends to the false belief that women don't know sports and only care about the shiny things.

Forget the announcers, the day I see women on the field is the day I'll start paying attention (and cash) to professional baseball.

No you won't. If you're not paying attention now, you don't really like the game. Because the game won't be as good, so sorry. You won't see 96 mph pitching, because no woman, even champion college softball pitchers at the peak of their abilities, can throw that level of controlled heat; you also won't see home runs over the Green Monster because no woman can build the muscle mass required to hit that ball that far without HGH (and apparently not many men can either).

If you want a preview of what the game would look like, just look at the WNBA and the quality of play. How's that working out?

That’s funny; I’ve got at least one Y chromosome - maybe two – and I’ve participated in many manly sports, including rock climbing, hang gliding, judo (state champion twice) and I lost an eye boxing. But I wouldn’t mind having the infield fly rule explained to me again. I grew up in a rural area with exactly one other boy to play with within a mile, which made for cumbersome baseball games. Which meant I was too unfamiliar with the game to humiliate myself in school by playing it. Now that I’ve developed an appreciation for it I’d very much like to have some of the fine points explained. If I have to wear pink to learn more about the game, so be it. If I wear pink it becomes a man’s color.

According to ESPN statistics, the Dodgers were third in overall and average attendance in 2008. So far this year, they are second. They are far from the bottom.

I applaud the notion of getting more women interested in sports. But I'd rather see the outreach go towards girls than women-- after all girls who participate in sports develop healthier lifestyles. And I don't know that meeting a soap star is going to lead to a new Dodgers fan for life. I would also be content if I never, ever saw another pink jersey. Fans should wear team colors. I am grateful, however, that sports teams now make sports gear that fits a woman. No more overly baggy mens' jerseys for me. Now, that is good marketing.

Finally, I agree that lots of women on the MLB field is unlikely. But your reasoning is flawed. MLB players don't all hit homeruns and throw fastballs. There are plenty of (male) utility players out there who don't. It is completely possible in today's world that some girl is going to grow up playing baseball instead of softball, and she just might be good enough to break into the game. Will there be a lot of women? Probably not. Why hasn't there been one so far? Girls haven't been playing hardball much until recent years. Now that more girls are learning hardball, maybe we'll see some entering the higher levels of play. Time will tell.