History Series / Pitch2016

''Pitch'' is a 2016 UsefulNotes/{{baseball}} drama that aired on Creator/{{FOX}}. Creator/KylieBunbury stars as Ginny Baker, an upstart pitcher who rises to national prominence when she's recruited to the San Diego Padres -- becoming the first ''ever'' woman to play on an UsefulNotes/{{MLB|Teams}} team. Unfortunately the series was reported cancelled on May 1, 2017.

** Regarding her mother, it's played with. As a consequence of Ginny's father's constant push for Ginny to play baseball, her mother felt increasingly left out of Ginny's life despite all her attempts to be a part of it. Sadly, her mom's reaction to this only worsened the problem as Ginny discovering her mom with another man resulted in Ginny distancing herself even more from her mom and throw herself more fully into baseball.

''Pitch'' is a 2016 UsefulNotes/{{baseball}} drama that aired on Creator/{{FOX}}. Creator/KylieBunbury stars as Ginny Baker, an upstart pitcher who rises to national prominence when she's recruited to the San Diego Padres -- becoming the first ''ever'' woman to play on an UsefulNotes/{{MLB|Teams}} team. Unfortunately the series was reported cancelled on May 1 2017.

The MLB itself is involved in production of this series, lending the actual likenesses of its various teams for usage.

* BadassBeard: Mike's got an impressive one.

** Ginny's [[spoiler:died in a car accident, while she was there with him.]]

* AbusiveParents: Ginny's dad wanted one of his children to become a baseball player, no matter anyone thought about it. When Ginny complained she was tired after practicing and wanted to stop, her dad slapped her brother, afterward implying he'd keep doing it until the started again. It's indicated to not be the only instance too.

** REgarding her mother, it's played with. As a consequence of Ginny's father's constant push for Ginny to play baseball, her mother felt increasingly left out of Ginny's life despite all her attempts to be a part of it. Sadly, her reaction to this only worsened the problem as Ginny discovering her mom with another man resulted in Ginny distancing herself even more from her mom and throw herself more fully into baseball.

* ShownTheirWork: Ginny's 'secret weapon' is a screwball. That's a real pitch which ''looks'' like a curveball or a slider, but—because it is thrown in a weird way—breaks in the 'wrong' direction. When thrown properly it can really mess up a hitter's timing. Nobody currently pitching in the major leagues throws it because it's very easy for the pitcher to seriously hurt their arm with the weird arm rotation the pitch requires.[[note]]Yu Darvish is the only active pitcher noted to have regularly thrown a screwball. He stopped after 2006 for just this reason.[[/note]] [[spoiler: Guess what happens in Don't Say It when Ross determines that she's close to her limit for the season.]]

* YouKnowTheOne: PlayedForLaughs when Oscar needs to go to the dentist, but he doesn't have the time to put work on hold because the trade deadline is rapidly approaching. He tells his assistant to have "Ross" come with him so they can work in the car, and when she asks him ''which'' Ross (They have two) he says that she knows the one he likes. Unfortunately, his assistant apparently switches them up, and instead of getting the experienced MIT-graduate, he gets the community college schmo who got his job because he is related to somebody else and who asks "too many stupid questions". However, there are subtle hints that his assistant did this deliberately, as this Ross manages to give surprisingly sound advice and at the end of the episode, the manager tells his assistant that this is the Ross he likes (The other Ross is shown hanging his head).

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Padre's minority owner, Frank Reid. He's very supportive of Ginny and his team. But that won't stop him from laying down the law if someone steps out of line...even if that someone is long time coach, Al. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, he didn't take into account how much of a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Al is.]]

* CastFromHitPoints: Ginny's best pitch, the one that got her to the majors, is stated to be a screwball, which no current MLB pitcher throws. The ''reason'' nobody throws it is that it's almost impossible to throw the pitch without putting gradually increasing levels of strain on the pitcher's arm. If the strain gets too high, it results in an injury. The technique to throw it that Ginny learned is probably used as a HandWave to get around this. This finally catches up to her in the season finale when the team's analyst notes that the strain she's put on her arm is far out of proportion to the point in the season and urges her to be benched for the remaining games. She doesn't listen, and pays the price.

--> Al: People who underestimate tend to be surprised.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Mike suggests that a lot of ball players get into the game because of this. He is no exception. [[spoiler: For instance, his mother used him as a kid to scam money out of people. Including his own biological father.]]
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Ginny's father]]

* FatherToHisMen: Al. At the end of the day, they're his kids, whether he chose them or not. His acts of concern and kindness are too numerous to even begin to start here.

* LovingAShadow: When one of the Padres confesses to Lawson and Blip that he missed seeing a call because he was staring at Ginny, and he is developing feelings for her, Lawson and Blip immediately drag him into a separate room and explain that he knows nothing about her and cannot be in love with her because he never speaks to her[[note]]In a layer of metahumor, the character is a LivingProp who literally has never spoken with Ginny before[[/note]]. In an ironic twist, Mike's comparison with how much ''he'' knows about her and all they time they spend together [[LoveEpiphany makes all three of them realize that he might have an attraction to Ginny himself]].

* MissingMom: Played with Ginny. As a consequence of Ginny's father's constant push for Ginny to play baseball, her mother felt increasingly left out of Ginny's life despite all her attempts to be a part of it. Sadly, her reaction to this only worsened the problem as Ginny discovering her mom with another man resulted in Ginny distancing herself even more from her mom and throw herself more fully into baseball.

** When Ginny was 12, Ginny's mom pulled her aside and told her that if she wanted to quit baseball, she would be there. Ginny subsequently decided that she wanted to be a normal 12-year-old girl...only to catch her mother cheating on her dad which caused Ginny to reverse her decision.
** Ginny trying to push [[spoiler:for Blip not to be traded,]] when that option wasn't even seriously being considered by Oscar, accidentally gives Oscar ideas which ends up getting [[spoiler:her fellow pitcher, Tommy, traded away.]]

* PlotArmor: Literally with Mike. He actually has a no trade clause in his contract meaning unless Ginny goes to a different team or he retires for one reason or another, he's going to be in the dugout. In regards to the Padres, Ginny too as being the first and currently only female player means that trading or any sort of action that might be perceived as negative towards her is PR the Padres don't want.

* ShownTheirWork: Ginny's 'secret weapon' is a screwball. That's a real pitch which ''looks'' like a curveball or a slider, but—because it is thrown in a weird way—breaks in the 'wrong' direction. When thrown properly it can really mess up a hitter's timing. Nobody currently pitching in the major leagues throws it because it's very easy for the pitcher to seriously hurt their arm with the weird arm rotation the pitch requires[[note]]Yu Darvish is the only active pitcher noted to have regularly thrown a screwball. He stopped after 2006 for just this reason[[/note]]. [[spoiler: Guess what happens in Don't Say It when Ross determines that she's close to her limit for the season.]]

** Played with Ginny. Ginny's a standout pitcher in high school but only a good if not great pitcher once she gets into the majors, and she struggles with the duality of being an icon. Heck, in the Padres, she's their 5th string starting pitcher and much to the surprise of Al and Mike, has never pitched relief before.

''Pitch'' is a 2016 UsefulNotes/{{baseball}} drama that aired on Creator/{{FOX}}. Kylie Bunbury stars as Ginny Baker, an upstart pitcher who rises to national prominence when she's recruited to the San Diego Padres -- becoming the first ''ever'' woman to play on an UsefulNotes/{{MLB|Teams}} team. Unfortunately the series was reported cancelled on May 1 2017.

''Pitch'' is a 2016 UsefulNotes/{{baseball}} drama airing on Creator/{{FOX}}. Kylie Bunbury stars as Ginny Baker, an upstart pitcher who rises to national prominence when she's recruited to the San Diego Padres -- becoming the first ''ever'' woman to play on an UsefulNotes/{{MLB|Teams}} team. Unfortunately the series was reported cancelled on May 1 2017.

* MissingMom: Played with Ginny. As a consequence of Ginny's father's constant push for Ginny to play baseball, her mother felt increasingly left out of Ginny's life despite all her attempts to be a part of it. Sadly, her reaction to this (See YourCheatingHeart) only worsened the problem as Ginny discovering her mom with another man resulted in Ginny distancing herself even more from her mom and throw herself more fully into baseball.

* YourCheatingHeart: Ginny's mother, though the circumstances are complicated since she felt excluded from Ginny's life and saw increasing distance from her husband.

* GenreSavvy: Al, knowing he's getting fired, doesn't try to convince Frank. Instead, he turns to Padres' board member, Max (and Frank's wife), and suggests that firing him would be a bad move because it'd look like Ginny was weak/spoiled and the team was patronizing Ginny to the media, the players, and the fans.

Creator/MarkPaulGosselaar co-stars as Mike, Ginny's veteran teammate, while Creator/AliLarter plays her tenacious publicist Amelia.

''Pitch'' is a 2016 {{baseball}} drama airing on Creator/{{FOX}}. Kylie Bunbury stars as Ginny Baker, an upstart pitcher who rises to national prominence when she's recruited to the San Diego Padres -- becoming the first ''ever'' woman to play on an UsefulNotes/{{MLB|Teams}} team. Unfortunately the series was reported cancelled on May 1 2017.

* PassionateSportsGirl: Subverted -- Ginny mainly got into baseball because of her father, and while she's a dedicated athlete, she doesn't quite seem to be ''totally'' passionate about it. To be fair, one flashback shows her father slapping her brother across the face when she complains that she's exhausted and he implies he'll keep slapping her brother until she succeeds at what he wants. Bare in mind both of them are pre-teens at the time. And from the way that she reacts to him after her terrible first game, it doesn't sound like that was an isolated incident.

* ShownTheirWork: Ginny's 'secret weapon' is a screwball. That's a real pitch which ''looks'' like a curveball or a slider, but—because it is thrown in a weird way—breaks in the 'wrong' direction. When thrown properly it can really mess up a hitter's timing. Nobody currently pitching in the major leagues throws it because it's very easy for the pitcher to seriously hurt their arm with the weird arm rotation the pitch requires[[note]]Yu Darvish is the only active pitcher noted to have regularly thrown a screwball. He stopped after 2006 for just this reason[[/note]]. [[spoiler: Guess what happens in Don't Say It when Ross determines that she's close to her limit for the season.]]
** There are women playing professional baseball on teams with men, they're just not on any team affiliated with MLB. They are vanishingly few in number and are all pitchers. Unlike Ginny, they tend to rely, not on a screwball, but a knuckleball, the [[LethalJokeWeapon lethal joke pitch]] of baseball.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. It's the first person her team leadership calls when they discover signs of trouble. Moreover, it's implied that (mandatory) therapy is something she'll be attending for quite some time to help her where everyone else in her life can not.