Content Warning: This section of the Guide discusses themes surrounding racism and sexism in sports, including intimidation.

Though baseball has changed in the years between JonJon’s and Shenice’s times, Stone challenges how much the games of baseball and softball have changed by examining how racism and sexism influence players today. She uses two scenes to highlight the challenges Black and women players experience today. The first scene occurs in Chapter 11, where two boys believe they can play better than the girls because of their race and sex; the second happens in Chapter 12, when Shenice loses her focus, questioning whether an opposing player shares her experiences.

After the Firebirds win against a team whose fans display the Confederate flag, two boys mock the girls’ softball team, saying, “half of you can’t even swing. Maybe you’d be decent with a basketball, but don’t let the Hank Aaron guy fool you: this sport isn’t for your people” (98). The boy refers to Black people in his reference to “your people,” suggesting that talented Black players like Aaron are anomalous exceptions. In addition to expressing a racist sentiment, he also expresses the sexist sentiment that women don’t belong in sports like baseball. That Shenice plays fastpitch softball—rather than baseball—highlights a prevailing social attitude that suggests that baseball is a men’s sport, and softball is for women.