“This was my first time seeing when girls play with other girls and it’s so much more magical,” Fruth said. “Any time I am shooting a team with a girl on it, everyone’s like ‘oh, there’s a girl on the team’ ‘oh, there’s a girl pitching’ and you see her sitting at the end of […]
“This was my first time seeing when girls play with other girls and it’s so much more magical,” Fruth said. “Any time I am shooting a team with a girl on it, everyone’s like ‘oh, there’s a girl on the team’ ‘oh, there’s a girl pitching’ and you see her sitting at the end of the bench, staring at the boys like they are Martians. It’s hard for them to connect sometimes. Sometimes it’s great, but playing with other girls is just a whole other game. Now they are just athletes. They aren’t just girls.”
Getting the chance to speak with Fruth about the film in November, I was inspired by her journey to baseball and the persistence she demonstrates as a woman in a profession dominated by men covering a game that often pushes women to the side.
USA Baseball Women’s Team two-way star Kelsie Whitmore broke more glass ceilings as the first woman to play in and then start a Pioneer League game as a member of the Oakland Ballers. After helping the U.S. win silver in the 2024 Women’s Baseball World Cup (WBWC), she was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Sports Class of 2025 as a barrier-breaking athlete.
Former Rockies announcer Jenny Cavnar became the first led play-by-play voice when she called games for the A’s in their final season in Oakland. Her credential, headset and talk box from her first broadcast on Opening Day are now in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Long-time MLB and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum photographer Jean Fruth made her directorial debut with the breathtaking film, “See Her Be Her,” which debuted on MLB Network in October. Chronicling the 2024 Women’s Baseball World Cup, Fruth masterfully weaves together stories of women across the globe playing the game they love. The film shows the growth of baseball from girls Little League teams to professional squads from Puerto Rico to South Korea to Venezuela and beyond. More than a highlight of the year, this film is one of the best things to happen to baseball.
As annual best-of and worst-of articles flood our feeds, I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to highlight in reflecting back on 2024 for the Colorado Rockies. Best homers? Best defensive plays? Best moments?
Fruth’s path to making the film started when she began coaching her son’s Little League team after being recruited by the organization in an effort to get more women in the game. At the time, she was also a photographer who slowly progressed from portraits to youth and high school sports photography to shooting the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants before becoming the traveling photographer for the Baseball Hall of Fame, where she learned how to tell stories connecting the past to the present in a way that only baseball can.
At the end of “Route 66,” Fruth realized that women and girls were still missing. She got in touch with Baseball for All, a nonprofit that builds gender equity by creating opportunities for girls to play, coach, and lead in the sport started by Justine Siegal, and found an all-girls baseball game in Santa Monica with 13- and 14-year-old players.
The road to ‘See Her Be Her’
Breaking down Hall candidates by their peak years | MLB.com
That’s where she met Jeff Idelson, the former president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and producer of “See Her Be Her.” Together, they started a non-profit, Grassroots Baseball, which promotes and celebrates amateur baseball worldwide. They published two books with Fruth’s photography, “Grassroots Baseball: Where Legends Begin” (2019), showcasing the regions and origin stories of Hall of Famers, and “Grassroots Baseball: Route 66” (2022), which illustrates America’s pastime along its most famous road. The projects also allowed Fruth and Idelson’s non-profit to get gloves and balls for kids along the way. in addition to hosting clinics and having them meet Hall of Famers.
But none of it seemed right. While there are some players and moments to be excited about, back-to-back 100-loss seasons for a franchise with nine winning seasons and five playoff berths in 32 years dampens any end-of-the-season reflection.
After seeing the girls baseball game in Santa Barbara, Fruth and Idelson decided to zoom out and tell a global story of women’s baseball. After debuting 20 years earlier, the Women’s Baseball World Cup was hosting its ninth tournament in 2024. Women’s baseball was exploding and the sport needed someone to tell the story. Fruth stepped up to do it and turned out to be the perfect person for the job.
In their continuous effort to add more depth, the Rockies signed 30-year-old RHP Diego Castillo on Thursday. Even though he’s mostly been in Triple-A the past two seasons, the 30-year-old pitched in 265 games over seven seasons and has a 3.20 ERA. Castillo also got an invite to Spring Training where he’ll have a chance to make the roster.
Road blocks
I played baseball growing up and it’s a big reason why I love the game so much. My T-ball team was co-ed and a few girls played on my Little League team. But as I got older, I was the only girl left. I wasn’t the best player. My defense was good, but I couldn’t hit very well. If I would have been better, maybe I could have put up a fight. Instead, I made the switch to softball. After one year on a winless season on my JV high school team, I hung up my glove. It’s no shade to softball, but it’s just a different game, and it wasn’t for me.
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Thankfully, a new reality is coming into focus.
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In order to deliver the best story, Fruth decided to do all of the interviews in “See Her Be Her” herself. She also wanted the players to tell their own stories. So, while she asked all the questions and captured all the answers, Fruth never appears in the film.
A new path to a new future
Regardless, baseball still has the ability to deliver magic on any given day. Troy Tulowitzki can turn an unassisted triple play. Nolan Arenado can hit a walk-off cycle on Father’s Day. Matt Holliday can touch the plate.
Ayami Sato, quite possibly the best female pitcher in the world with a near-80-mph fastball, first led Japan to its seventh WBWC title in 2024 and then signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Club, becoming the first woman to play on a professional baseball team in Canada.
The players in Santa Monica were all about to go to high school. When Fruth asked about their futures, they explained how they were being forced to convert to softball or fight to play baseball in a field that has long rejected them.
“See Her Be Her” showcases a bright future for women’s baseball that’s already taking shape. In early November, news hit that the Women’s Pro Baseball League will be playing its inaugural season on the East Coast in 2026. Fruth is working on a streaming deal for “See Her Be Her” and hopefully it will be available to watch in 2025. In 2024, I am grateful that it helped me remember why I love baseball so much. As we wait for baseball to start back in 2025, a recent Instagram post by Fruth offers a thoughtful reflection:
“It has to be a woman in baseball interviewing women in baseball. You want to talk to another woman. You aren’t going to talk to a man,” Fruth said of making the film. “In my early days in photography, there weren’t a whole lot of women in sports photography. I get some of the adversity they go through. The things we went through in our early days were life lessons. You gotta want it bad enough to let it fuel you and let it keep you going. The relatability to them was good.”
“It has to be a woman in baseball interviewing women in baseball. You want to talk to another woman. You aren’t going to talk to a man,” Fruth said of making the film. “In my early days in photography, there weren’t a whole lot of women in sports photography. I get some of the adversity they go through. The things we went through in our early days were life lessons. You gotta want it bad enough to let it fuel you and let it keep you going. The relatability to them was good.”
One of my other favorite things about baseball is that the game has also been a stage for remarkable stories and inspiring trailblazers. So instead of top Colorado Rockies moments of 2024, I want to shine a light on a few women who made an impact on the game of baseball in 2024. As women’s sports are breaking viewership and attendance records, women’s baseball is also having a moment and that is what’s made me the most excited about baseball this year.
