A deaf ear to skeptics. An air of defiance. But Richardson didn't quit, she just played elsewhere. The pitcher who closed out the victory was Lisa Fernandez, who was told by her youth coach that her arms were too short to allow her to be a championship pitcher past age 16. Women and girl athletes today have a thrilling precociousness about them.
Equality remains elusive on many fronts, especially where money is concerned.
There is substantial disparity between the men's and women's first-place winner's checks in three of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments. But there's an avalanche of good news, too. A thousand more women competed at the '96 Atlanta Olympics than at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Today, female basketballers can dunk. Through sports, women are redefining and broadening what femininity means across society.