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Locker Room Talk: A Woman’s Struggle to Get Inside
While sportswriters rushed into Major League Baseball locker rooms to talk with players, MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn barred the lone woman from entering along with them. That reporter, 26-year-old Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke, charged Kuhn with gender discrimination, and after the lawyers argued Ludtke v. Kuhn in federal court, she won. Her 1978 groundbreaking case affirmed her equal rights, and the judge’s order opened the doors for several generations of women to be hired in sports media.
Locker Room Talk is Ludtke’s gripping account of being at the core of this globally covered case that churned up ugly prejudices about the place of women in sports. Kuhn claimed that allowing women into locker rooms would violate his players’ “sexual privacy.” Late-night television comedy sketches mocked her as newspaper cartoonists portrayed her as a sexy, buxom looker who wanted to ogle the naked athletes’ bodies. She weaves these public perspectives throughout her vivid depiction of the court drama overseen by Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to serve on the federal bench. She recounts how her lawyer, F.A.O. “Fritz” Schwarz employed an ingenious legal strategy that persuaded Judge Motley to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause in giving Ludtke access identical to her male counterparts. Locker Room Talk is both an inspiring story of one woman’s determination to do a job dominated by men and an illuminating portrait of a defining moment for women’s rights.
Locker Room Talk is Ludtke’s gripping account of being at the core of this globally covered case that churned up ugly prejudices about the place of women in sports. Kuhn claimed that allowing women into locker rooms would violate his players’ “sexual privacy.” Late-night television comedy sketches mocked her as newspaper cartoonists portrayed her as a sexy, buxom looker who wanted to ogle the naked athletes’ bodies. She weaves these public perspectives throughout her vivid depiction of the court drama overseen by Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to serve on the federal bench. She recounts how her lawyer, F.A.O. “Fritz” Schwarz employed an ingenious legal strategy that persuaded Judge Motley to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause in giving Ludtke access identical to her male counterparts. Locker Room Talk is both an inspiring story of one woman’s determination to do a job dominated by men and an illuminating portrait of a defining moment for women’s rights.
374 pages, Hardcover
Published August 16, 2024
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327 people want to read
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March 11, 2025
Women’s history month rolls on. When most people think of an image of women in sports, the majority of us first think of athletes. In team sports, women athletes used Title IX as a spring board to earn scholarships or simply to be allowed the same rights as boys to play sports at their local park district. I day dreamed about playing baseball as a girl but I have also had fantasies about being a manager, broadcaster, and writer. My mom asks me what my dream job would be if no barriers, networking, or prerequisites existed, and I always answer with a spot in the Cubs front office. Between immersing myself in a baseball cocoon each season and knowing the Spanish to converse with Latino players, I would be an ideal candidate, at least in my dreams. Today, there are women in all aspects of sports, individual and team, men and women. Fifty years ago this was not always the case. A female reporter angling to get player interviews in order to file the story that sports fans would read in the paper the following morning was not always allowed in locker rooms of major team sports. The dream job I sometimes still fantasize about working for the Cubs almost would not be possible. Melissa Ludtke grew up loving sports and parlayed this love into a job with Sports Illustrated during its heyday. This is her story at the height of the women’s rights movement.
Growing up in Amherst, Massachusetts, Melissa Ludtke was a die hard Red Sox fan. She learned to love baseball from her mother, who took her to Fenway Park for the first time at age seven. In the 1950s it was rare for mothers and daughters to share a love of baseball, but, as one of my friends notes, you get your religion from your mother. After graduating with a liberal arts degree from Wellesley College, Ludtke found herself in the same boat as many college graduates: how to transform this degree into a job. After a chance meeting with Frank Gifford at her family’s summer home, Ludtke landed a job with Sports Illustrated. Today one sees female journalists reporting about sports as commonplace. Not so the 1970s where sports was considered the last bastion of the old boys network and flaunting one’s manhood. In most publications, men advanced in their careers to become reporters, and women remained as fact checkers. A magazine might employ more women on their staff than men; however, the women were stuck in low level jobs without a means of advancing their careers. I associate the 1970s with the push for equal rights, but marginal gains did not happen overnight. Older generations of men controlled management jobs across the employment spectrum and gave most promotions to men, even if women were better qualified and merited the same raises and promotions. In a magazine geared toward men- at least in the 1970s- even sports loving women could not expect to advance out of their entry level job of fact checker. Melissa Ludtke would chance the narrative after working at Sports Illustrated for five years and expecting to advance her career.
October 5, 1977 is the night that Reggie Jackson became Mr October. It is also the night that Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned Ludtke from entering the Yankees and Dodgers locker rooms even though she had a press badge and both teams voted and allowed her in their locker rooms. Both the NBA and NHL had allowed women reporters in their locker rooms for two years, and the NFL would shortly follow suit. Baseball was at the time America’s pastime, and to Kuhn, the idea of allowing a woman to see a man in various stages of undress was strictly taboo. Ruling with an iron fist, he banned her from the locker room. Ludtke hadn’t been in a locker room all season but earned her pass from the Yankees for the World Series. She conducted interviews in the dugout, manager’s office, and even drove with Reggie Jackson to the ballpark as a means of acquiring copy to file her stories. Most male reporters viewed her a a woman’s libber and thought that Ludtke only wanted access to the locker room as a means of sexual advacement, which couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Older reports such as Roger Kahn and Roger Angell vouched for her, but their support was few and far between. The few female colleagues Ludtke could depend on for moral support covered other sports. In baseball she was on her own, but, without access to the locker room, Ludtke or any female reporter, could not gain key sound bites to file their stories in time for a deadline. In the spring of 1978, Time, Inc, the parent of Sports Illustrated, filed a discrimination suit against Major League Baseball.
Ludtke’s narrative goes tediously slow, repeating information about her court case over and over. The judge assigned Constance Baker Motley began her career as a lawyer for the NAACP under Thurgood Marshall. She traveled to the south as white supremacists looked to maintain Jim Crow laws on the dawn of the civil rights movement. On many occasions, Motley feared for her life, but as counsel on Brown v Board and Burton v Wilmington Parking Authority, she was uniquely positioned in the circuit court to hear a gender discrimination case. Ludtke’s counsel was Fritz Schwarz, Jr (from FAO Schwarz family) and Major League Baseball employed Stuart Climenko, a friend of Kuhn’s who attended law school with Schwarz’ father. Climenko had zero creativity for the case, only that players would feel uncomfortable undressing with women in the locker room. He might have researched but his view was that of the commissioner, a member of the old boys network who thought of the locker room as the last bastion of manhood and felt threatened by a woman’s presence there. His affidavits repeated the commissioner’s words verbatim. Schwarz did research for the case, citing precedents in both first and fourteenth amendment cases, including one where Motley as a pioneer, had been counsel. Motley did not like baseball. It drove her crazy when her husband listened to Yankees games on the radio and lived for the off-season. Schwarz framed his case as gender discrimination under state ownership in the fourteenth amendment. This, Motley could relate to even though she believed that Schwarz and the uncooperative Climenko should have come to an agreement outside of court. This civil rights pioneer saw equality from a racial more so than from a gendered lens even though the two often intersect. She did not want a case involving baseball, nudity, and locker rooms in her court room, and, yet, in the end Ludtke’s story moved her.
Time, Inc won its case against Major League Baseball much to the chagrin of commissioner Kuhn. The players themselves didn’t really care. The women’s rights amendment did not pass, but women seeking careers in sports increased with each passing year. Ludtke experienced discrimination even after her court case and eventually moved to Los Angeles to cover the 1984 Olympics for Time and then moved to focus on women and children. Her court case gained international exposure and literally opened doors for women as sports reports; the psychological toll it took told Ludtke that sports reporting just wasn’t for her, although she has remained a Red Sox fan for life. She maintains relationships with the sisterhood of female reporters and will never turn down an opportunity to speak about her case, especially to enlighten younger women who have grown up seeing women in all types of jobs around baseball, including coaches and broadcasters. Today it is commonplace to see women as sideline reporters, journalists, and broadcasters for both men’s and women’s sports. Two years ago, the Cubs used an all women’s broadcast crew for one of their games. They were not the voices I am generally used to, but all three women are highly qualified and the broadcast was a success. A broadcast as such in 2923 would not have been possible without Melissa Ludtke taking issue at major league baseball’s policy against women in 1977. Although I may be past the age to acquire that dream job of mine, now younger women can. That is what playing it forward the theme of women’s history month 2025 is about. It might have been tedious and difficult at times to read Melissa Ludtke’s story, but her perserverance made jobs for women in baseball possible. On the brink of another season in the sun, women have her to thank for their professions that can truly be called America’s game.
3.75 stars
Growing up in Amherst, Massachusetts, Melissa Ludtke was a die hard Red Sox fan. She learned to love baseball from her mother, who took her to Fenway Park for the first time at age seven. In the 1950s it was rare for mothers and daughters to share a love of baseball, but, as one of my friends notes, you get your religion from your mother. After graduating with a liberal arts degree from Wellesley College, Ludtke found herself in the same boat as many college graduates: how to transform this degree into a job. After a chance meeting with Frank Gifford at her family’s summer home, Ludtke landed a job with Sports Illustrated. Today one sees female journalists reporting about sports as commonplace. Not so the 1970s where sports was considered the last bastion of the old boys network and flaunting one’s manhood. In most publications, men advanced in their careers to become reporters, and women remained as fact checkers. A magazine might employ more women on their staff than men; however, the women were stuck in low level jobs without a means of advancing their careers. I associate the 1970s with the push for equal rights, but marginal gains did not happen overnight. Older generations of men controlled management jobs across the employment spectrum and gave most promotions to men, even if women were better qualified and merited the same raises and promotions. In a magazine geared toward men- at least in the 1970s- even sports loving women could not expect to advance out of their entry level job of fact checker. Melissa Ludtke would chance the narrative after working at Sports Illustrated for five years and expecting to advance her career.
October 5, 1977 is the night that Reggie Jackson became Mr October. It is also the night that Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned Ludtke from entering the Yankees and Dodgers locker rooms even though she had a press badge and both teams voted and allowed her in their locker rooms. Both the NBA and NHL had allowed women reporters in their locker rooms for two years, and the NFL would shortly follow suit. Baseball was at the time America’s pastime, and to Kuhn, the idea of allowing a woman to see a man in various stages of undress was strictly taboo. Ruling with an iron fist, he banned her from the locker room. Ludtke hadn’t been in a locker room all season but earned her pass from the Yankees for the World Series. She conducted interviews in the dugout, manager’s office, and even drove with Reggie Jackson to the ballpark as a means of acquiring copy to file her stories. Most male reporters viewed her a a woman’s libber and thought that Ludtke only wanted access to the locker room as a means of sexual advacement, which couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Older reports such as Roger Kahn and Roger Angell vouched for her, but their support was few and far between. The few female colleagues Ludtke could depend on for moral support covered other sports. In baseball she was on her own, but, without access to the locker room, Ludtke or any female reporter, could not gain key sound bites to file their stories in time for a deadline. In the spring of 1978, Time, Inc, the parent of Sports Illustrated, filed a discrimination suit against Major League Baseball.
Ludtke’s narrative goes tediously slow, repeating information about her court case over and over. The judge assigned Constance Baker Motley began her career as a lawyer for the NAACP under Thurgood Marshall. She traveled to the south as white supremacists looked to maintain Jim Crow laws on the dawn of the civil rights movement. On many occasions, Motley feared for her life, but as counsel on Brown v Board and Burton v Wilmington Parking Authority, she was uniquely positioned in the circuit court to hear a gender discrimination case. Ludtke’s counsel was Fritz Schwarz, Jr (from FAO Schwarz family) and Major League Baseball employed Stuart Climenko, a friend of Kuhn’s who attended law school with Schwarz’ father. Climenko had zero creativity for the case, only that players would feel uncomfortable undressing with women in the locker room. He might have researched but his view was that of the commissioner, a member of the old boys network who thought of the locker room as the last bastion of manhood and felt threatened by a woman’s presence there. His affidavits repeated the commissioner’s words verbatim. Schwarz did research for the case, citing precedents in both first and fourteenth amendment cases, including one where Motley as a pioneer, had been counsel. Motley did not like baseball. It drove her crazy when her husband listened to Yankees games on the radio and lived for the off-season. Schwarz framed his case as gender discrimination under state ownership in the fourteenth amendment. This, Motley could relate to even though she believed that Schwarz and the uncooperative Climenko should have come to an agreement outside of court. This civil rights pioneer saw equality from a racial more so than from a gendered lens even though the two often intersect. She did not want a case involving baseball, nudity, and locker rooms in her court room, and, yet, in the end Ludtke’s story moved her.
Time, Inc won its case against Major League Baseball much to the chagrin of commissioner Kuhn. The players themselves didn’t really care. The women’s rights amendment did not pass, but women seeking careers in sports increased with each passing year. Ludtke experienced discrimination even after her court case and eventually moved to Los Angeles to cover the 1984 Olympics for Time and then moved to focus on women and children. Her court case gained international exposure and literally opened doors for women as sports reports; the psychological toll it took told Ludtke that sports reporting just wasn’t for her, although she has remained a Red Sox fan for life. She maintains relationships with the sisterhood of female reporters and will never turn down an opportunity to speak about her case, especially to enlighten younger women who have grown up seeing women in all types of jobs around baseball, including coaches and broadcasters. Today it is commonplace to see women as sideline reporters, journalists, and broadcasters for both men’s and women’s sports. Two years ago, the Cubs used an all women’s broadcast crew for one of their games. They were not the voices I am generally used to, but all three women are highly qualified and the broadcast was a success. A broadcast as such in 2923 would not have been possible without Melissa Ludtke taking issue at major league baseball’s policy against women in 1977. Although I may be past the age to acquire that dream job of mine, now younger women can. That is what playing it forward the theme of women’s history month 2025 is about. It might have been tedious and difficult at times to read Melissa Ludtke’s story, but her perserverance made jobs for women in baseball possible. On the brink of another season in the sun, women have her to thank for their professions that can truly be called America’s game.
3.75 stars
August 15, 2024
It’s because of Melissa and women of her mettle who preceded me that I am in my current position. Full review coming in the Globe next week!
February 19, 2025
It is because of Melissa Ludtke, and the women of her generation, that I was able to have a career as a sports reporter.
What I love about this book is how Melissa weaves the story -- her personal stories about being an SI reporter at the time covering baseball along with the legal arguments that her lawyer made in court. At times, I have to admit, the legal arguments were getting long. But that is the point -- the coverage of this case didn't talk about the legal arguments, the equal access in order to do your job and the ways in which denying that equal access denied opportunities for career advancement solely because of gender. Instead, it focused on women in a locker room with naked men.
I could talk for hours on this topic, but I won't.
This book is a great tale -- both personal and political -- and something that really buoys me in this current cultural climate.
What I love about this book is how Melissa weaves the story -- her personal stories about being an SI reporter at the time covering baseball along with the legal arguments that her lawyer made in court. At times, I have to admit, the legal arguments were getting long. But that is the point -- the coverage of this case didn't talk about the legal arguments, the equal access in order to do your job and the ways in which denying that equal access denied opportunities for career advancement solely because of gender. Instead, it focused on women in a locker room with naked men.
I could talk for hours on this topic, but I won't.
This book is a great tale -- both personal and political -- and something that really buoys me in this current cultural climate.
April 9, 2025
Beth's book group read.
September 28, 2024
Melissa Ludke is a well-known name to those who follow or study women’s rights. After being denied access the the locker room of the New York Yankees following their win in game 6 of the 1977 World Series, she and Time Inc. (the owner of the magazine Ludke wrote for, Sports Illustrated [SI]) sued Major League Baseball on the grounds of sex discrimination. Ludke’ a recall of the judicial hearing and her personal life at the time are the subject of this book she authored.
Ludke shares the story of how she became interested in sports journalism, the blatant sexism she faced and her happiness after obtaining that vaunted press credential when she started covering the Yankees for SI. During that time, she did have access to the Yankees locker room for interviews so it was quite a shock to her when she was denied access after the World Series by commissioner Bowie Kuhn. The story Ludke shares about the many obstacles and denials she faced that night will sadden and anger a reader today who may not be aware of how much discrimination female sports journalists faced at that time.
Stories about Luke’s personal life, most notably her rushed decision to marry a man she barely knew, don’t seem to have anything to do with her legal case, but by the end of the book it seems to make sense. This is especially the case when she shares the story of her decision to obtain an abortion not long after Roe v. Wade. Since the story is about women’s rights, it certainly does tie in with the main subject.
The testimony given before the hearing and that actual case make up the bulk of the book and while on the whole it is very fascinating, there is so much repetition of statements and opinions by Ludke that much like the judge during the hearing, the reader may ask when this part will ever end. The additional stories about female sportswriters who had access to NBA and NHL locker rooms at the time make Luke’s case even stronger.
There is text on MLB’s argument that it wanted to ban female reporters to protect the players’ privacy but both Ludke and the judge end up ridiculing that argument and the hearing ends up in favor of Ludke. However, that doesn’t mean a happy ending for her as she still has struggles with her professional life but will eventually come to a good place and seems to now be doing well. Well enough to write a book about a very important case in the struggle by women for equal rights.
I wish to thank Rutgers University Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Ludke shares the story of how she became interested in sports journalism, the blatant sexism she faced and her happiness after obtaining that vaunted press credential when she started covering the Yankees for SI. During that time, she did have access to the Yankees locker room for interviews so it was quite a shock to her when she was denied access after the World Series by commissioner Bowie Kuhn. The story Ludke shares about the many obstacles and denials she faced that night will sadden and anger a reader today who may not be aware of how much discrimination female sports journalists faced at that time.
Stories about Luke’s personal life, most notably her rushed decision to marry a man she barely knew, don’t seem to have anything to do with her legal case, but by the end of the book it seems to make sense. This is especially the case when she shares the story of her decision to obtain an abortion not long after Roe v. Wade. Since the story is about women’s rights, it certainly does tie in with the main subject.
The testimony given before the hearing and that actual case make up the bulk of the book and while on the whole it is very fascinating, there is so much repetition of statements and opinions by Ludke that much like the judge during the hearing, the reader may ask when this part will ever end. The additional stories about female sportswriters who had access to NBA and NHL locker rooms at the time make Luke’s case even stronger.
There is text on MLB’s argument that it wanted to ban female reporters to protect the players’ privacy but both Ludke and the judge end up ridiculing that argument and the hearing ends up in favor of Ludke. However, that doesn’t mean a happy ending for her as she still has struggles with her professional life but will eventually come to a good place and seems to now be doing well. Well enough to write a book about a very important case in the struggle by women for equal rights.
I wish to thank Rutgers University Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
April 16, 2024
Melissa Ludtke was a journalist for Sports Illustrated in the seventies, she was covering baseball. Because it was the seventies, she had to fight for her position because sports was still very much a man’s world (like many other places), and that included the right to enter the locker rooms after the games to interview the players and write her stories, just like her male colleagues could. Bowie Kuhn who was the baseball commissioner (please do not ask me what that is exactly) wouldn’t allow it, so she sued and her case was the Ludtke vs Kuhn of 1978.
Locker room talk is mostly about that case but the author uses the case to paint a broader picture of what being a woman in the seventies looked like. If you think our society is sexist (it is) boy let me tell you about back then ! The comments around her case, including from some very serious press, were absolutely horrendous. People didn’t see her as someone fighting for equal rights, they saw her as a loose woman trying to see men naked. The public was all of a sudden very concerned about those baseball players sexual privacy, never mind that nobody was naked during that time with the press, and that the players weren’t against her presence at all. Most comments showed how female emancipation was seen, women who wanted a seat at the table were ruining it for everyone else and it was fair game to insult them and accuse them of having loose morals. I’m not American so I’m not very familiar with baseball (it doesn’t stop you from enjoying the book if you’re worried about that), so I like that Melissa talks about how it was such a traditional sport back then, really much a boys club. It’s not just that they didn’t want women journalists in the locker room, they didn’t want women in the sport at all. If women had a place in baseball, what would be left for the boys? In the US and in many other parts of the world, the seventies were a time when women gained many rights and started more and more to emancipate from a very patriarchal society. That kind of change doesn’t come without some backlash, and that was obviously one of them.
Melissa also talks about her private life around that time. How she became a journalist, that guy she met and married way too quickly and who wasn’t a fan of having a wife who traveled so much. Her first abortion in the decade when Roe vs Wade was voted (was it voted? Again not American here, not that familiar with the legal system).
A part I really liked is that she talks about feminists today, and not in the condescending way some people do it sometimes when they’re from an older generation, but with admiration. Women her generation were pioneers and to gain more rights they had to be smart and discreet, often that meant acting like the men and not being too loud. Women today do not ask kindly for their rights, the demand them loudly. But she also talks about the sadness of seeing some rights she gained during her twenties, being erased during her daughter’s twenties. A painful reminder that when you get rights, the fight is not over.
Thanks to the author, Rutgers university press and Netgalley for a copy of this book that will be out August 16
Locker room talk is mostly about that case but the author uses the case to paint a broader picture of what being a woman in the seventies looked like. If you think our society is sexist (it is) boy let me tell you about back then ! The comments around her case, including from some very serious press, were absolutely horrendous. People didn’t see her as someone fighting for equal rights, they saw her as a loose woman trying to see men naked. The public was all of a sudden very concerned about those baseball players sexual privacy, never mind that nobody was naked during that time with the press, and that the players weren’t against her presence at all. Most comments showed how female emancipation was seen, women who wanted a seat at the table were ruining it for everyone else and it was fair game to insult them and accuse them of having loose morals. I’m not American so I’m not very familiar with baseball (it doesn’t stop you from enjoying the book if you’re worried about that), so I like that Melissa talks about how it was such a traditional sport back then, really much a boys club. It’s not just that they didn’t want women journalists in the locker room, they didn’t want women in the sport at all. If women had a place in baseball, what would be left for the boys? In the US and in many other parts of the world, the seventies were a time when women gained many rights and started more and more to emancipate from a very patriarchal society. That kind of change doesn’t come without some backlash, and that was obviously one of them.
Melissa also talks about her private life around that time. How she became a journalist, that guy she met and married way too quickly and who wasn’t a fan of having a wife who traveled so much. Her first abortion in the decade when Roe vs Wade was voted (was it voted? Again not American here, not that familiar with the legal system).
A part I really liked is that she talks about feminists today, and not in the condescending way some people do it sometimes when they’re from an older generation, but with admiration. Women her generation were pioneers and to gain more rights they had to be smart and discreet, often that meant acting like the men and not being too loud. Women today do not ask kindly for their rights, the demand them loudly. But she also talks about the sadness of seeing some rights she gained during her twenties, being erased during her daughter’s twenties. A painful reminder that when you get rights, the fight is not over.
Thanks to the author, Rutgers university press and Netgalley for a copy of this book that will be out August 16
November 11, 2024
Super repetitive, boring account of her court hearing. I thought this would be a broader examination of her role in advancing women’s equality.
August 22, 2024
In 1977, Time, Inc. sued Major League Baseball on behalf of Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke. A year later, Justice Constance Baker Motley ruled that Ludtke and all women reporters must be given the same access to the New York Yankees clubhouse as male reporters were. This ruling was a tipping point for women sportswriters. Attitudes, as Ludtke points out, didn't change overnight, but with their foot in the door, women began being hired in greater numbers and entrusted with major sports beats.
I interviewed Ludtke in 2019 for my own book about women sportswriters, called Who Let Them In? Pathbreaking Women in Sports Journalism. It is a testament to how much I enjoyed this book that, even though I knew how it ended, I was swept along by the details of Melissa Ludtke's court case. Ludtke provides historical context that brings to life the 1970s and what was going on in society at that time. She also explains well, in laymen's terms, the court cases upon which Judge Motley based her decision.
More importantly though, she makes flesh and blood characters out of the players in this drama. (I never would have guessed that Judge Motley hated baseball). She is excruciatingly honest in the retelling of how the events of that time affected her personally, including her short-lived marriage and the mysterious illness that undoubtedly was brought on by the stress she was under.
She takes to task the relentless media that took MLB's side and portrayed Ludtke as a harlot who only wanted to look at naked men. One surprising detail was how unkind Jane Pauley was to Ludtke during her Today Show interview. I might never be able to watch Pauley on CBS Sunday Morning again!
This book really is nonfiction at its best. It is exhaustively researched and eminently readable! Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a pre-publication copy.
I interviewed Ludtke in 2019 for my own book about women sportswriters, called Who Let Them In? Pathbreaking Women in Sports Journalism. It is a testament to how much I enjoyed this book that, even though I knew how it ended, I was swept along by the details of Melissa Ludtke's court case. Ludtke provides historical context that brings to life the 1970s and what was going on in society at that time. She also explains well, in laymen's terms, the court cases upon which Judge Motley based her decision.
More importantly though, she makes flesh and blood characters out of the players in this drama. (I never would have guessed that Judge Motley hated baseball). She is excruciatingly honest in the retelling of how the events of that time affected her personally, including her short-lived marriage and the mysterious illness that undoubtedly was brought on by the stress she was under.
She takes to task the relentless media that took MLB's side and portrayed Ludtke as a harlot who only wanted to look at naked men. One surprising detail was how unkind Jane Pauley was to Ludtke during her Today Show interview. I might never be able to watch Pauley on CBS Sunday Morning again!
This book really is nonfiction at its best. It is exhaustively researched and eminently readable! Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a pre-publication copy.
August 26, 2024
This is a story that demands to be told, not only for its impact back then, but for the way its issues resonate today, a time when the idea of women covering sports still causes some men to have the vapors. I will say that the actual narrative is more interesting than the accounts of the court case that caused all the controversy in the 1970s. The case coverage relies too much on statements and testimony that gets repetitive after a while. Ludtke's account of her life during this tumultuous time can stand on its own without it.
September 19, 2024
I have long been impressed by Melissa Ludtke’s story even though I’m not a big sports fan. Now that I know more of the details behind Ludtke v Kuhn, I am even more impressed. Progress does not happen by accident. Real, flesh-and-blood people work to make it happen, over and over and over again. Melissa shares her story, warts and all. I was struck by her courage and perseverance. So glad that she braved the loneliness of being a pioneer in the 1970s.
October 20, 2024
Melissa Ludtke provides a vivid account of her fight to win equal access as a journalist to major league baseball locker rooms -- a timely reminder about barriers and the need to overcome them.
June 6, 2024
**3.5 Stars**
I have some mixed feelings about this one, it was quite the slog however I did ultimately find it a really interesting read so I am glad I picked it up despite knowing nothing about baseball.
As someone with a newly discovered interest in women's sports, this book piqued my interest as it focused on women working within sports as an entertainment industry rather than as athletes. It was interesting (and super fucking depressing) to see how women have come up against the exact same issues whenever they enter the sporting world in any capacity.
I particularly found it interesting how Ludtke didn't appear to ever really see herself as an activist, and at the time she stayed pretty detached from being associated with the women's liberation movement despite actively fighting for women's equality. However given how she was treated, I can understand why she tried to keep this distance. But books like this really do make you appreciate how many women came before us and whose resilience and pain won us so many of the rights we enjoy now. While also highlighting the importance of continuing that legacy so that we can improve things for the next generation of women.
I think my main gripe with this book (and the reason I found it a bit of a slog) was just the structure, it bounced back and forth a lot in the timeline and made it a little confusing. The chapters about the court case were sprinkled through (probably in an attempt to keep the book feeling dry to some readers) but it just jumbled things up for me. Personally, the court case chapters were easily the most interesting parts of the book to me as they gave a real insight into how this case was presented, and how it was won. I also really enjoyed how she wrapped up her story in the end by speaking on the current state of women's involvement in sports (mostly as writers and pundits but also as athletes).
All in all, I think this was a worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in baseball but also more broadly women in sport and women's equality in general.
Thankyou to Netgally and Rutgers University Press for an advanced copy in exchange for this honest review.
I have some mixed feelings about this one, it was quite the slog however I did ultimately find it a really interesting read so I am glad I picked it up despite knowing nothing about baseball.
As someone with a newly discovered interest in women's sports, this book piqued my interest as it focused on women working within sports as an entertainment industry rather than as athletes. It was interesting (and super fucking depressing) to see how women have come up against the exact same issues whenever they enter the sporting world in any capacity.
I particularly found it interesting how Ludtke didn't appear to ever really see herself as an activist, and at the time she stayed pretty detached from being associated with the women's liberation movement despite actively fighting for women's equality. However given how she was treated, I can understand why she tried to keep this distance. But books like this really do make you appreciate how many women came before us and whose resilience and pain won us so many of the rights we enjoy now. While also highlighting the importance of continuing that legacy so that we can improve things for the next generation of women.
I think my main gripe with this book (and the reason I found it a bit of a slog) was just the structure, it bounced back and forth a lot in the timeline and made it a little confusing. The chapters about the court case were sprinkled through (probably in an attempt to keep the book feeling dry to some readers) but it just jumbled things up for me. Personally, the court case chapters were easily the most interesting parts of the book to me as they gave a real insight into how this case was presented, and how it was won. I also really enjoyed how she wrapped up her story in the end by speaking on the current state of women's involvement in sports (mostly as writers and pundits but also as athletes).
All in all, I think this was a worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in baseball but also more broadly women in sport and women's equality in general.
Thankyou to Netgally and Rutgers University Press for an advanced copy in exchange for this honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2024
I got this book from Netgalley so I can read and review it before it’s published.
In 1977 at the World Series, Melissa Ludtke, a writer for Sports Illustrated was denied access to the locker rooms by the Commissioner of Baseball, Bowie Kuhn. You mustn’t go in as there may be naked players, but you can stay outside the door and somebody who works for the team will get the players you want to interview. This didn’t work for her. Most players were done talking to the media and also she couldn’t see what happens in the locker room before and after games. Did this player really shed a tear when they talked about the winning run. Was there a heated discussion amongst teammates? What was the ambiance like? Melissa wasn’t able to see or hear any of this. The parent company of Sports Illustrated was Time Inc, and they sued for discrimination as they wanted equal rights to what the men had.
This books tells her story of the trial and her personal story. It was really awesome to learn that the Judge, Constance Motley, was one of the first black female judges in the country to hold higher positions. She was a key part of the Civil Rights Movement and was an aide to Thurgood Marshall in and helped him with the Brown Vs Board of Education case.
Melissa’s lawyer was Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. She called him Fritz and he was the great grandson of Frederick A.O. Schwartz, the founder of the mega toy store, F.A.O Schwarz.
Even though it was a bit too much legal jargon regarding the case for me, the dialog from the courtroom was interesting.
Oh, she won the case! Yay! I can’t even believe that at one point, females weren’t allowed to access locker rooms – how stupid are people to deny that.
In 1977 at the World Series, Melissa Ludtke, a writer for Sports Illustrated was denied access to the locker rooms by the Commissioner of Baseball, Bowie Kuhn. You mustn’t go in as there may be naked players, but you can stay outside the door and somebody who works for the team will get the players you want to interview. This didn’t work for her. Most players were done talking to the media and also she couldn’t see what happens in the locker room before and after games. Did this player really shed a tear when they talked about the winning run. Was there a heated discussion amongst teammates? What was the ambiance like? Melissa wasn’t able to see or hear any of this. The parent company of Sports Illustrated was Time Inc, and they sued for discrimination as they wanted equal rights to what the men had.
This books tells her story of the trial and her personal story. It was really awesome to learn that the Judge, Constance Motley, was one of the first black female judges in the country to hold higher positions. She was a key part of the Civil Rights Movement and was an aide to Thurgood Marshall in and helped him with the Brown Vs Board of Education case.
Melissa’s lawyer was Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. She called him Fritz and he was the great grandson of Frederick A.O. Schwartz, the founder of the mega toy store, F.A.O Schwarz.
Even though it was a bit too much legal jargon regarding the case for me, the dialog from the courtroom was interesting.
Oh, she won the case! Yay! I can’t even believe that at one point, females weren’t allowed to access locker rooms – how stupid are people to deny that.
November 1, 2024
Loved this book, but I acknowledge that it also takes up a lot of space in my personal echo chamber. Plus, the 1977 World Series with Reggie Jackson (Yankees) was the first World Series I remember watching on TV. So yeah, I really wanted to read this, and I was duly inspired. She had a lot of men in her corner and a handful of men who were determined to be a barrier. I think she won her case because she had such a great lawyer to represent her, more so than the fact that the presiding judge was also a woman. (Not spoiling anything folks - all this is in the jacket cover.)
I recall the first time I saw Hannah Storm in the NBA locker room on TV. The news covered her more than the game. She became the subject where it was breaking news that a woman be in this role. She was young and cute and that did not help the women's cause. But she persisted. She built a notable career. And now I know her road was paved partially through Melissa Ludtke's journey.
Reading this book also had me reflect on current times. With politics trying to push women back into imbalanced gender roles where our primary purpose is to be sexually available to our husbands, stay home to keep house and bear and raise children, where we would be totally under their control, this book feels like it could still be a book about today. David vs. Goliath. David won. Melissa won. I hope the trend continues.
I recall the first time I saw Hannah Storm in the NBA locker room on TV. The news covered her more than the game. She became the subject where it was breaking news that a woman be in this role. She was young and cute and that did not help the women's cause. But she persisted. She built a notable career. And now I know her road was paved partially through Melissa Ludtke's journey.
Reading this book also had me reflect on current times. With politics trying to push women back into imbalanced gender roles where our primary purpose is to be sexually available to our husbands, stay home to keep house and bear and raise children, where we would be totally under their control, this book feels like it could still be a book about today. David vs. Goliath. David won. Melissa won. I hope the trend continues.
March 15, 2025
I confess I was a little disappointed with this book. I got some interesting nuggets here and there so stuck with it, but I was expecting more of a memoir and instead got mostly a dry legal recounting of the facts in a landmark sex discrimination case. I wish I had heard more about the author's upbringing, interest in sports, and why she decided to file this suit as a complement to the legal facts of the case. Whenever she did share personal information, it felt disjointed and didn't connect as well to the rest of the text as I would have hoped. I came away with more questions than answers. She also didn't spend a lot of time on the sports she was reporting either. Maybe a fault of my expectations going in, but this book was just OK for me.
March 28, 2025
Interesting story.
Hard to believe that the US was so sexist and misogynistic as recently as the late 70s.
Good read for someone, wanting to understand what women went through trying to be professionals and in general during that era.
Poorly written or at least poorly edited as there were countless Grammatical, wording, etc. errors - quite surprising for a book written by a professional writer!
Hard to believe that the US was so sexist and misogynistic as recently as the late 70s.
Good read for someone, wanting to understand what women went through trying to be professionals and in general during that era.
Poorly written or at least poorly edited as there were countless Grammatical, wording, etc. errors - quite surprising for a book written by a professional writer!
February 1, 2025
I wish this book would have existed when I was getting my journalism degree or that I knew of the story. Better late than never I guess. I am grateful to Ludtke, her fight, and her decision to tell the story in this book.
July 3, 2025
I saw Melissa Ludtke at a book festival and found her story to be both compelling and inspiring. However, her book fell a bit short because the middle part was quite repetitious. I'd advise getting a print version or ebook so you can skip through some of it. (I listened to the audiobook.)
January 7, 2025
This was an amazing book! So fascinating but also so heartbreaking about what the author went through not that long ago. I highly recommend this book - not just for sports fans.
April 6, 2025
Nothing against the author, just a little too dry for my taste.
September 15, 2025
incredible story, told compellingly but with a lot of repetition
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