The College Fix

The Left doesn’t know what a woman is, then lauds their ‘meh’ accomplishments

History was made two years ago, such that it was, when Olivia Pichardo tried out for the Brown University baseball team as a walk-on … and ended up making the roster.

As you might expect, the mainstream media and other progressive-leaning entities made a big deal out of it.

Last year, ESPN’s Joon Lee lauded Pichardo’s efforts at “breaking barriers” while dealing with “an Ivy League course load.” In the years before she enrolled at Brown, Major League Baseball had invited Pichardo to participate in its “Breakthrough Series” which develops young talent.

After making Brown’s roster, Pichardo got a congratulatory text from former New York Mets manager Buck Showalter. She even got to throw the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game on its Asian American Pacific Islander Night.

(Interestingly, the latter actually didn’t turn out very well, and ESPN noted she also struggled in her first season at Brown following an error that “started turning into mental errors, one bleeding into another.”)

There’s lots of other media coverage linked at Pichardo’s own website where she even has an email set up for “media inquiries.” She was back in the news recently as she spoke with the Dartmouth student paper.

Her website notwithstanding, Pichardo seems like a pretty decent person. She appears to blot out any negativity as best she can, is anti-PC (she noted she didn’t have an issue using the term “brotherhood” when describing the Brown’s values), and wants to concentrate on just being the best athlete she can be.

A biological female actually making a Division I college baseball team is no small feat (as long as the coach is honest about it, of course). But let’s be real: In the last two seasons (2024 and 2023) Pichardo got in a total of two games. In her two plate appearances, she grounded out “sharply” to first base and was hit by a pitch respectively.

MORE: Sorry feminists and progressives: Men are better athletes

The issue is that the same people who laud Pichardo’s accomplishments — at the expense of (male) players on the Brown roster with much better statistics — are those who laud transgender women (aka biological males) stealing athletic glory from actual women — like Pichardo — and, in the same of “inclusion,” “sensitivity,” etc., say basic biology really doesn’t factor into athletic performance. They also argue for “equal pay” for women in sports despite men being (vastly) superior athletes. Hell, they can’t even define “woman.”

And now, ominously, Biden’s Dept. of Education just added “gender identity” to Title IX.

Women in sports continue to push new boundaries and inspire us all.

But right now we're seeing that even if you're the best, women are not paid their fair share.

It’s time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve.

— President Biden (@POTUS) April 16, 2024

So, we’re supposed to make a fuss over Pichardo? Not to mention, remember how Vanderbilt’s Sarah Fuller was an “inspiration,” “awesome,” and was hilariously named “co-Special Teams Players of the Week” after doing a kickoff for Vandy’s football team that went a paltry 30 yards? At least her “effort” was marginally better than that of Jackson State’s Leilani Armenta — whose kick went about 25 yards (but still got glowing coverage).

I know, I know … I want the modern Left to make sense. I shouldn’t hold my breath.

MORE: Preferring to watch men’s sports over women’s is indicative of a ‘societal, cultural bias’

IMAGE: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock.com; Extra Point Network/Facebook

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