To most middle-aged women, facing off on the baseball diamond against a man 20 years their junior and two times as strong would seem particularly daunting. The thought of trying out for Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers would not be easily entertained. But to someone like Norine Rathbone, a 54-year-old semi-pro first basemen and two-time cancer survivor, that idea is the least of her concerns.
By Lindsay Hock
Her tale, like that of millions of other women, is one of survival and perseverance. She wears her pink like a suite of armor, the telling markings of someone who has battled and won. But Norine Rathbone did not face her cancer lying in the stark white of a hospital room; rather, she took it on on the pristine green of the baseball diamond.
Rathbone happened into the sport that would help her beat cancer only by accident. A softball player for 20 years who has always yearned to play baseball, Rathbone had never been given the chance. So when she heard about Las Vegas’ minor league baseball MSBL (Men's Senior Baseball League) a professional system of 14 teams, from a car salesman in the fall of 2000, she jumped at the chance to realize a long-time dream. Rathbone contacted league president George Johnson and offered to use her skills as a professional photographer at some of the league’s games. During their conversation, she mentioned her dreams of playing baseball and, much to her surprise, he set her up with a tryout. Paul Bowman, coach of the Million $ Country team, picked her—a 42-year-old woman with no baseball experience.
“The first year was tough. I had to prove myself. There were naysayers, even in the very beginning,“ said Rathbone. “Breaking society’s views of what men and women should be traditionally is emotionally hard. But it was my skills that earned me respect.”
She got to bat 10 times that first season, recording one hit and taking the role of first-base coach, where she became “the eyes and heart of the runners.”
While overcoming doubters and transforming from baseball rookie to baseball pro presented quite a challenge to Rathbone in 2000, it was a trip to the doctor in December of that year that would be the truest test of her will. She learned she had breast cancer and needed quick and aggressive action to save her life.
Rathbone underwent a double mastectomy and then attacked a reoccurrence of the cancer with five months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation, during which she never missed a baseball game. It was this action that removed
any remaining doubt of her strength from the minds of teammates and opponents.
“I am a strong and incredible woman as proved by being totally bald, throwing up and being horribly sick all while still being part of my first baseball team,” reflects Rathbone.
With her cancer in remission and using her experience as the ultimate motivator, Rathbone continued to grow as a baseball player. Playing for the Las Vegas Sandvipers, she became the first woman to have a double-play in MSBL’s history. She also helped the team to the 2007 Las Vegas Valley Baseball League Championship.
Now cancer free and well-versed in the game of baseball, Rathbone has put the disease behind her as she looks to the future, which includes a tryout with Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers on March 9 in Lakeland, Fla.
“I am going to convince MLB that [I] am ‘man’ enough to play one inning of Major League Baseball,” assured Rathbone. “Since the Tigers have invited me to their tryout, I think that is half the battle to winning them over. The other half will be showing them my baseball skills.”
Just nine years ago, Rathbone was a diabetic, middle-aged woman facing a life-threatening disease. Presently healthy and fit, the future looks blindly bright, and there is no stopping her.
“I will be playing baseball until Gary Arlitz, our Las Vegas Sandpipers General Manager, puts me in a wheelchair at third base because I am too old to stand on my own.”
Editor’s Note: Rathbone tried out for the Detroit Tigers on Monday, March 9, in Lakeland, Fl. Although she did not qualify for a spot on the Tigers' roster, Rathbone impressed the whole organziation with her baseball skills and awe-inspiring story. She continues her quest to have a batter swing a pink bat during a Major League game on each year on Mother's Day to honor the millions of cancer survivors in the United States. To learn more about her, please visit Rathbone's site.