Virne Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell Gilbert (August 29, 1912 – January 7, 1987) was one of the first female pitchers in professional baseball history. Pitching for the Chattanooga Lookouts Class AA minor league baseball team in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, she struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession. Jackie Mitchell was born August 29, 1912 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Virne Wall Mitchell and Dr. Joseph Mitchell. When she learned how to walk, her father took her to the baseball diamond and taught her the basics of the game. Her next door neighbor, Dazzy Vance, taught her to pitch and showed her his "drop ball", a type of breaking ball. Vance was a major league pitcher and would eventually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mitchell wasn't an ordinary 17-year-old girl. For starters, she was an all-around athlete, splitting her time between basketball in the winter and baseball in the warmer months for Engel's all-girls team, the Engelettes. When Engel reached out to sign her to the Lookouts, she was in Dallas playing in a basketball tournament. With the chance to sign a professional baseball contract, she ditched that right away. Like many young ballplayers, Mitchell learned her craft playing with her dad in the neighborhood park. But her neighborhood came with an advantage not exactly available to every young player. One of her neighbors in Memphis was none other than Dazzy Vance, the Hall of Fame pitcher who led the NL in strikeouts for seven seasons from 1922-28. From her neighbor, Mitchell learned how to throw a "drop ball," which we would call a sinker today. Newspaper reporters were fascinated by Mitchell's ability to pitch using a unique side-arm delivery. This enabled her to put both speed and a strong curve on the ball when she threw it. Managers believed her greatest ability was being able to control the ball when she pitched. Many felt she was able to place the ball in any area she desired. Coaches were impressed by her ability to quickly identify a batter's weakness. Many of the sports reporters in Chattanooga believed she had the ability to be the first woman to pitch in the big leagues regularly. In 1937, Jackie Mitchell retired from playing baseball. She was angry and frustrated at having her pitching abilities ignored. Mitchell knew she had proven that she was a genuinely good left-handed pitcher. Too many times she had been treated as a sideshow for promoting a team. At the age of 23, she left baseball and went to work for her father in his Tennessee optical business. Sources · https://howtheyplay.com/team-sports/Jackie-Mitchell-was-the-only-professional-Female-Baseball-player-to-Strike-Out-Babe-Ruth-and-then-Lou-Gehrig