The Last Inning (Dec. 23, 2019): Watch AJ Andrews in the PBS Documentary “Knocking Down the Fences!”

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Here’s our TLI for Monday, Dec. 23 …

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We’re all about #MondayMotivation at TLI and if you haven’t heard or seen the story of former LSU superstar AJ Andrews, you need to check out the PBS Documentary “Knocking Down The Fences,” which debuted last week, right now.

Andrews is known for her fearless style of play and acrobatic catches in the outfield.

“Every time I step on the field I feel like it’s my domain,” Andrews told PBS. “I feel like it’s my territory, and it’s almost like my hunting ground. And if you dare come near my hunting ground, you’re stuff is going to get eaten up. You hit a ball in the outfield and if it’s anywhere in the vicinity, I’m going to make sure it ends up in my glove.”

LSU coach Beth Torina told PBS about her first encounter with Andrews.

“My favorite first initial meeting with AJ was her first practice,” Torina said. “She was late. I don’t know, she had to pass a physical or something. It held her up, so she was out here by herself. There was just the coaching staff and her. The first ball I ever hit AJ went over her and she dove head-first into the fence, and I though we killed her on her first ball. That really told me so much about who she was. She’s just fearless and she attacks anything. From the first ball we ever hit her, I just knew we had a special player.”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE PBS DOCUMENTARY “KNOCKING DOWN THE FENCES”

In 2016, Andrews, who was playing for the Akron Racers of National Pro Fastpitch, became the first woman to win a Rawlings Gold Glove, given to the best fielders in professional baseball.

“So for 59 years it had only been given to major league baseball players until 2016,” Andrews said, “and that was the first year it was given to a woman. It was really exciting, just because now I was a pioneer for breaking barriers for the sport and breaking barriers for women’s sports in general.”

Torina drove five hours to see Andrews receive the award in Akron, Ohio.

“I wanted to be there for such a historic moment,” Torina said.

Andrews recalled how she ended up at LSU.

“The way I got recruited is because I made a diving catch in the outfield as a LSU recruiter was walking by,” Andrews said. “If I had not dove for that one ball, my entire life could have been completely different and that just comes down to effort.”

One would expect that Andrews’ hard work is paying off now that she is a professional athlete, but the life of a pro softball player is not glamorous.

“While it is an honor to be a professional athlete and to be one of the very few that gets to play professional softball it is hard to do,” Andrews said. “It’s hard to get to be a professional athlete as a woman. And then it’s even harder to stay one, just because you don’t have the means. I mean, you’re playing a professional sport and you think that comes with being paid professionally and not having to work extra jobs because you’re a professional athlete, but that’s just not the case for softball. And it’s not the case for a lot of female sports.

“To be honest, being a professional softball player, I mean, I seen people do it, but you almost have to qualify for food stamps. That’s how little we get paid.”

Andrews makes less than $15,000 per year as a professional softball player and supplements that income by coaching and working as a sports commentator.

“Me personally, I’m still in school and I’m getting my Master’s degree because I know that softball isn’t going to take me to the levels or pay me the kind of money I need to make a living,” Andrews said. “So I have to put myself in a position to set myself up for success outside of softball, which is sad because no man has to say that.”

On average, major league baseball players make more than 650 times professional softball players.

“My boyfriend is a baseball player and he’s set,” Andrews said. “He gets drafted and he gets a guaranteed amount of money and even, maybe, a bonus to go play the sport that he loves. And once he gets to the professional level, the top level in MLB, then he will get even more money. And so I am so proud of him and everything he has achieved and I believe he deserves everything that comes his way, but then so do I.”

Amira Rose Davis, Assistant Professor of History at Penn State, believes Andrews’ story is like many female athletes.

“There’s an idea that women’s sports don’t sell,” Davis said. “So there’s this kind of business take that it’s not a good investment to invest in women’s sports. While somebody might want to put you in a magazine or on a billboard, they’re not necessarily going to open the paycheck to sustain your career. I think what we have to be mindful of is the larger structure that tells women athletes that in order to be legible on the market, in order to get endorsement deals, in order to get coverage, you must fit into this box around appearances.”

Andrews said she knows how some people see female pro athletes.

“One thing that comes from that is girls used to wear huge bows in their hair in softball and that was all the part of not being seen as masculine, all a part of you didn’t want to be the ‘no-bow lesbo,'” Andrews said.

“I never had the notion that I’m too masculine. I just feel like I’m out here playing in the dirt. I’m not going to wear a bow. That’s just not for me. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look cute and playing great. I love looking fabulous and playing on the field. I’m not going to wear a bow, but I’m not going to allow society’s views or let them sway what I’m going to do when I play. I’m going to add some mascara, I’m going to make sure my eyebrows look good and I’m going to go out on the field. I’m not doing it because yo want me to be extra feminine. I’m doing it because I like looking fabulous.”

Andrews believes she can knock down barriers and continue to grow the sport.

“For me, my passion in growing the sport is the fact that there are so many barriers already placed on women,” Andrews said, “and if one can just get knocked down, young girls can believe that they can knock down others.”

— Carlos Arias & Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball (Follow Carlos on Twitter @Los_Stuff; follow Brentt on Twitter @ExtraInningSB)

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