It took a lot to hold back from putting the world female in quotes as well. Either way, the Philadelphia Inquirer ought to have inquired further before dousing us all with its ignorance and intentional misleading. Gerald has the story here. In brief, if the article had been written for the PI's sports section, it may have read something like this: "Eileen DiNardo, 54, was made a member of the Philadelphia Phillies yesterday. Yesterday she threw her first pitch on a field rented from the AA team of the New York Mets, wearing a tie-dyed version of the Phillies Away jersey. Although the Phillies deny that she is a team member, DiNardo says that she has been called to be a Phillies pitcher her whole life." After prayers to the four directions, DiNardo threw a wild pitch. Onlookers said that that was perfectly fine, claiming that DiNardo does not play my male rules." Apparently, Fr. Martin Fox of Bonfire of the Vanities, whom I also periodically link here, has written the PI several times. Here's a link to the correspondence at Gerald's site to save you the trip out to the PI and the sifting through other commentary.