On Monday night, Jenny Cavnar of AT&T SportsNet in Denver called play-by-play for the Colorado Rockies’ game against the San Diego Padres, joining a very short list of women who have filled that role on a Major League Baseball broadcast.
And because a few insecure men can’t handle a woman describing a ground-ball to shortstop, some of the reaction to Cavnar’s big opportunity, on social media and in comment sections, was nasty. Amid many positive reviews of Cavnar’s work and congratulations on her accomplishment, some men accused the Rockies of pandering, others offered gendered criticisms of her voice and others flat-out said they don’t want a woman calling a baseball game.
The Rockies, however, were not going to let these oafs get away with their retrograde views. If you popped into the team’s Twitter mentions Monday to say something trollish about Cavnar, you were likely hit with a pithy comeback from the Rockies’ official account. Many of the tweets the Rockies responded to have since been deleted, but the team’s jabs, alternately funny and pointed, remain.
This is a shameful and embarrassing take.
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 24, 2018
This has nothing to do with criticism. Criticism, dealing with differing opinions, is absolutely a part of the job. This has everything to do with respect.
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 24, 2018
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 24, 2018
🙄
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 24, 2018
*looks at your tweets*
Wow. pic.twitter.com/6MASdxKTrj
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 24, 2018
Hi there “Tom.” You created a new Twitter account entirely for the purpose of tweeting this. Delete your (newly created) account and take a moment for self reflection. pic.twitter.com/uxR8YqSUnl
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 24, 2018
When complimented on their “clap backs,” the Rockies clarified that they were simply trying to “positively guide the conversation.”
We don’t like “clapping back” but we will always do our best to proactively guide the conversation.
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 24, 2018
In a perfect world, Cavnar’s play-by-play assignment would have been entirely uncontroversial. Cavnar is an experienced broadcaster who has served as a reporter for AT&T SportsNet since 2012. She was as good a choice as any for fill-in on play-by-play duty. And even if she weren’t, blatant sexism isn’t cool.
Alas, we don’t live in a perfect world, so some men still get fussy about women assuming roles they were once barred from, and the Rockies Twitter account is forced to go troll-hunting.
