Saturday BP, 9/29/18

Amy Gutierrez has been with the Giants’ broadcasting team for 10 years this season. I know I give Amy some flack about her mis-pronunciation of Madison Bumgarner’s last name, but overall, we’re pretty lucky to have her. She works hard in a role that is constantly met with disrespect and even hostility and she does it with charm, grace and kindness. A kindness that we don’t often get to see on TV but one that gives her a great reputation among fans that have interacted with her.

The role Amy plays with the broadcast team, and the roles many other women in sports broadcasting are restricted to, are often trivialized, made fun of, or treated with contempt. Many people mock them, even though they are just doing their job, a job they worked hard to get, and don’t often get a lot of say in what they’re asked to do. People complain about in-game interviews or other such “distractions” that these roles provide, and I guess I understand.

But I also see that women very rarely get other roles in sports broadcasting. So I have a hard time wanting to eliminate these positions and the airtime they provide until we reach the point where we have more than just the likes of Jessica Mendoza and Doris Burke calling games. A time when female broadcasters aren’t met with scorn and disparagement.

I met Amy for the first time this season and she is just as nice as she seems. Here is a clip of her talking about what Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper have meant to her in her time here. Andrew Baggarly retweeted this and said that he hopes everyone finds someone who supports them the way Kruk & Kuip support Amy, and encourages everyone to support others in the same way. The world would be a little bit better if we all took that to heart.