Ila Borders

Ila Borders (born February 18, 1975), is a former left-handed pitcher in college and independent professional baseball player.

Biography

Borders was the first woman pitcher to start a men's NCAA or NAIA college baseball game, playing for Southern California College in the 1994–96 seasons and Whittier College in the 1997 season. Ila was also the first woman to receive a baseball scholarship to play men's collegiate baseball and first woman to earn a win in men's collegiate baseball.

She became one of the first female pitchers in integrated men's professional baseball (female players such as Toni Stone had performed in the Negro Leagues) when in 1997 she signed with the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League, playing in her first regular season game on May 31, 1997 against the Sioux Falls Canaries. In that debut, she hit the first batter she faced, balked, and gave up three earned runs without recording an out. Her next appearance was much improved; in the one inning she pitched, she walked one but then struck out the side. One month into the regular season, she was traded to the Duluth–Superior Dukes. She pitched from the bullpen for both teams, seeing limited use. Her 1997 season totals were a 7.53 ERA, 15 appearances, 14 innings, allowing 24 hits and 9 walks while striking out 11. She had no decisions.

She returned to the Dukes for the 1998 season, pitching from the bullpen at first, but then on Thursday, July 7, 1998, she was made a starting pitcher, making her the first woman pitcher to start a men's professional baseball game. The game was an 8-3 home loss to the Sioux Falls Canaries. Her linescore on that night was 5 innings pitched, 3 runs allowed (all earned), 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. She was credited with the loss. She made further starts, and later that season, on July 24, 1998, she became one of the first woman pitchers to record a win in pro men's baseball in a 3-1 home victory against the Sioux Falls Canaries. A baseball from the game and the line-up cards were donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown N.Y. by home plate umpire Steve Wammer. That night she went 6 innings, giving up just 3 hits, walking 2, and striking out 2. This was the start of a streak of 12 scoreless innings that stretched into her next no-decision start vs. the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. Following that start, she suffered a severe bout of food poisoning that caused her to miss time, and the most of the rest of her outings that season were poor. The Northern League regular season ended the first weekend in September. Her 1998 season totals were as follows: 1-4 record, 44 innings, 8.66 ERA, 65 hits, 14 walks, 14 strikeouts.

Returning to the Dukes in 1999, a new manager returned her to bullpen duty. They did not see eye-to-eye on her role or her pitching style. In three outings for this manager, she had a 30.86 ERA. She requested a trade at this point and was sent to the Madison Black Wolf. Here she posted the best numbers of her career in a unique role as a 3-inning starter. Her numbers with Madison that year were as follows: 1-0 record, 1.67 ERA, 15 games, 35 innings, 43 hits, 14 walks, 9 strikeouts. She spent the last two weeks of that season on the disabled list with a minor wrist injury that occurred off the field.

In 2000, Borders moved on to the Western Baseball League, where she played for the Zion Pioneerzz. Halfway into that season, disappointed with her performance so far that year (8.31 ERA, 5 games, 8 innings, 17 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts) and with her inability in the preceding offseason to get a look from any clubs affiliated with the major leagues, she retired from baseball.

(The Duluth–Superior Dukes have moved to Kansas City, Kansas and become the Kansas City T-Bones. The Madison Black Wolf have moved to Lincoln, Nebraska to become the Lincoln Saltdogs, and the St. Paul Saints have since left the Northern League and joined the American Association.)

On May 14, 2004, Borders threw numerous balls and failed to strike out Howard Stern Show comedian Artie Lange during a radio show stunt in Las Vegas. The rules of the stunt were that if she struck Artie out, she would win $10,000. If Artie got a hit, he would get the money. After 4 straight "balls", a new count was established. She then threw another 2 "balls". Finally, the first ball that she threw in the strike zone was hit hard by Artie. Everyone at the stunt location agreed that if it had been a game situation, Artie would have gotten a hit. The stunt was over and Artie was declared the winner.

Playing style

Borders' style was that of a control pitcher. She attempted to throw breaking pitches and low fastballs to let the hitters get themselves out on ground balls. With enough regular action to stay sharp, such as in her good streaks in 1998 and 1999 when she was a regular starter, she could be very effective in doing this. Without that, such as when she was used irregularly from the bullpen, her control would waver, and her fastballs in the 79-83 mph range were knocked all around or out of the park. She could, when asked, throw a little over 80 mph, but when she did so the ball's trajectory flattened and became easier to hit. Her best pitch was her curveball, which could break from 1 o'clock to 7 o'clock as it crossed the plate. She also had a screwball, and in the 1999 season she found some success with an occasional sidearm delivery.

Post-retirement

Borders worked in the Long Beach Fire Department for one and a half years before moving to Gilbert, Arizona in 2008. She was a firefighter and emergency medical technician in the Gilbert Fire Department, before moving to the NW and becoming a Firefighter-Paramedic for the Cornelius Fire Department in Cornelius, OR.

Awards

Borders was elected to the Baseball Reliquary Shrine of the Eternals for her unique contributions to the game of baseball in 2003.