It’s Our Game Too. What does that mean? When I started writing Miss Baseball, I wanted to prove myself, that I know baseball. Along the way, another voice kept popping in my head. It was the voice of inclusion. I would be in the world of baseball and would see women having to defend their baseball-dom. I never saw a man do that. And believe me, there are plenty of men who know jack shit about baseball. Just ’cause you wear a jersey don’t mean you know anything. However, I and my fellow female baseball fans for some unknown reason have to prove our fandom to be accepted into the baseball world. Megan Brown posted a wonderful response to a demand for proof of fandom.

it's so insulting when dudes try to quiz me about sports soooo i had a little pun fun ⚾️❤️ pic.twitter.com/s1X0qJagrp

— megan brown (@thatgirlondeck) March 29, 2016

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We have to suffer through humiliating rites of passage, all to watch the game we love. Megan is not the first woman, nor will she be the last woman, to have to prove her fandom. I only hope I will have as witty of a response when it is my turn.

It’s Our Game Too started as a motto, but now it’s a battle cry. We are 42% of the fan base of baseball. No other company in the world would ignore 42% of its fan base, and yet major league baseball has treated women as second-class fans. Well, no more. Ladies, gals, girls, women, whatever is your moniker, it is time to take a stand. You are a fan of this game, by no one’s standards but your own. Are you the casual fan? Then you are a fan! Are you the die-hard? (Fist bump.) Then you are a fan. Only here for the hot guys? (Oh yes, can I get the highest of high fives?) Then you are a fan. Are you in it for the stats or the history or all of the above? Well then, you are a fan. You are a fan of the wonderful game of baseball. It doesn’t matter how you cheer, all that matters is that you cheer. It’s Our Game Too.