You just nailed a major reason why interest in Baseball has declined over the last 40 years. Kids can no longer watch the end of games and other things have grabbed their attention as they aged.
I assume by male counterparts you mean the so called WNBA players. As good as she is, Caitlin would be at best a solid contributer off the bench for most male high school state championship caliber teams.
in most cities, visiting athletes pay corporate tax rates for games played in those, which leads to another expenses for them – accountants to track what needs to be paid and when
one stat that every one ignores is how many different players it took to break Babe’s records – game, single season, career, pitching, hitting, and fielding( yes Babe set records for fielding including chances, percentage and assists). At last count it was close to 70 and he still holds a few.
That would depend on the individual lady. Although we have come along way from the days of Al Bundy bemoaning the fact we can’t make an attractive woman golfer there are still more that you rather pay to put the clothes on than take off.
Riggs had beaten Margaret Court rather easily a year earlier. Although he denied it, it is not unfathomable that Riggs was setting up a rubber match of the Sexes for a bigger payday
It started with the Detriot Red Wings when the NHL playoffs were 2 series long and it took 8 wins to get the Stanley Cup