Pilot Review: Pitch

Pitch (FOX)
Premiered September 23 at 9pm

Shows about sports have the potential to be truly powerful since there’s a certain excitement that comes from American pastimes and the rush that comes from watching them. That’s one thing that FOX’s new series absolutely captures, stirring up energy around the first female Major League Baseball player. The opening scene was a stylized, triumphant entrance for Kylie Bunbury’s Ginny Baker as she presented a cool, focused front while the world struggled to figure out what to do with her. Her first time pitching went very poorly, and it’s a good thing that she proved herself with her second outing so that she didn’t get the boot and see her dreams disappear in front of her. It was initially inspiring to see Ginny get trained from a young age by her father, and then things got much more serious and upsetting when he pushed her hard and wouldn’t let up, even hitting her brother to motivate her not to stop training. The reveal at the end of the episode that her father actually died and that he’s only with her in spirit may not have been a huge shock, but it was still immensely powerful. Aside from some of the excessive antics that come from the likes of Mark-Paul Gosselaar as the cocky, chatty captain and Ali Larter as Kylie’s powerhouse manager, I think this show does work well and I’m interested to see where it goes even though I really don’t care at all about sports and wouldn’t have imagined myself watching a show like this.

How will it work as a series? She’s made it into the big leagues and has already overcome so much, but as her father keeps saying, she’s not there yet and still has a long way to go. The journey towards a stable life is what this show is going to be about, and I think a lot of it might be familiar but could also be very engaging and worth watching.
How long will it last? The news out of the gate is much like Ginny’s first time pitching, pretty worrisome but probably worthy of a second chance because of its potential. FOX is likely to hang on to this show because of its positive reception and its ability to win over viewers, so hopefully the show can bounce back in subsequent airings to ensure it a promising future.

Pilot grade: B+