THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1978
Page 9
But they’re not sex objects^
Diamond Darlings add life to Aggie baseball
id
n J
exam
V&Mi
is AM
I reseat
mid din
m
I tltatte
bats.
Managing the Diamond Darlings
is only one of Butler’s duties as assis
tant sports information director. He
also gives baseball game broadcasts
on radio, and puts out material on
the A&M basketball team.
He describes himself as a 100
percent women’s libber.
And he says that as far as putting
women in the limelight goes, the
Darlings are the No. 1 organization
on campus.
The limelight has its drawbacks,
and the women seem to get their
share of verbal abuse from tbe op
posing team’s fans.
“Texas was bad,’’ said Lisa Mat-
risciani, a sophomore member.
“You get called “Diamond Dogs”
and barked at.’’
But Ruthie Wilkins, the group’s
captain,says the women learn to ig
nore the hollers from crowds.
“Any time you’re in shorts in front
of that many people you expect it, ”
she says.
During baseball season the
Diamond Darlings attend confer
ence, non-conference and road
games. But in other months, their
time is spent on promotions, ads,
sales, hostessing and what Butler
calls “meeting people. ’
“Coach takes us to speeches,
banquets, anywhere he has to talk,”
says Wilkins. “We go along to add a
little color.”
Some of this involves appearances
at a barbecue for Dolph Briscoe
supporters, a boat show, a Christ
mas parade, and grand openings in
Bryan-College Station.
ss t | ian j| Retrieving bats is only a small part of the job
|pf a Diamond Darling. The DDs are actually
soneofi'part of a well-planned promotion of Texas
?ntoflt
s of ^ l, *ggj ( , b ase hall coach Tom Chan-
Aggie baseball,
guson evidendy
By MARY ALICE WOODHAMS
' K lt - llei insists that both of his teams be
° kT at ^ east an l lonr before starting
l K inje for home games,
ting CoflvVhile the men are warming up,
[talcoli'iiembers of the Texas A&M Uni-
e suici! ersity bat girl squad are selling
•rimesMgrams, greeting fans, retrieving
Union. )ul balls, and delivering Hershey
fa Hs, sunflower seeds, chewing to-
•h >!• aero and bubblegum to the
>1 ccnlfj ascball team.
•st draiiW'hg game begins, and the two
one-M)jLionel Darlings (“DDs,” for-
s theo'loi t) poised at the side of the dug-
esmlk|t take turns chasing foul balls,
lata is fljhb women are clad in maroon
he Sow loop-necked t-shirts and white
the an® Irts, and they have the aura of a
theeaijiiup of sophisticated high school
trd ^cheerleaders.
Center® Andy Korenek, A&M’s student
in dri®|anager, approaches one Diamond
10I a )f®-ling and asks her to say hello to
s for catcher in a “real sexy voice”
Hen she runs up to retrieve the
( >a|. The Aggies are playing Hous-
L/u on\ Astros in an exhibition game,
tvl'ind the catcher in question is Joe
Ferguson.
g a pl*’
ix from’
the n®
Mexico
i) milli° :
id e$ :
Moved
She waits for the appropriate
time, then darts onto the field,says
hello, and returns with the bat.
The fans, true to Aggie form,
whoop in approval.
“What happened?” she asks.
“The catcher clapped for you,
someone replied. t
The Darlings are not, by any
standards, like A&M’s Corps or mil
itary band or male yell leaders in
their manifestations of spirit. As the
only support-group open to women,
they have a job and they do it. But if
the women happen to look provocat
ive at the same time, their sponsors
say, so much the better.
Promotion is the name of the
game, and it’s all part of a well-
planned public relations campaign
for Texas Aggie baseball — or Texas
Aggie anything else.
The Diamond Darlings were one
of the first women’s organizations at
Texas A&M when Chandler and his
wife Willadene formed it six years
ago. The Chandlers were inspired
by a similar group (with the same
name) at Iowa State University.
Since then other schools have used
bat girls, but the Darlings is the
And Astro’s catcher Joe Fer-
approves.
Battalion photo by Pat O’Malley
only group of its kind at a Texas
Southwest Conference school.
“Other teams have them.. .Arkan
sas, Oklahoma, USC, Arizona,” says
Robert McBurnett, the student
trainer.
But what makes the Texas A&M
group different?
“Looks,” says a player on the
baseball team.
Indeed. One ex-Darling is the
current Miss USA, Kim Tomes. And
Sandra Schumacher, one of this
year’s members, is the new Miss
Texas World Speedway.
Their sponsor, Jim Butler of the
Texas A&M athletic department, in
sists that the 16 Diamond Darlings
are not sex objects; rather, they are
“just persons representing the Texas
A&M baseball team.”
Without a doubt, to an element
of the spectators, they will be seen
this way,” he says. But Butler adds
that it’s the same way with male
football or baseball players.
“It’s the same way with Jane
Pauley on the Today Show.”
“Their duty is to call attention to
the baseball games,” he says. “We
don t really need someone to get
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Once they worked at a bank open
ing, directing motorists past the
drive-in tellers. Another time they
served as hostesses at Houston’s
Bluebonnet Bowl.
The women admit it’s hard work
and that Diamond Darling duties
take an average of 12 hours a week.
The athletic department pays for
their traveling expenses and uni
forms, but the members make no
money for their work.
“There’s no pay involved — just
the honor,” says Carol Anne Wat
son, a freshman member.“But it’s
worth it.”
Wilkins agrees.
“Everything the team gets, we
get. I mean, they’re having a dinner
for us...
C. E. “Pat” Olsen, for whom
A&M’s new 5,000-seat stadium was
named, honored the Darlings with a
dinner party in May. The former
New York Yankees player and 1923
alumnus also presented each
member with a miniature, engraved
baseball bat.
A Houston Astro, overhearing the
conversation, smiles and says that
Mr. Olsen just likes girls.
One thing that concerns them is
the group’s image, and the women
say that image has improved during
the last year.
“People think we re everything
from a softball team to a can-can
group, says Matrisciani. “But we’re
getting more respect this year.”
A number of changes took place
when Mrs. Chandler stepped down
as sponsor and Butler accepted her
job. Uniforms changed, selection
methods changed, and the rules of
the group became hard and fast.
The Diamond Darlings used to
run onto the field before the games,
carrying a glove for each player and
taking their field positions. The
women would hand each player his
glove and give him a kiss. The prac
tice ended because one year, a team
member was black and this “caused
some problems, Butler said.
Questions on baseball-aptitude
tests used for selection also have be
come more difficult. One year, ap
plicants answered this question;
“The suicide squeeze play is a
very effective offense play in
baseball. Should a batter:
(a) squeeze the bat extra hard
(b) miss the ball on purpose
(c) bunt the ball
(d) hit the ball behind the runner
(e) none of the above.”
Selecting the Darlings is serious
business. First, Butler held a meet
ing for all interested A&M women,
and instructed them to wear a halter
top and shorts.
“We thought that would be the
uniform,” he explains, “so we
wanted to see how the girls looked
in them, felt in them.”
Eighty-five women showed up.
They filled out applications,
signed rules agreements, and took a
quiz.
Sample questions: Who won the
SWC Baseball Championship last
year? How many innings are in a
normal game?
Twenty-five finalists were
selected, and these women were
judged on their physical appear
ance, photogeneity, ability to “wel
come” a fan to a game, and voice.
Butler tells the women that
they’ll be expected to work hard,
and that they will have time for
Diamond Darlings and nothing else. -
Except school.
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