Host Erin Foley welcomes softball icon Michele Smith! This episode was originally recorded in 2019 and it was an instant classic! Michele is a legendary softball pitcher and trailblazing broadcaster. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, she helped lead Team USA to victories in Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000), dominating with a combined 0.51 ERA and 60 strikeouts across 41.2 innings. Smith also captured three ISF World Championships and two Pan American Games golds.
At Oklahoma State University from 1986 to 1989, she compiled an 82–20 record, earned two NFCA First-Team All-American honors, and set numerous school and conference records—all after overcoming a devastating arm injury in 1986.
Since 1998, Smith has been ESPN’s lead college softball analyst, and in 2012, she broke new ground as the first woman to commentate a nationally televised MLB game. She was inducted into the USA Softball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Foley and Smith discuss her fight to get the sport back in the Olympics, her playing days in Japan, career highs and lows, commentating for ESPN and how nobody should ever swing at a rise ball. Enjoy!
Follow Erin on Social! Instagram: @erinkfoley Bluesky: @erinfoleycomic.bsky.social
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@erinfoleycomic
Email the show: erin@herlights.com
Athletes Unlimited Softball League: https://theausl.com/
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