Jennie Finch
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Competitor for  United States |
|||
| Women's Softball | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | Athens 2004 | Team Competition | |
Jennie Finch (born September 3, 1980), or occasionally using her husband's name, Daigle, is a softball player and an American athlete. She is widely regarded as the most famous softball player of all time. As of 2004, she is a pitcher for USA Softball, and pitched on the team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Early years
Born in La Mirada, California, Jennie Finch has been playing softball since she was five years old and has been pitching since she was eight. At La Mirada High School, Finch lettered four times in softball, and twice each in both basketball and volleyball. (As a senior, she was the captain of all three sports.) As a sophomore, she was an All-CIF Div. II choice in softball and an All-Suburban League selection, which was quite a great honor for her. Her dad, Doug Finch, was her first pitching coach. He is also the inventor of the Finch Windmill, an arm conditioning device that has been selling successfully for over 15 years.
College career
Finch played softball for the University of Arizona. She was a three-time All-American pitcher and first-baseman and "Honda Award" winner for the Player of the Year as a member of the Wildcat softball team. Her jersey number -- #27 (the date of her parents' first date) -- was retired by the University of Arizona on May 9, 2003 at Hillenbrand Stadium. She recorded 24 wins in her freshman season; 29 wins in her sophomore season; 32 wins (and no losses) in her junior season to set a NCAA record; and 24 wins in her senior season, to amass a career total of 109 victories which were the 12th most at the time. She has since been passed by Alicia Hollowell, Monica Abbott, Cat Osterman, Tara Penney, Keira Goerl, Brooke Mitchell, Jamie Southern, and Kristen Schmidt, and tied by Jessica Sallinger.
She also struck out a total of 1,028 batters, the 23rd most at the time. She has since been passed by Cat Osterman, Alicia Hollowell, Tara Penney, Monica Abbott, Jenny Ritter and Stephanie VanBrakle.
The 2004 Olympics
Finch had a 2-0 win/lose record in the 2004 Athens, Greece, Summer Olympics, striking out 13 batters in eight innings while giving up only one hit, one walk, and no runs at all. Her pitching helped lead the American team to the gold medal.
Pros vs Joes
Jennie Finch appeared on season one of Pros vs Joes on Spike TV along with Bill Romanowski, Dan O'Brien, Muggsy Bogues, and Bo Jackson. Her appearance marked a number of firsts for the show, such as the first woman to appear on the show, and the first Pro to wear lipstick while competing.
Career and life
Jennie Finch married Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Casey Daigle on January 15, 2005 at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Casey Daigle was born on April 4, 1981.
Finch and Daigle welcomed a son Ace on May 4, 2006. After an induction because Finch was overdue, Ace Shane Daigle was born in Tucson, Arizona.
Finch defeated Anna Kournikova in an ESPN online poll as the most attractive female athlete. Like Kournikova, Finch has modeled swimwear for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition in 2005-06.
Finch has appeared on various talk shows promoting softball and the US Olympic Team, and also hosts a segment on the TV program This Week in Baseball. Her "This Week in Baseball" segment often features her pitching to major-league baseball players, using a softball and pitching from the same distance she would in a softball game. Finch usually strikes out the baseball players by using her 71 mph riseball that is equivalent to a fastball of nearly 100 mph in baseball, where the pitcher's rubber is 17.5 feet farther away than in softball.
She was offered a lucrative contract to appear nude for Playboy magazine, but commented to the press on August 14, 2004 that the offer was not going to tempt her. She said that she would "rather be a role model for young girls." She also said that "muscles on women are beautiful, but my personal decision is to stay away from those things; to stay away from that." She once appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated wearing a tank top and a mini skirt.
Finch currently works for ESPN. She also pitches for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch Softball League[1]. She was named the NPF's Co-Pitcher of the Year in 2005, sharing the award with teammate Lauren Bay.
Career Statistics
La Mirada High School
| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | Sh | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| TOTALS | 50 | 12 | == | == | == | == | 4 | 445.0 | === | == | == | == | 784 | 0.15 |
United States National Team
| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | Sh | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| 2001 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 17.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 0.41 |
| 2002 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 40.1 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 41 | 0.69 |
| 2003 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 47.2 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 78 | 0.29 |
| 2004 | 15 | 0 | 28 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 100.1 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 208 | 0.27 |
| Olympics | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0.00 |
| 2005 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 26.0 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 34 | 1.08 |
| TOTALS | 36 | 2 | 62 | 40 | 23 | 19 | 2 | 239.1 | 71 | 20 | 14 | 36 | 397 | 0.41 |
University of Arizona Wildcats
| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | Sh | [[Save (sport)|SV] | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| 2000 | 24 | == | == | == | == | == | = | ===.= | === | == | == | == | === | 0.79 |
| 2001 | 29 | = | == | == | == | == | = | ===.= | === | == | == | == | === | 0.54 |
| 2002 | 32 | 0 | == | == | == | == | = | ===.= | === | == | == | == | === | =.== |
| 2003 | 24 | == | == | == | == | == | = | ===.= | === | == | == | == | === | =.== |
| TOTALS | 109 | == | === | === | === | == | == | ====.= | === | === | === | === | 1028 | =.== |
See also
External links
- The Official Jennie Finch Website
- U.S. Olympic Team bio ... with features, tips, photos, video
- ESPN.com: Who's Hottest? Finch vs. Anna
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Anna Kournikova |
ESPN Hottest Female
Athlete 2003 |
Succeeded by
Heather Mitts |
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