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Monica Abbott draws comparisons to Nolan Ryan
- Updated: May 6, 2016
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for National Pro Fastpitch ace Monica Abbott. In early April, she was a free agent approaching the upcoming NPF season without a team. Now, 37 years after Nolan Ryan signed MLB’s first million-dollar deal, the 30-year-old California native and former USA Olympic team standout inked one of her own, a breakthrough moment for women’s team sports.
“It’s unprecedented money in female athletics across the board,” Abbott said Friday from Japan.
In addition to playing National Pro Fastpitch for eight seasons beginning in 2007, Abbott has also played for Team Toyota in the Japanese Softball League since ’09.
“The Scrap Yard Dawgs reached out to me and spoke to me about Nolan Ryan,” said Abbott. “They said, ‘We don’t know when that contract is going to happen for women’s softball, but we feel like the only player in the game right now that could possibly bridge that gap would be you.’ I was in shock. When that happened, I laughed at first and thought, ‘There’s no way they are serious.’ The timing just happened to be right.”
First I laughed…& then I cried tears of joy. This is real life & if I can —you can #monicamakeshistory #FirstOneMilDeal #celebratewomen
— Monica Abbott (@monicaabbott) May 5, 2016 …
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