Interview: Cat Osterman, Legendary Softball Pitcher

In this episode Lindsay Gibbs interviews Cat Osterman, 3x Olympian and legendary softball pitcher with many many championships under her belt. They discuss Cat's recent retirement announcement from Athletes Unlimited, Tokyo 2021 Olympics, college softball's rising popularity and her hopes for a sustainable professional softball league.

This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network.

Transcript

Lindsay: Hello flamethrowers, welcome to Burn It All Down. I am so, so excited today to be joined by the legendary pitcher, Cat Osterman, who, as you're listening to this, has finished her illustrious career – we think! We'll be getting into it. We'll see if we might be seeing her back at one point. Cat’s a three time Olympian – and I kind of have to offline list all her accomplishments because it would take too long in this interview – but has just finished up with Athletes Unlimited, and we're just so excited to be talking with her. Cat, thank you so much for being on Burn It All Down.

Cat: Oh, thank you for having me. 

Lindsay: So, obviously we're talking before your final weekend of play. This will publish after. So I just want to ask, what are the emotions kind of going into this weekend? What are you focused on most?

Cat: You know, right now I'm focused on really just enjoying the moments with my teammates, just the game in general. It's a really unique situation to be here with 59 other softball players who share a passion for the game. And so I'm super stoked to, you know, just be here in this environment, and I'm obviously ending my career in such amazing place with great people. But really, just going to take it moment by moment and obviously try to stay present and hopefully do the best to make the team successful this weekend, and then after that head on home and turn the next page.

Lindsay: I love that. You know, we’ve talked about Athletes Unlimited on the show, and the softball world, what is Athletes Unlimited and this opportunity late in your career…You’ve been such an integral part of these first two seasons of the softball in Athletes Unlimited.

What does it mean to you to be able to kind of end your career this way? A way that didn't even exist a couple of years ago?

Cat: Yeah. It's kind of…You have to chalk it up to fate. I mean, I wasn't really supposed to be part of season one because I was supposed to, if everything unfolded the way it was supposed to, retired in August of ’20 after Tokyo Olympics, because that was really the sole reason I came out of retirement. But obviously with COVID and the quarantine and the delay, it allowed me to be part of Athletes Unlimited season one. And just their vision for pro sports, it's different, you know? People ask what it's like, and I'm like, it's basically fantasy sports in real life. You get to draft new teams, everybody can earn points different ways. But I think the coolest thing is just the atmosphere that they create here and the fact that every athlete's passionate about the sport.

Every athlete's passionate about their cause they get to play for, which is a whole other aspect that, for female athletes, we get to play and earn money that we can help a cause with. I think a lot of times we want to help and we can help with our time and physical labor, but you know, we're not making millions to where we can donate a good chunk of that all the time, like male athletes. So, there's just so many avenues that this endeavor gives us. I'm very fortunate that it worked out for me to be part of it. And you know, after winning last year, I talked to John and Jonathan and they were pretty adamant they wanted me to be part of season two, and it was tugging on my heart to really stay and do season two, just because of the environment and the experience it was in season one. 

Lindsay: Just take me back a little bit. How did you get into softball? Like, like how did this become your sport?

Cat: You know, I honestly…Obviously with my height, it doesn't shock people when I tell them that basketball was my first love. I grew up in a basketball family, so was out on the basketball courts playing quite a bit. And to be honest, my parents always just made sure I was active and so, you know, I needed another sport. I had played soccer, got bored with it. My dad suggested trying softball again because I tried it once before and quit. And so I did, and honestly I played in the league…Our two pitchers had used up the endings that they could use for that week, and they needed someone to try pitching, and I jumped in and to be honest, I fell in love with pitching even more than I did softball. But I took to that circle and never looked back.

Lindsay: What is it about pitching that you love so much?

Cat: You know, I think, well, when I say I got bored playing soccer, I was a goalie. So, I think it went from the ball only coming down the field once in a blue moon to being part of every single pitch, every single play, and so, you know, I think I just liked the fact that you're in every play, but at the same time, as I started pitching and learning about it, the process and the art of pitching is just so special. And working at something detailed like that is right up my alley. It's the things I like to do. And so the second I started working at it and realizing that, okay, if I pay attention to the details and continue to work, then there will be progress. And that journey was so fun for me. 

Lindsay: In 2004 of course, you went to the Olympics in Athens, you were very young at the time. And what do you remember most from that experience, from your first Olympic experience? And I mean, had that even been something that had been on your radar, that had been part of your dreams growing up? 

Cat: It hadn't been part of my dreams growing up. So, in 2000, I had the opportunity to play against the team that was going to Sydney actually. And I threw really well, and I think that was the first time in 2000, I think I was 17, the first time I ever thought about being an Olympian or playing on the national team. And so that sparked kind of the idea that maybe I could join that team one day. I never thought it would have been ’04, my sights were set on hopefully '08 after college. But I went to college and my coach knew that that was a goal of mine. She helped me work incredibly hard to do what I needed to do to, you know, be ready for tryouts every year and be ready for the international stage. So, it ended up working out in ‘04 and, yeah, I was the youngest player on that roster.

What do I remember about it? I remember sleeping on the bus a lot on the way to the field. [laughter] I remember waking up just in time to see the blue waters of Greece. And then obviously it was an incredible run. I was fortunate enough to play with absolute legends of the game and be part of what they ended up dubbing the dream team. And I just remember we were a well-oiled machine by that point, we had trained so hard together that it was almost like the games kind of just unfolded how they were supposed to, almost on autopilot. Not that we weren't working hard for it, but it was a fun time to be playing really great softball.

Lindsay: There's been so much talk about the 2008 Olympics, obviously, and then softball leaving from the Olympics. In 2008, you lost that heartbreaking gold medal match against Japan. And then softball is for, you know, infuriating reasons, out of the Olympic program for the next few years, and it comes back. And in 2021, we're fast forwarding obviously a lot. We'll go back and pick up some moments. [laughs] But want to ask you just about, while we're on the subject of the Olympics, there was so much talk about the redemption that was on the table in Tokyo, right? Where you could go to Japan, get that gold medal back…And like a lot of things in life, it didn't happen exactly as you had planned. Once again, silver medal, which is an incredible accomplishment. How do you feel about that quote unquote “redemption narrative” at this point, and kind of what did that silver medal in Tokyo mean to you?

Cat: You know, I think that the redemption narrative, it was an easy thing for people to grasp to. But to be honest, there were only two of us on the roster from 2008. 

Lindsay: Right. [laughs]

Cat: And so when you talk about redemption, you can't really have two people try to get redemption and 13 others playing for their first time, not with that thought in mind. So I don't know that Monica and I truly had our sights set on redemption. It wasn't my sole reason for coming out of retirement by any means. I really just thought I still could throw well enough to hopefully help this team possibly get on the gold medal podium. You know, obviously didn't work in our favor, but the hand that this team was dealt was a very different…It wasn't a typical tour like we normally do to prepare. We didn't have our coaching staff with us until probably June of 2021, because they all had to go back to their college jobs during the school year. 

So there was just a lot that was dealt to us that, you know, we handled, handled with class, and we handled maturely. That typically isn't how the Olympic team is run a year before the games. So, that silver medal represents a lot more than what a gold medal would of redemption. That silver medal is still a very rewarding thing to look at because this team dealt with a lot, handled a lot, and I think, you know, we left it all out there. There were things that didn't fall our way and it wasn't in the cards for us.

Lindsay: I love how you put that, because there's so much pressure, especially on women athletes, because there aren't as many stages and there aren't as many maybe moments for big spotlight glory, that it's kind of this gold or bust mentality. And I think we focus on it a lot in gymnastics, like, gold, isn't the only medal, you know? This is not the only thing that matters. And so I love to hear that this Tokyo experience was still so meaningful for you and for your teammates. And it's always seemed to me like USA Softball has not gotten the infrastructural support maybe from, I don't know, whether it be the national federation or from sponsors or kind of where it is, in order to devote the time to the sport and to the team that we see in other women's sports, you know, in soccer, basketball, even in volleyball. So, tell me more about like what the obstacles were going into, you know, not having the full team together? And kind of why you think you're still kind of having to deal with such obstacles. Was this just a COVID specific thing?

Cat: Yeah, it was definitely just a COVID specific thing. I mean, other Olympic years we've been fully prepared and had the funding and the personnel and everything that we needed. I mean, our head coach had obviously been granted a leave of absence in ’20 to prepare us, and then COVID hits and we get delayed and, you know, you can't really ask a job to give you a leave of absence for two years. And so he was forced to go back to his school, not knowing what COVID was going to allow us to do. You know, you really couldn't ask people to take off from their jobs or the three college kids we had on roster to not go to school when you really don't know, are we going to have a full tour? Are we gonna have a partial tour? Are we not gonna have a tour at all? So, there was just a lot of uncertainty because of COVID. But in years past, I mean, we've had everything we needed to be a well-oiled machine when we got over there. And so unfortunately it was just a COVID thing and, you know, we handled it as well as we could have.

Lindsay: Recently of course we've seen the women's college world series just grow so much in popularity, and you've seen a lot of focus on the inequities between women's and men's sports. But I think it was just announced that they're adding a couple of days to the women's college world series. What have you, as someone who's obviously so close, the closest to the sport, seen in the growth of that event? And where do you think it's headed?

Cat: You know, I think that event is special. It truly is, you know? It’s hosted in one place just like baseball is, and it's the mecca of softball. Like, everyone grows up wanting to play in Oklahoma City one day. And so that event has gradually gotten bigger and bigger. I keep laughing, because people talk about, you know, now they have the second deck and all these new seats. And I'm like, when I played there for the first time, there was still grassy knolls down probably about a third of left field and right field where everyone's brothers and sisters went and rolled down the hill. So, it's just interesting to see how the stadium's grown, because that shows how many people are starting to flock to the world series to where it's an environment that baseball fans talk about Omaha being.

So, it's an amazing event and I'm glad that they're adding the days to it to really give it the uniqueness it needs. I think it's not a misconception, the idea that we can throw so many days in a row, or we could throw in two games in a day because it's a more natural motion. There's some truth to that, but it doesn't mean you don't get tired! And so forcing girls to have to do that simply because that's the way the tournament's always been, well, you know, when we learn science about things and whatnot, we should adapt. And so let's adapt to allow teams to be the freshest possible so you're truly getting the best game out of everyone every single day. And so it's pretty cool that they're adding days to that and allowing it to be a little bit of a longer event for people to be able to attend.

And I think the coolest part is just seeing how the coverage of it has gone. You know, my senior year of high school was the first time that they put the entire world series on TV and not just the championship series. So, we've gone a long way in how it's covered and every game being covered and having, you know, people in studios talking about it now, as well as all these like branch offs of coverage for it. So, it's exciting to see. I love seeing it because I think college softball right now is some of the most exciting softball that fans get to watch.

Lindsay: The ratings are like astronomical! [laughs] They're huge. What do you think that says about the game of softball, which hasn't always caught on on like the pro level, the year round level? As much as I would like it to. [laughs]

Cat: Yeah. You know, I think it shows how our game’s growing. It shows how exciting our game is. It is a quicker paced game. You know, it's similar to baseball, don't get me wrong. It's not the same, but you have the home runs. You have the small ball, you have infielders that have to make quick plays. I think 9 times out of 10, you watch shortstops field the ball in baseball, and they have time to like take two shuffle steps before they throw. Well, we don't have time for that. It gives you a little bit of everything you're looking for in a bat and ball sport. But at the same time, I think there's, you know, there's a lot of avenues for boys to watch baseball. So watching college baseball is cool, but I think that’s…And I don't know the demographics, this is just my assumption, is a lot of older just baseball fans who have watched the World Series for many years just because.

And little boys are, as much as yes, college might be a step in between, what are they dreaming of? They're dreaming of playing for the Angels, being Mike Trout or being Bryce Harper, whoever. So that's what they're watching. And girls, you can get to watch college softball. And so dads are sitting their girls down, watching it. And then the other part is our pro league has always been in the summer. And that's when girls are playing. If you're competitive, girls are playing that during that time and not probably sitting in front of the TV watching. So, it's at a perfect time, but I think too, it is the highest level of softball that's on routinely. And so the ratings go through the roof because one, you have the normal fan, and then two, you have the young girls who are playing or who just started and they get to watch and see what this game is all about.

Lindsay: What would you like to see as the next step for investment in softball?

Cat: To be honest, I think it would be nice to have a sustainable pro league. And by that it doesn't necessarily mean, you know…Athletes Unlimited is a great opportunity for us. It's five weeks out of the year right now though, and so either that needs to become more than once a year, or we need to have something that supplements it in the off time, which is very possible. I'm not going to sit here and say MLB has to jump on board. I actually honestly think Minor League Baseball should probably look at it. Like, why not put a softball team on the field when your baseball team goes out on the road? And vice versa. You know, you already have the infrastructure and the people, the event staff. You know, it'd be nice to get that partnership and have sponsors really buy in to giving female athletes a chance to be professional softball players. But, you know, I don't know where that starts. I just think, even as much as I would love every pro team for softball to have their own softball stadium, even if we had to play on a baseball field for a while until it got going and you could really make another stadium or something like that, it would be an opportunity for females to be able to truly live the professional softball life.

Lindsay: I like the idea of playing in minor league stadiums. I hadn't really thought of that before. That's so interesting. Could be just so successful, at least as a starting point. You know, you've seen throughout your career, the entire landscape of women's pro sports in the United States really shift. So what have you seen from like the WNBA, from women's soccer, you know, that you think maybe softball can learn from? To me, it's kind of astounding that, you know, the momentum on the pro level hasn't really carried over to softball as much.

Cat: I think the one thing Athletes Unlimited does that wasn't necessarily done as well in our professional league was just the marketing and getting it out there. I think you see Athletes Unlimited almost everywhere on your social media, and just all of that. So, I think people are more informed of what we're doing than they were informed about the pro league in the past. It was shocking to me after playing eight years in it, how many people still didn't know we had a professional league. And I'm like, I post about it! I’ve been playing for eight years. You know, how did we miss the mark there? I think obviously the WNBA has the backing of the NBA, which is really cool. But I think the WNBA and women's soccer just keep making adjustments to make it work. And unfortunately, I'm not sure that we did that the first time around, or…Well, I don't know how many times around. The NPF had different names and such.

But I don't know that we adjusted with social media, with using Facebook Live and YouTube and things like that, as opposed to only having to secure ESPN rights and things like that. So, if something takes off again, obviously there's enough athletes now that have played, are playing, and are very familiar with how all that works, that hopefully we can adjust to the times and allow more people to know what the product is and where it's at and how to follow it. And I think then you allow girls to dream once you put it in front of them. But obviously they have to know it exists first.

Lindsay: Who are a couple of the players, Athletes Unlimited or not, you know, just out there, that people should really be paying attention to? You know, maybe if people are listening to this and not following softball as closely, that these are players they should follow on social media, that they should follow their careers.

Cat: Well, following her career is Haylie McCleney. She’s easily one of the best position players in the world, hands down. And just to watch her play the game is pure joy. She loves every second of it, works hard at it, but she just loves being out there every second of it. Now, social media wise, Haylie goes on social media hiatuses from time to time, but still as a sophomore player in her career, she's going to do some more big things. And then as a pitcher, Odicci Alexander is the next big thing. Obviously the world fell in love with her at the world series with James Madison. But having played with her a couple of times here at Athletes Unlimited, I know she's going to put in the work to continue to be successful at this level. So, her journey is definitely going to be one worth following.

Lindsay: What do you think about softball as far as like, you know, we saw last summer when the softball world kind of got into more of the social advocacy with the This Is Us team, we’re seeing more diverse big stars. What do you think is the future of softball, maybe kind of a more diverse and inclusive one than it's been in the past? Or is it actually a misnomer that it hasn't been diverse, inclusive in the past? Like, am I off base with that question, period?

Cat: I don't think you're off base with the question. I don't think you're off base because I think there have been times where diversity isn't always seen, but at the same time in my career, I look at it and there's always been some type of diversity on my teams. I've never played on a team where we didn't have some sort of diversity. However, I think you also look at it and when we talk about diversity, it's not just about having every race represented, but you know, it is an expensive sport, unfortunately. And I think when you talk about that, then sometimes you exclude some socioeconomic groups or certain parts of different cities and whatnot that just can't afford to play it. But I do think there are a lot of organizations that are starting to include softball…A lot of baseball organizations are starting to include softball, so we're now offering softball to the same kids or the same girls in the demographic that they were doing that for the boys. And so I think the diversity of the sport is growing.

I think the other part is if you see it, you can believe it. And I think so many of the girls now, especially that are Black or identify as African-American, you ask them who they looked up to, and they'll tell you and Natasha Watley. So they saw Natasha Watley and they believed they can do it. And now you see Kelsey Stewart, Aleshia Ocasio, Jasmine Jackson, you name it. Girls are seeing them and saying, okay, I can do this too. And so, you know, it's going to grow the more you see those athletes at an elite level. 

Lindsay: What do you hope your legacy is? I know it's tough because individuals can't really define their own legacy, but like, what do you hope it is?

Cat: I hope it's one of passion and hard work. I hope people saw the passion I brought to the game, not only for my pitching, but just the game in general and watching my teams be able to excel and teammates be able to be successful. And then, you know, those that were in my inner circle or on my teams, I hope…I really truly value the work ethic I put into this craft, and so hopefully that rubbed off on them a little bit, or at least made an impact.

Lindsay: And what's next for you? And do you feel 100% confident that this is it for the pitching days?

Cat: Yeah, I'm definitely a hundred percent confident. This is it. I have a 10 year old stepdaughter who is a competitive dancer and a competitive softball player, so it will be time to go be her number one fan. She's been my number one fan for the last couple of years. So, it's time for the tables to turn. But immediately what's next? I will actually, here at Athletes Unlimited, we get to play for causes. My cause is RBI Austin, which does give the underserved community of Austin the opportunity to play softball, baseball, at obviously not the expensive rates, and I'm going to work for them part-time in October, full-time starting in January, where I will be developing the softball side of our organization.

Lindsay: That's incredible. And two of my Burn It All Down co-hosts live in Austin right now, so I'm going to have to get them to follow up on that for sure! Because that sounds amazing. 

Cat: For sure.

Lindsay: Well, Cat, thank you so, so much. What an honor to speak with you, and I'm looking forward to watching your final weekends and following what's next. 

Cat: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.