The letter ran just nine sentences and concluded threateningly, “We urge you to review your policies and practices in this regard, and open your membership to women now, so that this is not an issue when the tournament is staged next year.” Hootie Johnson decided to take the battle to the enemy. To Burk, he sent a short letter. To the news media, he sent a press release so forceful that it negated the news value of anything Burk might say in response.
“We will not be bullied, threatened, or intimidated,” Johnson wrote in the release. “We do not intend to become a trophy in their display case. There may well come a day when women will be invited to join our membership but that timetable will be ours and not at the point of a bayonet.” Would that Major League Baseball had a Hootie Johnson of its own!
For the larger story, read Scarlet Letters.
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