In Pitch's first episode, while Ginny was making her Major League Baseball debut, she kept flashing back to intense, and somewhat traumatizing, training sessions she had with her father as a kid. Her dad, Bill Baker, was a player in the minor league and he dreamed that his son would take up the sport. Instead, it was his daughter, Ginny, who fell in love with baseball. And, she paid the price with nonstop practicing, countless hours spent throwing baseballs and nectarines, practicing her screwball. For most of the pilot, it looks like Ginny's dad hasn't gotten any less demanding, even though she made it to the MLB. But, by the end of the first episode it's revealed that Ginny's dad isn't who you think he is on Pitch .
Ginny's dad mostly appears through flashbacks in the pilot, but cutaway shots also show him looking on in the crowd during Ginny's big games, and, after she chokes her first time on the mound, he drills her to practice that night — not taking no for an answer. He's tough, Ginny's dad, and borderline abusive in flashbacks which show him slapping Ginny's brother when she says she can't throw another strike during practice. But, in the last moments of the show, it's revealed that Ginny's dad is actually dead in Pitch , and has been ever since the night she was approached by an MLB scout.
It's unclear whether or not Ginny's dad will be present throughout the show as just in flashbacks, or also as a sort of spiritual figure watching over Ginny in the present day. (Don't worry, there doesn't appear to be any real supernatural element in Pitch.) I'm guessing he'll appear mostly in flashbacks, as it's his memory that drives her, that pushes her when she doesn't feel like she can go forward. And there's no doubt she's going to need a push now and again as the season continues.
Images: Tommy Garcia / FOX
