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Baseball artists, writers shut out by coronavirus pandemic

In this April 30, 2020, photo, Anika Orrock holds some of her autographed baseball cards of players from the All-American Girls Baseball League at her home in Nashville, Tenn. Orrock has written and illustrated a book on the players titled "The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League." (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
In this April 30, 2020, photo, Anika Orrock holds some of her autographed baseball cards of players from the All-American Girls Baseball League at her home in Nashville, Tenn. Orrock has written and illustrated a book on the players titled "The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League." (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) In this April 30, 2020, photo, Anika Orrock holds some of her autographed baseball cards of players from the All-American Girls Baseball League at her home in Nashville, Tenn. Orrock has written and illustrated a book on the players titled "The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League." (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

By KATHY WILLENS / Associated Press 4 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – Anika Orrock was all warmed up for her big pitch. On the mound at Yankee Stadium, tossing out the ceremonial first ball.

On Tuesday night, though, the baseball illustrator and cartoonist will be far from the Bronx. Instead of starting off the Pirates-Yankees game, she’ll be back in Nashville, Tennessee, pondering her fate.

No way to tour the country, promoting and celebrating the publication of her first book, based on the women pros popularized by the movie “A League of Their Own.”

Now with the majors and much of the country shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, she spends her days pacing around a small cul-de-sac at home, managing virtual promotions and brainstorming ways to replace lost opportunities and income.

“The moment this happened, and I realized that a book launch was going to be a book flop, it was a struggle,” she said, wondering, “What in the world am I going to do?”