Jess McCready is a main character in the Amazon Prime Video television series, A League of Their Own. She is portrayed by Kelly McCormack.
Biography[]
Jess attended try-outs for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League at Baker field in the first episode, Batter Up, and is seen later in the episode celebrating with a small group of girls that also got selected to play for Rockford Peaches. She expresses initial discomfort at the uniforms they're given to play in, more so than her teammates. This is furthered by her difficult time conforming to the instructions set forth during Charm School, where Greta and Carson have to jump in to prevent her getting kicked out of the league. Over the course of the series, she is seen being fined by Beverly for wearing pants in public, something forbidden in the AAGPBL rules of conduct introduced in Batter Up.
Jess is often seen spitting, smoking or drinking in many of her scenes, additional forbidden activities in the rules of conduct. She also seems to have some bad hygiene habits, observed by her dirty fingernails in multiple episodes. She has a very carefree attitude towards a lot of things, and can appear blunt, or to characters such as Shirley "insane" (Sounds Crowded deleted scene in The Cut Off). However, she's also a determined and dedicated player, as well as a thoughtful teammate.
She forms a close friendship with Lupe throughout the series, and they are often seen close together in many of their scenes. They do have a minor conflict after Jess gets a black eye during the fight in Switch Hitter. This carries on into Back Footed, though it is resolved later in the episode, where Jess toasts to Lupe after their win against the South Bend Blue Sox. In their last scene in Perfect Game, a conversation between them can be heard in the background, they mention the possibility of going to New York together during the off season.
Trivia[]
- Jess is the shortstop for the Rockford Peaches. Her player number is 6.
- In Switch Hitter, she mentions to Jo that she has "a lot" of brothers. It isn't mentioned how many.
- Jess is from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and was raised on a farm. This explains her quote "I get it. Don’t get comfortable, we’re all gonna die” from Find The Gap, as she would've been brought up during the Great Depression, which was especially hard on agriculture.
- Although she is never seen sneaking out, in Stealing Home, she appears at the bar alongside Lupe - indicating that she had been.
- In Stealing Home it is revealed that Jess had known Carson was queer since the bar in episode one, but didn't say anything.
- She also caught Carson and Greta after they fell asleep in Jess and Greta's room one night. This is never shown in the show or the deleted scenes, but is mentioned by Jess in Stealing Home.
- She seems to understand some Spanish, implying that she'd picked up on some vocabulary from Lupe and/or Esti.
- She carries a guitar along with her luggage, though she is never seen playing it.
- Jess says the iconic line "there's no crying in baseball" from the 1992 film adaptation of A League of Their Own (Back Footed).
- Jess's roommate for the majority of the season is Greta. Despite being extremely different, they get on very well.
- Jess develops a bond with the youngest player, Esti, throughout the series. She is often seen concerned about her wellbeing, inquiring if she's okay when she's seen to be upset. Jess is the first one to worry when Esti goes missing in Stealing Home.
- She seems to be quite superstitious, and tells her teammates that as "lady luck" is on their side they shouldn't change anything from then onwards, to prevent them from losing (Stealing Home).