Atlanta radio jock launches ugly Twitter attack on ESPN's Jessica Mendoza

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Jessica Mendoza became the first woman to work as an analyst during an MLB postseason game on Tuesday night, as part of ESPN's broadcast booth for the Houston Astros and New York Yankees AL wild-card game.
She was spot-on too, delivering the type of analysis that has led to a larger role at ESPN this MLB season. She earned a spot calling a Monday Night Baseball game in August, then was promoted to the network's top baseball event, Sunday Night Baseball, when Curt Schilling was suspended in September.
[Elsewhere:*Astros blank Yankees 3-0 in AL wild-card game.]
Mendoza, 34, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in softball and considered one of the best players ever in the game. Softball and baseball aren't exactly the same thing, but Mendoza illustrated an ability to speak just as keenly about baseball during her tenure at ESPN.
Some fans were surprised to hear a woman on their TV, particularly if they hadn't been following the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecasts the last month of the season. But she'd been there, calling games, imparting knowledge and earning good reviews from baseball people. Certain fans don't like her — and won't like her — but then again some people are never going to say anything nice about a woman doing what is most frequently regarded as a man's job. It's 2015, but we haven't fully broken that barrier yet.
Your average dude who has a problem with women in positions of power spouting off on Twitter isn't news, honestly. The Internet is filled with such people and such opinions. But you'd think Mike Bell, a sports radio jock in Atlanta, would know better. After all, he has a radio show on 92.9 The Game. He knows how broadcasting works. And he knows there are some things you say when the mic is on and some things you don't. RIght?
Bell sent out the following Tweet during Tuesday's game, which he later deleted when the response wasn't a bunch of hooting and hollering and testosterone like he expected. But it was preserved by Boiled Sports.

A woman made history tonight calling an MLB Playoff game for ESPN. This is what an Atlanta radio guy thought of it. pic.twitter.com/xf3Rc07EFY
— Boiled Sports (@BoiledSports) October 7, 2015​

Wow. Not only is it insulting, but it's a super old reference too. That reference, coincidentally, was from "Anchorman," in a scene where TV anchor Ron Burgundy is uncomfortable with a woman joining his all-male team. That makes it even more of a face-palmer, as the film eventually shows us that Burgundy was wrong for doubting female co-worker.*
Like we said, Bell apologized, which is somewhat to be commended. But it you look at more of his tweets, you'll see that he apologized partially because he, "had no idea it would blow up." Bell's Twitter bio identifies him as a "a 12 year old with a driver's license," so maybe an adolescence response of "ewww, girls" shouldn't be all that surprising.*
While he deleted the tweet that started it all, Bell kept some of his others. Such as:

Really? A women's softball slugger as guest analyst on MLB Wildcard Game? Once again ESPN too frigging cute for their own good.
— Mike Bell (@mikebell929) October 7, 2015​

You guys are telling me there isn't a more qualified Baseball player ESPN can use than a softball player? Gimme a break!
— Mike Bell (@mikebell929) October 7, 2015​

We certainly don't except the male-dominated sports world to open its arms at the first signs of women getting high-profile jobs. We're not that naive. We know that people don't like change, particularly when it involves having to include people who were excluded before.
Oh, but there's no denying that change is happening. The old-boys network, little by little, is recognizing that women have a place in male sports. It's why the Oakland A's recently hired the first female coach in MLB, why the San Antonio Spurs have a female coach who's a rising star and why a female cracked the NFL gender barrier earlier this year. We have women sportswriters, women sports talk hosts, women public address announcers at stadiums. Each group has fought the "No Girls Allowed" sign at some point and each group has succeeded.*
[Related: Rays pitcher Chris Archer shows talent for TV in wild-card game.]
Here's an important point, though. Jessica Mendoza is good at her job. And that's more crucial than any other sentence in this post. She's insightful and interesting and offers a different perspective. If you don't want to hear different voices and different opinions while watching sports, then why not just watch black-and-white VHS tapes from the good ol' days?*
Yes, the world is changing. Fire off all the angry tweets you want, guys, but people like Jessica Mendoza are here to stay. And they're not ruining your sports-watching experience. They're adding to it.
You just may not realize it yet.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz