Last November, Siegel wrote letters to every general manager in Major League Baseball. She received one polite rejection.

“It turned out I wasn’t quite good enough, so my next goal was to be a batting practice pitcher,’’ she said.

Pitching her dream Siegal’s quest to pitch started in Cleveland Heights nearly 20 years ago when she was a 17-year-old Indians fan. Her grandfather had seats above the dugout at Municipal Stadium, and Siegal wanted to be the next Orel Hershiser.

“She puts it right in there,’’ said Crisp. “She did really well. I’d take BP off her every day.’’

Afterward, Crisp was full of praise for Siegal, whose lifelong dream became a reality last week when she pitched BP first to the Cleveland Indians and then the A’s.

“What are you doing?’’ he yelled at his Louisville Slugger. “It’s your fault.’’

But she soon found her rhythm and fired strike after strike to a small group of A’s starters. When Crisp popped up on his last swing, he flipped his bat in the air and caught it.

She was a tad wild at the outset.

Dipping into a crate full of shiny major league baseballs, Siegel, who slept in her A’s uniform jersey the night before, took a deep breath and threw a four-seam fastball over the top from behind a screen 50 feet away.

Siegal became the first female coach in organized professional baseball with the Brockton Rox in 2009. For three years, she was the only woman coaching men’s college baseball (at Springfield College, where she is completing her PhD in Sport and Exercise Psychology). She is the founder of Baseball For All, which advocates for baseball opportunities for girls and women.But all of that was irrelevant to Crisp, who tapped his bat on home plate, peered out at the 145-pound Siegal, and hollered, “Come on, ponytails. Bring it to me.’’

“So when I throw, all of a sudden we have a dialogue about how much girls and women love baseball, and how they want to be a part of it,’’ she said.

So she decided to toss batting practice — not for the publicity, but to nudge open closed doors.

“That’s how I react to adversity,’’ said the 36-year-old righthander from Springfield, Mass. “I’ve been fighting my whole life.’’

Had he done so, Siegal probably would have killed him with kindness.

“Better not hit me,’’ he joked. “I’ll charge the mound.’’

PHOENIX — Peering out at pigtails, Oakland A’s outfielder Coco Crisp playfully made a face at Justine Siegal, who is believed to be the first woman to pitch batting practice to a major league team.

So she went to the winter meetings in Orlando, Fla., and staked out the hotel lobby. Siegal approached Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

“I ambushed him in the lobby,’’ she said with a smile.

Francona, used to the quirky passions of Red Sox Nation, quickly dismissed the notion of her pitching BP.

“No, no, no, we already have people,’’ he told her.

But Siegal pushed her credentials, and Francona changed his tune.

“He starts apologizing profusely, and says, ‘Yeah we could do this,’ ’’ she said.

But Siegal said a subsequent e-mail to Francona bounced back to her.

“I don’t blame him,’’ she said with a laugh. “Some woman comes up to him with a beer in her hand at 1 a.m. . . .’’

Eventually, Oakland GM Billy Beane and Indians GM Chris Antonetti invited her to toss BP in Arizona. The Indians scheduled her first.

“We wanted her dream to come true,’’ said Antonetti. “She has demonstrated her passion and commitment to baseball.’’

The Tribe wanted her to throw to the minor leaguers first just to make sure she had the right stuff.

So on Feb. 21 Siegal arrived three hours early at the Indians complex in Goodyear. In the parking lot, she napped in a rented Volkswagen bug with her daughter, Jasmine, 13. Jasmine’s dreams don’t include baseball, but her ceiling has no limits thanks to her mother’s mantra. When Siegal signs an autograph, she writes, “Follow your dreams.’’

Siegal was ushered into the umpires’ dressing room by an Indians official. That was appreciated, but not necessary, she said.

“I’m actually capable of changing in front of a whole busload of men,’’ she said with a giggle.

Once inside, she saw a No. 15 Indians jersey — her daughter’s birthday in February — on a hanger in the locker.

“That made it very real and I couldn’t stop smiling,’’ she said.

She duct-taped a patch in honor of Christina-Taylor Green to her right sleeve. Green was the 9-year-old killed in the Tucson shootings and was the only girl on her baseball team. Her dream was to be the first woman to play in the major leagues.

On the field, Siegal ignored the photographers poking their lenses in the batting cage netting and threw strike after strike to a group of minor leaguers for 30 minutes.

The Indians immediately invited her to pitch later that day to the major leaguers on Practice Field 5.

Siegal asked Jasmine to accompany her on the long walk to make history.

“I’m very proud of my mom,’’ said Jasmine. “She’s my hero.’’