SYMHC Classics: All American Girls Professional Baseball League - Stuff You Missed in History Class

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[00:00]
Therapy Gecko Host
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.
[00:06]
T Mobile Advertiser
Breaking news T Mobile Network outperforms expectations in all sectors because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now. Keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off at the $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4 lines of your virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service report in 90 plus days device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Required card has no cash access and expires in six.
[00:36]
Holly Fry
Listen to your elders, honey. You might know them from their viral videos, but now the old gays are pulling back the curtain with their new podcast, Silver Linings with the Old Gays, brought to you in partnership with iHeart's Ruby Studio and Veeve Healthcare. Hosts Robert, Mick, Bill and Jesse serve their lifetime of wisdom when it comes to love, sex, community and whatever else they've got on the gay agenda. So check out Silver Linings with the Old gays on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to the new Audible original the Big A Jack Bergen Mystery starring John Hamm as the hard boiled private eye cracking his latest case of murder and mystery conspiracy abounds as a Mexican American community is pushed out in order to build Dodgers stadium in this story inspired by the real life Battle of Chavez Ravine, co starring Ana de la Regiera, Omar Epps and Alia Shawkat, plus a cameo from John Slattery created by John Mankiewicz and directed by Aaron Lipstadt. Listen to a gritty and winding tale that delivers both meaning and mayhem with a solid punch. Go to audible.com the Big Fix and listen Now I found out I was.
[01:45]
Therapy Gecko Host
Related to the guy that I was dating.
[01:47]
Holly Fry
I don't feel emotions correctly.
[01:49]
T Mobile Advertiser
I collect my roommate's toenails and fingernails.
[01:51]
Therapy Gecko Host
Those were some callers from my call in Podcast Therapy Gecko. It's a show where I take phone calls from anonymous strangers as a fake gecko therapist and try to learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's very interesting. Check it out for yourself by searching for Therapy gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[02:19]
Holly Fry
Happy Saturday. On May 17, 1943, spring training started for what would eventually be known as the All American Girls Professional Baseball league. That was 82 years ago. On the day that this episode publishes. So that is today's Saturday classic.
[02:35]
Tracy B. Wilson
Since we released this episode, which was on March 18, 2020, there has been a remake of A League of Their Own, which was in the form of a TV show that ran for, sadly, only one season on Amazon Prime. The documentary A Secret Love, which we mention at the very end of this episode, is also indeed available on Netflix. So enjoy.
[03:01]
Holly Fry
Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio.
[03:12]
Tracy B. Wilson
Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson.
[03:15]
Holly Fry
And I'm Holly Fry.
[03:16]
Tracy B. Wilson
Holly, I am sure you've seen A League of Their Own.
[03:20]
Holly Fry
I have.
[03:21]
Tracy B. Wilson
I feel like it's safe to say most of our listeners have either seen A League of Their Own or at the very, very least, have heard someone say there's no crying in baseball, which is probably its most quoted line.
[03:35]
Holly Fry
I think you could come to my house and hear it once a week out of my husband's mouth if you want to just hang out.
[03:41]
Tracy B. Wilson
So this is a 1992 film that tells the story of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. It is a work of fiction, but it also gets some of the highlights correct. The league was founded during World War II as many of Major League Baseball's male players had joined the military. But the movie also kind of makes it seem like this was a temporary diversion that ended when the war did. There's a line basically about continuing on with it, but it's not really explored beyond that. In reality, though, these women were athletes. Some of them thought they were starting a lifelong career in professional baseball that would last as long as they were able to play. The league itself also went on for years after the war was over. And this is also a listener request. We've heard about it at various points over the years, but the one that I wrote down was from listener marav.
[04:32]
Holly Fry
So by 1943, when this league was founded, baseball was considered both the national pastime in the United States and a man's game. But it didn't start out that way. As the game of baseball was developing in the 19th century, it wasn't just for men and boys. Children played together in neighborhood games regardless of their gender. Semi professional and professional leagues included women players and women's teams, and there were also teams at women's colleges, the first being at Vassar in 1866. An all black women's team called the Dolly Vardens was established in Philadelphia in 1867.
[05:10]
Tracy B. Wilson
During baseball's earlier years, the rules weren't particularly standardized, and there were all Kinds of variations in things like the size of the playing field, the size of the ball, and the style of pitching. In a lot of places, everyone played by the same rules, regardless of their gender. Although it was not uncommon for women to be expected to play in floor length dresses. It was also common, though, for girls baseball teams specifically to have modified rule sets that, for example, made the playing field a little smaller.
[05:40]
Holly Fry
Barnstorming became an important part of baseball's development. Starting in 1860, teams would go on the road to play exhibition matches outside of official league Play. By the 1890s, barnstormers included all women teams known as bloomer girls because of their billowy uniform legs. So they resembled the loose trousers advocated by dress reformers in the 19th century. That's not underwear.
[06:06]
Tracy B. Wilson
Imagining that when they said bloomer girls, it meant playing in their underwear made me giggle a little bit, but that's not what it meant. Over time, one set of baseball rule modifications morphed into its own distinct style sport. And that sport was softball. These two games have a lot of similarities. They both involve hitting a throne ball with a bat and then rounding a set of bases that are arranged as a diamond. But softball uses a larger, softer ball, thus the name. That ball is pitched underhanded rather than overhand or sidearm. The pitching distance is shorter, and the overall field of play is a little smaller.
[06:44]
Holly Fry
Initially, the game that developed into softball was meant as a baseball alternative that could be played indoors in bad weather. Sometimes it was even called just indoor baseball. It became particularly popular in places where space was limited or where the only place to play was indoors. It was also played outdoors in places with limited space. In the late 19th century, settlement houses in the US started establishing playgrounds and encouraging active play in urban areas, especially among boys. Softball became so closely connected to the settlement movement and to these playgrounds that some sources have erroneously credited Chicago's Hull House with inventing it. And we talked about Hull House and its founder Jane Addams in a previous two parter on the show. Did not invent softball.
[07:31]
Tracy B. Wilson
No. Did play it a whole lot. Though the overlap between baseball and softball and who was playing it continued until about 1933. That is when the amateur Softball association was founded as that sport sports governing body. And the name softball was formally adopted for it. And at this point, girls baseball teams that had been using some kind of modified rule set generally moved over to playing softball.
[07:58]
Holly Fry
It did not take long before people took for granted that baseball was for boys and softball was for girls, A distinction that persists in a lot of places today. When Little League baseball was founded in 1939, it was intended for boys, although that did not become an official rule until 1951 in response to Kay Johnston of New York cutting her hair to join a team under the name Tubby. The Tubby rule remained in place until 1974 after a series of court cases and a ruling by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights.
[08:33]
Tracy B. Wilson
I guess that's just, it's such a good illustration of how it was assumed to be for boys. So much so that it wasn't even in the rules until after a girl cut her hair to join a team. Like, yeah, it was just taken totally for granted. So by the 1940s, both softball and baseball were well established in the United States. They were two separate sports, one for men and boys, the other for women and girls. Both had amateur, semi professional and professional teams and leagues.
[09:03]
Holly Fry
And that brings us to World War II. If you remember our October 2019 episode on the Black Sox scandal. During World War I, the idea of Major League Baseball continuing on in spite of the war was deeply controversial. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker issued a work or fight order which required any man eligible for the draft to either work in a war critical industry or join the military. Men who continued to play baseball were viewed as abandoning their patriotic duty. And after the U.S. joined the war, Major League Baseball shortened the 1918 season.
[09:40]
Tracy B. Wilson
As war once again started to spread through Europe in 1939, people feared that the sport of baseball would be disrupted as it had been a couple of decades earlier. These fears escalated after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December of 1941, and the United States entered the war at that point. In January of 1942, Kennesaw Mountain Landis, the Commissioner of Baseball, wrote to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to ask, quote, what you have in mind as to whether professional baseball should continue to operate.
[10:12]
Holly Fry
On January 15, 1942, Roosevelt, who was a fan of baseball, responded with what has become known as the Green Light letter. It read in part, quote, I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before.
[10:39]
Tracy B. Wilson
In his letter, the President stressed that players who were of an age to join the military should do so, but that they might be replaced with older players who could still play an exciting game. The President also advocated for more night games so that day shift workers at wartime factories could go.
[10:56]
Holly Fry
The president ended the greenlight letter by saying, quote, here is another way of looking at it. If 300 teams use 5,000 or 6,000 players, these players are a definite recreation, asset to at least 20 million of their fellow citizens. And that, in my judgment, is thoroughly worthwhile.
[11:15]
Tracy B. Wilson
So even though baseball had the President's seal of approval, roughly half of the regular players in Major League Baseball wound up serving in the military. Some of its best and most popular players were drafted. Of course, that trend also applied to the minor leagues and to other baseball teams as well as so even though the president himself had given the okay for baseball to continue, there were people worried that the sport was going to struggle and that this might even lead to the closure of some of the nation's ballparks.
[11:45]
Holly Fry
One of these concerned people was Philip K. Wrigley. His father, William Wrigley Jr. Had died in 1932, leaving Philip the William Wrigley Jr. Chewing Gum Co. A fortune and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
[11:59]
Tracy B. Wilson
We will get to what he did after a quick Sponsor Breaking News T.
[12:06]
T Mobile Advertiser
Mobile Network outperforms expectations in all sectors because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card allow 15 days qualified unlock device credit service report in 90 plus days device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card is no cash access and expires in six months.
[12:35]
Therapy Gecko Host
I found out that was related to.
[12:37]
Kristen Davis
The guy that I was dating.
[12:38]
Holly Fry
I don't feel emotions correctly. I am talking to a felon right now and I cannot decide if I.
[12:43]
Tracy B. Wilson
Like him or not.
[12:44]
Therapy Gecko Host
Those were some callers from my call in Podcast Therapy Gecko It's a show where I take real phone calls from anonymous strangers all over the world as a free fake gecko therapist and try to dig into their brains and learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's pretty interesting if you give it a shot. Matter of fact, here's a few more examples of the kinds of calls we get on this show.
[13:10]
Tracy B. Wilson
I live with my boyfriend and I found his piss jar in our apartment.
[13:15]
T Mobile Advertiser
I collect my roommate's toenails and fingernails.
[13:17]
Holly Fry
I have very overbearing parents. Even at the age of 29 they won't let me move out of their house.
[13:23]
Therapy Gecko Host
So if you want an excuse to get out of your own head and see what's going on in someone else's head, search for therapy gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's the one with the green guy on it.
[13:38]
Kristen Davis
Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast Are youe a Charlotte? What we have All Been Waiting For. Sarah Jessica Parker is here and she is sharing stories from the very beginning. Like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot.
[13:55]
Holly Fry
Right.
[13:56]
Kristen Davis
I have some memories I can feel and that you're going to fill me in. Yes. But then you forgot about it in the very long time they took about it. And she reveals what she thought when she read the script for Sex and the City the very first time. He said he wrote this like I was in his head in some way, which I found really interesting. And does she think Carrie is too good for Mr. Big? She had inexplicable feelings. It is the human being that can't explain to her friends why somebody that might be beneath her is dictating the hunt. You can't miss this. Listen to Are youe a Charlotte? On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[14:39]
Tracy B. Wilson
A lot of times, the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.
[14:47]
Holly Fry
Three or four days a week, I.
[14:48]
Tracy B. Wilson
Would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.
[14:53]
Therapy Gecko Host
The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on everybody's business. From Bloomberg Business Week, I'm Max Chavkin.
[15:01]
Tracy B. Wilson
And I'm Stacey Vanek Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.
[15:12]
Therapy Gecko Host
With guests like BusinessWeek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull, we'll take you inside the boardrooms, the back rooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.
[15:25]
Tracy B. Wilson
Hey, I want to learn about vechain. I want to buy some blockchain or.
[15:28]
Therapy Gecko Host
Whatever it is that they're doing.
[15:31]
Tracy B. Wilson
So listen to everybody's business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. About 3 million women joined the workforce in the United States between 1940 and 1942. And Philip K. Wrigley thought that maybe the same trend could apply to professional ball. Women's teams could play in ballparks where the home teams were on the road, keeping the sport in the parks going while so many men were away at war. These teams of women could also help boost the national morale and help the war effort with things like fundraising and recruitment drives.
[16:12]
Holly Fry
Wrigley teamed up with Ken Sells, who had previously worked for the chewing gum business but had become assistant general manager of the Chicago Cubs. On February 17, 1943, they issued a press release announcing the creation of the All American Girls Softball League. Their plan was to recruit players from the women's softball teams that had been established all over the country. At the beginning, Jim Hamilton was the lead talent scout in the US And Johannes Gottselig, known as Johnny, headed up recruitment in Canada.
[16:44]
Tracy B. Wilson
But Wrigley also wanted to make the game a little closer to what spectators might expect from a baseball game. So they worked out a rule set that had elements of both baseball and softball. Like softball, it used a larger ball in an underhanded pitching style. But like baseball, the teams had nine players per side rather than softball's 10. The playing field would also have a longer pitching distance and running path than softball did, but it was still shorter than what was being used in baseball. Players in this game would also be allowed to steal bases, something that was not allowed in softball. These changes caused some controversy about exactly what sport was being played out there on the field, and the league changed its name to the All American Girls Baseball League. Partway through the 1943 season, as recruiters.
[17:34]
Holly Fry
Visited softball teams to look for players, hundreds of women and girls expressed interest in playing professionally. About 280 were invited to the final tryouts, and 60 players from the US and Canada were ultimately selected to play in the 1943 season. Some of these young women were as young as 15, although most of them were between 18 and 22. As was the case with Major League Baseball at the time, the newly established women's league excluded black players.
[18:04]
Tracy B. Wilson
These players were arranged into four teams of 15 players each. The Rockford Peaches of Illinois, the South Bend Blue Sox of Indiana, and the Racine Belles and the Kenosha Comets of Wisconsin. Each of these was not far away from a much larger major city. They were also close enough together to allow the teams to travel from one city to the next for games while still conserving fuel and rubber during wartime rationing.
[18:31]
Holly Fry
The league's setup was significantly different from Major League Baseball or most other leagues at the time. The league itself was a non profit organization with Philip Wrigley, Paul Harvey, and Branch Rickey as trustees. Much of the initial funding came from Wrigley himself. He spent about $250,000 getting the whole project started, and he contributed to the team's maintenance costs, especially in the first year.
[18:57]
Tracy B. Wilson
The players contracts were also centrally owned by the league. Rather than being owned by one of the four teams. This meant that the players pay was set by the league. There were no bidding wars with teams trying to entice the best players to sign on with them. That first year, the players made between $45 and $85 a week. That does not sound like much, but it is significantly more than most of them had been making in agricultural or factory work or maybe playing in a paying softball league. Players in the league were prohibited from doing any other work during the season.
[19:32]
Holly Fry
The centrally owned player contracts also meant that the league had the right to trade players from one team to another. One of the league's goals was for all the games to be as evenly matched and exciting to watch as possible. So player trades happened throughout the season. As they tried to keep this balance.
[19:50]
Tracy B. Wilson
Each team had a manager who also acted as a coach. These were typically men who had experience in major league or minor league baseball. Every team also had a business manager as well as a chaperone who was a woman and was a paid part of the staff. During the league's history, most of the chaperones had some experience in working with women's athletic teams.
[20:10]
Holly Fry
The chaperones were responsible for making housing arrangements for the team, handling money, and approving any housing and dining accommodations that the team was going to use. In some ways, they were a little like athletic trainers as well, being trained in first aid and responsible for the team's first aid kit and the treatment of injuries. They were also ultimately responsible for the player's conduct, behavior and appearance.
[20:35]
Tracy B. Wilson
That last point was a lot. Most of the players came from working class and agricultural communities that didn't really regard women's participation in softball as unusual in any way. A lot of them had been playing on teams that had been organized by their employers, with that involvement being seen as pretty normal and fun. But that wasn't necessarily true among the middle class, which was a big part of the audience that the league was hoping to attract. The idea that women were playing baseball, which was considered to be a game for men, also raised some suspicions about the players. A common stereotype was that women athletes were lesbians. That's a stereotype that still exists today, but without nearly the level of stigma that was Attached to it in the 1940s.
[21:21]
Holly Fry
So the league went to great lengths to reinforce the idea that these players weren't just women, they were ladies. Specifically patriotic, wholesome, middle class, heterosexual ladies. Outwardly, the league described all its rules and training about things like beauty and conduct as a service teaching working class girls to be middle class ladies, which of course suggested that to be middle class was better than to be working class. And on top of that, a lot of the rules and standards in place were also meant to reduce suspicions of lesbianism.
[21:56]
Tracy B. Wilson
This included the players uniforms. These were one piece pastel colored tunic like garments with a flared skirt, which were worn with satin shorts and knee socks. They were designed by Wrigley's wife, Ada, along with poster artist Otis Sheppard and softball player Anne Harnett. They were also patterned after women's figure skating and tennis attire. These uniforms were meant to set the players apart from the barnstorming bloomer girls that we referenced earlier and to reinforce the idea that the players on the field were femin and women. These skirts did not really do much to protect the player's legs from scrapes and other injuries, but the players were also expected to look pristine at all times and not really have any visible injuries.
[22:40]
Holly Fry
Perfectly prim, athletic lady.
[22:44]
Tracy B. Wilson
It's the whole kind of convoluted tangle, yeah.
[22:48]
Holly Fry
The specific rules varied over the league's history, but the general idea of players being the right kind of woman was part of it. Throughout, each player was issued a guide for all american girls. How to look better, feel better, be more popular. In the 1943 season, Helena Rubenstein's beauty salon taught charm and beauty lessons for the players that included hygiene, personal appearance, etiquette, and things like how to gracefully get in and out of a car or go up and down stairs. The Ruth Tiffany school provided these lessons the next year. Formal charm lessons ended after that point, but a focus on appropriate feminine behavior continued.
[23:30]
Tracy B. Wilson
Players were also issued a beauty kit that they were expected to keep stock. It included cleansing cream, lipstick, rouge, deodorant, astringent, face powder, hand lotion, and hair remover. They were required to be attractive and presentable at all times, and they had to wear a dress or a skirt anytime they were seen in public. Most of the players wore trousers on the bus for the sake of comfort, Especially during nighttime road trips between games, but kept a skirt with them to change into if they stopped for something like a restroom break or a meal.
[24:02]
Holly Fry
Some of the other rules from the player's code of conduct no boyish bobbed hair, no smoking no drinking alcohol and no social engagements unless they were approved by a chaperone. Lipstick was mandatory at all times, and there were also more mundane rules about things like punctuality.
[24:21]
Tracy B. Wilson
The player's code of conduct specified a $5 fine for the first offense, a $10 fine for the second offense, and suspension for the third, but there were players that faced harsher penalties. Josephine D' Angelo, known as JoJo, was cut from the Blue Sox in her second year from the team after she got a bobbed haircut that was described as too short and butchy in some accounts. Frida and Olympia Savona, who were star players from the New Orleans Jacks Brewing Company softball team, were passed over for the All American Girls League because of their masculine appearance. There were definitely some news stories that made disparaging comments about the Savona's appearance, but Frida wrote to a reporter to say this had nothing to do with why she was not in the league. She said she was just happier and better paid where she was.
[25:10]
Holly Fry
Fraternizing with members of other teams was also forbidden within the league. The league framed this as a way to keep the level of competitiveness high, but many of the players interpreted it as a way to discourage romantic relationships between them.
[25:24]
Tracy B. Wilson
So that's kind of an overview of what the league was like when spring training started its first season on May 17th of 1943. That happened in Chicago. The first pitch of the season was thrown on May 30th of 1943, and.
[25:39]
Holly Fry
We'Ll talk about how things grew and evolved from there after we first have.
[25:43]
T Mobile Advertiser
A little sponsor Breaking News T Mobile Network outperforms expectations in all sectors because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are On America's largest 5G network Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off at the $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com KeepAndSwitch up to four lines of a virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlocked device, credit service report in 90 plus days device and eligible carrier and timely redemption Required Card has no cash access and expires in six months.
[26:16]
Therapy Gecko Host
I found out that was related to.
[26:18]
Kristen Davis
The guy that I was dating.
[26:19]
Holly Fry
I don't feel emotions correctly. I am talking to a felon right now and I cannot decide if I like him or not.
[26:26]
Therapy Gecko Host
Those were some callers from my call in Podcast Therapy Gecko. It's a show where I take real phone calls from anonymous strangers all over the world as A phone call, fake gecko therapist and try to dig into their brains and learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's pretty interesting if you give it a shot. Matter of fact, here's a few more examples of the kinds of calls we get on this show.
[26:51]
Tracy B. Wilson
I live with my boyfriend and I found his piss jar in our apartment.
[26:56]
T Mobile Advertiser
I collect my roommate's toenails and fingernails.
[26:59]
Holly Fry
I have very overbearing parents. Even at the age of 29, they don't let me move out of their house.
[27:04]
Therapy Gecko Host
So if you want an excuse to get out of your own head and see what's going on in someone else's head, search for therapy gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's the one with the green guy on it.
[27:19]
Kristen Davis
Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast Are youe a Charlotte? What we have All Been Waiting For. Sarah Jessica Parker is here and she is sharing stories from the very beginning. Like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot. Right. I have some memories I can fill in that you're going to fill me in. Yes. But then you forgot about it in the very long time they took about it. And she reveals what she thought when she read the script for Sex and the City the very first time he said he wrote this like I was in his head in some way, which I found really interesting. And does she think Carrie is too good for Mr. Big? She had inexplicable feelings. It is the human being that can't explain to her friends why somebody that might be beneath her is dictating the hunt. You can't miss this. Listen to Are youe a Charlotte? On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[28:21]
Tracy B. Wilson
A lot of times, the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one.
[28:34]
Therapy Gecko Host
The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on everybody's business. From Bloomberg Business Week, I'm Max Chavkin.
[28:43]
Tracy B. Wilson
And I'm Stacey Vanek Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.
[28:54]
Therapy Gecko Host
But guests like BusinessWeek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull. We'll take you inside the boardrooms, the back rooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.
[29:06]
Tracy B. Wilson
Hey, I want to learn about Vechain, I want to buy some blockchain or.
[29:09]
Therapy Gecko Host
Whatever it is that they're doing.
[29:12]
Tracy B. Wilson
So listen to everybody's business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[29:19]
Therapy Gecko Host
Foreign.
[29:24]
Tracy B. Wilson
The All American Girls Baseball League's first season included sporting events as well as wartime patriotism. Teams made appearances at recruitment drives and fundraisers, and they visited wounded soldiers that had returned stateside. On July 1, they held an All Star game against a team from the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, which was played under the lights at Wrigley Field. This event was part of a recruitment drive held free of charge and at night so that working women could attend. Some of the league's patriotism was more symbolic, like having the two teams that were going to be competing lined up in a V for victory during the national anthem at the beginning of every game.
[30:04]
Holly Fry
The 1943 season ended with a five game championship series in which the Racine Belles defeated the Kenosha Comets. More than 175,000 fans attended games in that first season. Then in 1944, the league expanded to six teams. Another competing league was founded that same year, the National Girls Baseball League. Established in Chicago, this league continued until 1954, although its history and activities aren't nearly as well documented as the All American Girls League.
[30:36]
Tracy B. Wilson
At the end of the 1944 season, Philip Wrigley sold the league to Arthur Meyerhoff for $10,000, which was a fraction of what he had put into getting it started and operating it. In those first two seasons, it had become clear that the sport of men's baseball was not in any kind of actual peril from the war. But apart from that, Wrigley was just not really interested in being so heavily involved in the league anymore. Meyerhoff had also been a big part of the league since its inception, and Wrigley was confident that he would maintain the same standards that Wrigley had established in terms of quality and entertainment.
[31:12]
Holly Fry
The biggest change at this point was that the league went from being a nonprofit to a for profit entity. Otherwise, the players contracts were still centrally owned and each team continued to have paid managers and chaperones. Meyerhoff put a big focus on marketing and promoting the league. He also organized postseason exhibition tours to Cuba and South America, mainly to countries where Wrigley chewing gum had a presence thanks to the rubber and chicle industries.
[31:40]
Tracy B. Wilson
Over time, the style of play within the league continued to shift and become more and more like men's baseball. The ball gradually got smaller and harder. Pitching and infield distances got longer. Sidearm pitching was introduced in 1946 and overhand pitching in 1948. Some players that had been recruited from softball teams had a little trouble adjusting to these changes, and Meyerhoff established a junior league and farm teams to cultivate new talent.
[32:08]
Holly Fry
Although the All American Girls Baseball League had started out with the idea of being a substitution for men's baseball During World War II, its popularity really peaked after the war ended in 1945. In 1946, a July 4 doubleheader in South Bend, Indiana, drew a crowd of between 10,000 and 20,000 people. Attendance peaked in 1948 with nearly a million fans in attendance that year. The league had 10 teams from Rockford to Peoria, Chicago and Springfield, Illinois Racine in Kenosha, Wisconsin, South Bend and Fort Wayne, Indiana and Grand Rapids in Muskegon, Michigan. Most of the team names were distinctly feminine, including the Peaches, Chicks, Millerettes, Daisies, Lassies, Colleen's, Sally's and Belles.
[32:56]
Tracy B. Wilson
Although the league grew between 1945 and 1948, it also faced some struggles in those years. The idea of women playing baseball had drawn suspicion since the beginning, but that increased when there was no longer a wartime patriotic need for women to take up what was seen as men's work. Individual teams also folded for various reasons from time to time, and then that put a strain on the rest of the league as it tried to absorb those other players.
[33:23]
Holly Fry
After a while, friction started to develop between individual teams in Meyerhoff's management company. While the league owned the players contracts, the teams all had their own owners, who started to object to the requirement to send some of their ticket revenues back to Meyerhoff. Meyerhoff was putting most of the proceeds back into the league, but even so, a perception grew that Meyerhoff was making money off of the team's work.
[33:48]
Tracy B. Wilson
As attendance started to fall off in 1948, Meyerhoff embarked on some ambitious plans to try to revive the league. This included an attempt to start an international women's baseball league, which would play in Florida, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Cuba during the winter and early spring. Although an international league was formed very briefly, it never really got off the ground.
[34:11]
Holly Fry
At the end of the 1950 season, the teams bought out Meyerhoff and became self governing and decentralized. The league's name had been through slight tweaks through the years, and at this point it became the American Girls Baseball League, or agbl, although most people still use the word all. At this point, players started contracting with teams for their rates rather than the league, which increased pay disparities as teams tried to attract and keep the best players.
[34:39]
Tracy B. Wilson
The only paid position in the league at this point was the commissioner, and without a Central League organization that was promoting and marketing the games, attendance continued to drop. The league also faced increased competition from other forms of entertainment in the 50s, including televised men's baseball games.
[34:57]
Holly Fry
The American Girls Baseball league dissolved in 1954. During its history, about 600 women from the United States, Canada and Cuba had played for teams in 14 Midwestern cities during baseball season. They played six or seven games a week, with doubleheaders on Sundays and holidays, sleeping on buses overnight as they traveled from one city to the next. This was a grueling schedule, which may be one reason why about a quarter of the players only played for one season or less.
[35:26]
Tracy B. Wilson
Although Major League Baseball had started to desegregate in the late 1940s and President Harry Truman issued an executive order to desegregate the armed forces in 1948, the All American Girls Baseball League was segregated throughout its history. Although two black women practiced with the South Bend Blue Sox in 1951, neither of them wound up signing a contract with the league.
[35:49]
Holly Fry
However, there were three black women who played on men's teams in the Negro leagues in the 1950s Mamie Peanut Johnson, Connie Morgan, and Marcenia Lyle, who used the name Toni Stone professionally. All three started with the Indianapolis Clowns. Toni Stone replaced Hank Aaron there, and her contract was sold to the Kansas City monarchs before the 1954 season. There are reports that Toni Stone tried out for the All American Girls League as well, but those are not concretely documented.
[36:21]
Tracy B. Wilson
After the All American Girls League was dissolved, many of the players adopted what's been described as a self imposed silence. Most of them did not really talk about their time playing professional baseball, even among their families. Reasons why are not entirely clear, but stigma may have been one factor. According to one survey that was conducted in the 90s, about 20% of players reported facing discrimination because of their history as an athlete.
[36:47]
Holly Fry
However, many used the money that they'd earned playing baseball to go to college or to start a career, with some attending college and graduate school during the off season. One researcher who interviewed players later in their life found that about 35% had graduated from college, compared to less than 10% of women in the general population in the same era. This has been described as a precursor to Title IX effects on women's college enrollment, giving women educational opportunities that they didn't have access to otherwise.
[37:18]
Tracy B. Wilson
When the women's liberation movement started in the 1960s and 70s, historians and other researchers started unearthing the league's history, and the players started reconnecting with each other and documenting their own history at the same time. In the late 70s, Dorothy Kamni Kamenchek and Marge Winzel and June Pepys all met up and started talking about organizing a reunion. In October of 1980, Pepys sent a letter to the few players whose addresses she had been able to find and started trying to track people down. By January of 1981, this had morphed into a newsletter which grew from a handful of addresses to more than a hundred. With this also coalesced into a players association that still exists today.
[38:03]
Holly Fry
The first of many reunions was held in Chicago in 1982, and the newsletter became part of an effort to establish a league archive and to get some kind of recognition in the National Baseball hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. It was during this process that the league's name became formally finalized as the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.
[38:25]
Tracy B. Wilson
The players efforts for recognition came to fruition on November 5th of 1988 with the formal unveiling of a permanent Women in Baseball exhibit at the Baseball hall of Fame. The league's players had been an active part in this exhibit's creation, including donating their photographs, uniforms, equipment, and memorabilia. A league archive was established at the Northern Indiana Historical Society Museum, now called the History Museum, in South Bend, Indiana. There was also an exhibition through the Smithsonian.
[38:56]
Holly Fry
The league was also the subject of a short documentary called A League of Their Own that aired nationally on public television on September 30, 1987. And of course, there's the 1992 feature film directed by Penny Marshall, which was a blockbuster and was actually when many people first heard about women's baseball.
[39:14]
Tracy B. Wilson
Another documentary tells the story of Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel. Donahue was recruited from Saskatchewan, Canada, and played for the Peoria Red Wings for four seasons after these two women met. In between seasons, Henschel left her life in Canada behind to join Donahue in the United States. Although the two of them described themselves at the time as cousins and roommates, they were really a couple, and the documentary tells the story of their lives together. The film is called A Secret Love. It was supposed to premiere at south by Southwest in March of 2020, but of course, because of the pandemic, south by Southwest has been canceled. So I'm not sure what the status of the film's debut is at this point. But at some point I think it might come to Netflix because there is a page for it in the Netflix Media Center.
[40:02]
Holly Fry
Exciting. Henschel is also one of the people Brittany delacreta interviewed when reporting her article the Hidden Queer History Behind A League of Their Own. At that point, both Donahue and Henschel were still living, but Donahue died in 2019. At that time, she and Henschel had been together for 71 years.
[40:22]
Tracy B. Wilson
The All American Girls Professional Baseball League's website for the player association also has a wealth of information on the individual players, including their photos, their team histories, their biographies, and for those who are no longer living, many of their obituaries are there as well. It is really a ton if you want to go read about some women baseball players. Lots and lots to look at there. Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, our email address is historypodcastheartradio.com and you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite show.
[41:12]
Therapy Gecko Host
I found out that was related to.
[41:14]
Kristen Davis
The guy that I was dating.
[41:15]
Holly Fry
I don't feel emotions correctly.
[41:17]
T Mobile Advertiser
I collect my roommates, toenails and fingernails.
[41:20]
Therapy Gecko Host
Those were some callers from my call in podcast Therapy Gecko. It's a show where I take phone calls from anonymous strangers as a fake gecko therapist and try to learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's very interesting. Check it out for yourself by searching for Therapy gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[41:45]
Kristen Davis
Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast Are you a Charlotte? Sarah Jessica Parker is here and she is sharing stories from the very beginning, like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot, right. I have some memories I can fill in and then you're going to fill me in. Yes, but then you forgot about it in the very long time they took me in. Forgot about it. Listen to Are youe a Charlotte? On the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
[42:15]
Holly Fry
I think it's a sign of great mental health to acknowledge the dark wolf inside you.
[42:19]
T Mobile Advertiser
It's Mental Health Awareness Month and on a recent episode of the one you feed, Josh Radner from How I Met yout Mother joins us to talk about fame, self acceptance, aging and finding peace in discomfort. That is the mercy of time.
[42:33]
Tracy B. Wilson
That time it is a healer. To hear this and more on healing.
[42:38]
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Identity and the wisdom of slowing down. Open your free iHeartradio app.
[42:42]
Tracy B. Wilson
Search 1 youe feed and listen now.
[42:45]
Kristen Davis
This week on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler. Ed Helms is here. I, of course, was drawn to the LSD story.
[42:52]
Therapy Gecko Host
This was all under official government activity. They built a apartment that had a glass mirror where he could sit there and watch. And then they would drug these customers.
[43:01]
Holly Fry
And he was just sort of taking.
[43:03]
Therapy Gecko Host
Notes and God knows what else behind this double mirror. And this was all in the name of science.
[43:09]
Kristen Davis
This just sounds like a guy off behind a wall.
[43:12]
Therapy Gecko Host
It does.
[43:12]
Kristen Davis
Listen to Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[43:19]
Therapy Gecko Host
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.

Summary5 min read

Stuff You Missed in History Class: SYMHC Classics - All American Girls Professional Baseball League

Hosts: Holly Fry & Tracy B. Wilson
Released: May 17, 2025
Publisher: iHeartPodcasts

Introduction

In this engaging episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class, hosts Holly Fry and Tracy B. Wilson delve deep into the fascinating history of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Celebrating its inception on May 17, 1943, the episode explores the league's origins, operations, social impact, and enduring legacy.

Origins and Founding

The AAGPBL was established during World War II as a response to the potential disruption of Major League Baseball (MLB) caused by the enlistment of male players. Philip K. Wrigley, heir to the Wrigley Chewing Gum fortune and owner of the Chicago Cubs, recognized an opportunity to keep baseball in the public eye while supporting the war effort.

“By 1943, when this league was founded, baseball was considered both the national pastime in the United States and a man's game,” Holly Fry explains (02:35).

On February 17, 1943, Wrigley and Ken Sells announced the creation of the All American Girls Softball League, aiming to recruit talented women from existing softball teams across the country. Initial recruitment efforts led to 60 players being selected for the inaugural 1943 season, albeit excluding black women due to the era's prevalent segregation (16:11).

League Structure and Operations

Originally a non-profit organization, the league was managed by trustees including Philip Wrigley, Paul Harvey, and Branch Rickey. Wrigley personally invested about $250,000 to kickstart the league, ensuring it had substantial financial backing in its nascent stages.

“The league's setup was significantly different from Major League Baseball or most other leagues at the time,” Tracy Wilson notes (18:30). Player contracts were centrally owned by the league rather than individual teams, standardizing salaries and preventing bidding wars. Players earned between $45 and $85 per week—a considerable sum compared to alternative employment options like factory work.

The league comprised four teams in its first season:

Rockford Peaches (Illinois)
South Bend Blue Sox (Indiana)
Racine Belles (Wisconsin)
Kenosha Comets (Wisconsin)

These teams were strategically located near major cities to facilitate travel and conserve resources during wartime rationing.

Code of Conduct and Image

Maintaining a feminine image was paramount for the league, aiming to appeal to a broad, middle-class audience while combating stereotypes about women athletes.

“The league went to great lengths to reinforce the idea that these players weren't just women, they were ladies,” Holly Fry emphasizes (21:20). This was achieved through:

Uniforms: Designed by Wrigley’s wife, Ada, featuring pastel-colored tunics with flared skirts, satin shorts, and knee socks. These were inspired by women’s figure skating and tennis attire.
Code of Conduct: Players were required to adhere to strict guidelines, including:
- Mandatory lipstick at all times.
- No bobbed hair, smoking, or drinking.
- No fraternizing with members of other teams.
- Dress codes requiring skirts when in public, despite wearing trousers on the bus for comfort.

These measures aimed to portray the players as patriotic, wholesome, and heterosexual, distancing them from negative stereotypes prevalent at the time.

Growth and Challenges

Following a successful 1943 season, which concluded with the Racine Belles defeating the Kenosha Comets in the championship, the league expanded to six teams in 1944. However, managing the league proved challenging. In 1944, Wrigley sold the league to Arthur Meyerhoff for $10,000, transitioning it from a non-profit to a for-profit entity.

Under Meyerhoff’s leadership, the league sought to make the game more akin to men's baseball by introducing changes such as:

Smaller, harder balls
Overhand pitching by 1948
Longer infield distances

Despite these efforts, attendance began to wane post-war as societal needs shifted and MLB regained its prominence.

“As attendance started to fall off in 1948, Meyerhoff embarked on some ambitious plans to try to revive the league,” Tracy Wilson recounts (33:23).

Internal friction also arose as team owners objected to revenue-sharing strategies, leading to financial strains that the league struggled to overcome.

Decline and Legacy

By 1954, the league had dissolved after enduring numerous financial and societal challenges. Throughout its 11-year existence, approximately 600 women from the United States, Canada, and Cuba played in the league, contributing significantly to women’s sports history.

Despite its dissolution, the league left a lasting legacy:

Educational Advancement: Many players used their earnings to pursue higher education, with around 35% graduating from college—significantly higher than the average female population of the time.
Cultural Impact: The league's story was immortalized in the 1992 film A League of Their Own, which brought widespread recognition to these pioneering women athletes.

“When the women's liberation movement started in the 1960s and 70s, historians and other researchers started unearthing the league's history,” Holly Fry observes (37:17).

In 1988, their contributions were honored with the Women in Baseball exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, solidifying their place in sports history.

Cultural Impact and Recognition

The resurgence of interest in the AAGPBL during the late 20th century led to reunions, documentaries, and scholarly research that helped preserve the league's history. Notable works include:

Documentary “A League of Their Own” aired on public television in 1987.
The playoffs and player stories were documented in numerous historical archives and museums.
"A Secret Love" documentary highlights personal relationships within the league, showcasing the human side of these athletes (39:13).

The establishment of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association has ensured that the stories of these trailblazing women continue to inspire future generations.

Conclusion

The All American Girls Professional Baseball League was more than just a wartime substitute for men's baseball; it was a groundbreaking movement that challenged gender norms and paved the way for future generations of female athletes. Through dedication, resilience, and a commitment to maintaining a dignified image, the AAGPBL left an indelible mark on both sports and society.

“I think it's a sign of great mental health to acknowledge the dark wolf inside you,” Holly Fry muses, reflecting on the multifaceted lives these women led beyond the baseball diamond (42:14).

Notable Quotes:

“By 1943, when this league was founded, baseball was considered both the national pastime in the United States and a man's game.” — Holly Fry (02:35)
“The league went to great lengths to reinforce the idea that these players weren't just women, they were ladies.” — Holly Fry (21:20)
“As attendance started to fall off in 1948, Meyerhoff embarked on some ambitious plans to try to revive the league.” — Tracy Wilson (33:23)

Learn More:

For additional details on the AAGPBL and its players, visit the All American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association website or explore exhibits at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

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Transcript136 lines

[00:00]
Therapy Gecko Host
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.
[00:06]
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[00:36]
Holly Fry
Listen to your elders, honey. You might know them from their viral videos, but now the old gays are pulling back the curtain with their new podcast, Silver Linings with the Old Gays, brought to you in partnership with iHeart's Ruby Studio and Veeve Healthcare. Hosts Robert, Mick, Bill and Jesse serve their lifetime of wisdom when it comes to love, sex, community and whatever else they've got on the gay agenda. So check out Silver Linings with the Old gays on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to the new Audible original the Big A Jack Bergen Mystery starring John Hamm as the hard boiled private eye cracking his latest case of murder and mystery conspiracy abounds as a Mexican American community is pushed out in order to build Dodgers stadium in this story inspired by the real life Battle of Chavez Ravine, co starring Ana de la Regiera, Omar Epps and Alia Shawkat, plus a cameo from John Slattery created by John Mankiewicz and directed by Aaron Lipstadt. Listen to a gritty and winding tale that delivers both meaning and mayhem with a solid punch. Go to audible.com the Big Fix and listen Now I found out I was.
[01:45]
Therapy Gecko Host
Related to the guy that I was dating.
[01:47]
Holly Fry
I don't feel emotions correctly.
[01:49]
T Mobile Advertiser
I collect my roommate's toenails and fingernails.
[01:51]
Therapy Gecko Host
Those were some callers from my call in Podcast Therapy Gecko. It's a show where I take phone calls from anonymous strangers as a fake gecko therapist and try to learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's very interesting. Check it out for yourself by searching for Therapy gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[02:19]
Holly Fry
Happy Saturday. On May 17, 1943, spring training started for what would eventually be known as the All American Girls Professional Baseball league. That was 82 years ago. On the day that this episode publishes. So that is today's Saturday classic.
[02:35]
Tracy B. Wilson
Since we released this episode, which was on March 18, 2020, there has been a remake of A League of Their Own, which was in the form of a TV show that ran for, sadly, only one season on Amazon Prime. The documentary A Secret Love, which we mention at the very end of this episode, is also indeed available on Netflix. So enjoy.
[03:01]
Holly Fry
Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio.
[03:12]
Tracy B. Wilson
Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson.
[03:15]
Holly Fry
And I'm Holly Fry.
[03:16]
Tracy B. Wilson
Holly, I am sure you've seen A League of Their Own.
[03:20]
Holly Fry
I have.
[03:21]
Tracy B. Wilson
I feel like it's safe to say most of our listeners have either seen A League of Their Own or at the very, very least, have heard someone say there's no crying in baseball, which is probably its most quoted line.
[03:35]
Holly Fry
I think you could come to my house and hear it once a week out of my husband's mouth if you want to just hang out.
[03:41]
Tracy B. Wilson
So this is a 1992 film that tells the story of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. It is a work of fiction, but it also gets some of the highlights correct. The league was founded during World War II as many of Major League Baseball's male players had joined the military. But the movie also kind of makes it seem like this was a temporary diversion that ended when the war did. There's a line basically about continuing on with it, but it's not really explored beyond that. In reality, though, these women were athletes. Some of them thought they were starting a lifelong career in professional baseball that would last as long as they were able to play. The league itself also went on for years after the war was over. And this is also a listener request. We've heard about it at various points over the years, but the one that I wrote down was from listener marav.
[04:32]
Holly Fry
So by 1943, when this league was founded, baseball was considered both the national pastime in the United States and a man's game. But it didn't start out that way. As the game of baseball was developing in the 19th century, it wasn't just for men and boys. Children played together in neighborhood games regardless of their gender. Semi professional and professional leagues included women players and women's teams, and there were also teams at women's colleges, the first being at Vassar in 1866. An all black women's team called the Dolly Vardens was established in Philadelphia in 1867.
[05:10]
Tracy B. Wilson
During baseball's earlier years, the rules weren't particularly standardized, and there were all Kinds of variations in things like the size of the playing field, the size of the ball, and the style of pitching. In a lot of places, everyone played by the same rules, regardless of their gender. Although it was not uncommon for women to be expected to play in floor length dresses. It was also common, though, for girls baseball teams specifically to have modified rule sets that, for example, made the playing field a little smaller.
[05:40]
Holly Fry
Barnstorming became an important part of baseball's development. Starting in 1860, teams would go on the road to play exhibition matches outside of official league Play. By the 1890s, barnstormers included all women teams known as bloomer girls because of their billowy uniform legs. So they resembled the loose trousers advocated by dress reformers in the 19th century. That's not underwear.
[06:06]
Tracy B. Wilson
Imagining that when they said bloomer girls, it meant playing in their underwear made me giggle a little bit, but that's not what it meant. Over time, one set of baseball rule modifications morphed into its own distinct style sport. And that sport was softball. These two games have a lot of similarities. They both involve hitting a throne ball with a bat and then rounding a set of bases that are arranged as a diamond. But softball uses a larger, softer ball, thus the name. That ball is pitched underhanded rather than overhand or sidearm. The pitching distance is shorter, and the overall field of play is a little smaller.
[06:44]
Holly Fry
Initially, the game that developed into softball was meant as a baseball alternative that could be played indoors in bad weather. Sometimes it was even called just indoor baseball. It became particularly popular in places where space was limited or where the only place to play was indoors. It was also played outdoors in places with limited space. In the late 19th century, settlement houses in the US started establishing playgrounds and encouraging active play in urban areas, especially among boys. Softball became so closely connected to the settlement movement and to these playgrounds that some sources have erroneously credited Chicago's Hull House with inventing it. And we talked about Hull House and its founder Jane Addams in a previous two parter on the show. Did not invent softball.
[07:31]
Tracy B. Wilson
No. Did play it a whole lot. Though the overlap between baseball and softball and who was playing it continued until about 1933. That is when the amateur Softball association was founded as that sport sports governing body. And the name softball was formally adopted for it. And at this point, girls baseball teams that had been using some kind of modified rule set generally moved over to playing softball.
[07:58]
Holly Fry
It did not take long before people took for granted that baseball was for boys and softball was for girls, A distinction that persists in a lot of places today. When Little League baseball was founded in 1939, it was intended for boys, although that did not become an official rule until 1951 in response to Kay Johnston of New York cutting her hair to join a team under the name Tubby. The Tubby rule remained in place until 1974 after a series of court cases and a ruling by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights.
[08:33]
Tracy B. Wilson
I guess that's just, it's such a good illustration of how it was assumed to be for boys. So much so that it wasn't even in the rules until after a girl cut her hair to join a team. Like, yeah, it was just taken totally for granted. So by the 1940s, both softball and baseball were well established in the United States. They were two separate sports, one for men and boys, the other for women and girls. Both had amateur, semi professional and professional teams and leagues.
[09:03]
Holly Fry
And that brings us to World War II. If you remember our October 2019 episode on the Black Sox scandal. During World War I, the idea of Major League Baseball continuing on in spite of the war was deeply controversial. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker issued a work or fight order which required any man eligible for the draft to either work in a war critical industry or join the military. Men who continued to play baseball were viewed as abandoning their patriotic duty. And after the U.S. joined the war, Major League Baseball shortened the 1918 season.
[09:40]
Tracy B. Wilson
As war once again started to spread through Europe in 1939, people feared that the sport of baseball would be disrupted as it had been a couple of decades earlier. These fears escalated after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December of 1941, and the United States entered the war at that point. In January of 1942, Kennesaw Mountain Landis, the Commissioner of Baseball, wrote to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to ask, quote, what you have in mind as to whether professional baseball should continue to operate.
[10:12]
Holly Fry
On January 15, 1942, Roosevelt, who was a fan of baseball, responded with what has become known as the Green Light letter. It read in part, quote, I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before.
[10:39]
Tracy B. Wilson
In his letter, the President stressed that players who were of an age to join the military should do so, but that they might be replaced with older players who could still play an exciting game. The President also advocated for more night games so that day shift workers at wartime factories could go.
[10:56]
Holly Fry
The president ended the greenlight letter by saying, quote, here is another way of looking at it. If 300 teams use 5,000 or 6,000 players, these players are a definite recreation, asset to at least 20 million of their fellow citizens. And that, in my judgment, is thoroughly worthwhile.
[11:15]
Tracy B. Wilson
So even though baseball had the President's seal of approval, roughly half of the regular players in Major League Baseball wound up serving in the military. Some of its best and most popular players were drafted. Of course, that trend also applied to the minor leagues and to other baseball teams as well as so even though the president himself had given the okay for baseball to continue, there were people worried that the sport was going to struggle and that this might even lead to the closure of some of the nation's ballparks.
[11:45]
Holly Fry
One of these concerned people was Philip K. Wrigley. His father, William Wrigley Jr. Had died in 1932, leaving Philip the William Wrigley Jr. Chewing Gum Co. A fortune and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
[11:59]
Tracy B. Wilson
We will get to what he did after a quick Sponsor Breaking News T.
[12:06]
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[12:35]
Therapy Gecko Host
I found out that was related to.
[12:37]
Kristen Davis
The guy that I was dating.
[12:38]
Holly Fry
I don't feel emotions correctly. I am talking to a felon right now and I cannot decide if I.
[12:43]
Tracy B. Wilson
Like him or not.
[12:44]
Therapy Gecko Host
Those were some callers from my call in Podcast Therapy Gecko It's a show where I take real phone calls from anonymous strangers all over the world as a free fake gecko therapist and try to dig into their brains and learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's pretty interesting if you give it a shot. Matter of fact, here's a few more examples of the kinds of calls we get on this show.
[13:10]
Tracy B. Wilson
I live with my boyfriend and I found his piss jar in our apartment.
[13:15]
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I collect my roommate's toenails and fingernails.
[13:17]
Holly Fry
I have very overbearing parents. Even at the age of 29 they won't let me move out of their house.
[13:23]
Therapy Gecko Host
So if you want an excuse to get out of your own head and see what's going on in someone else's head, search for therapy gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's the one with the green guy on it.
[13:38]
Kristen Davis
Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast Are youe a Charlotte? What we have All Been Waiting For. Sarah Jessica Parker is here and she is sharing stories from the very beginning. Like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot.
[13:55]
Holly Fry
Right.
[13:56]
Kristen Davis
I have some memories I can feel and that you're going to fill me in. Yes. But then you forgot about it in the very long time they took about it. And she reveals what she thought when she read the script for Sex and the City the very first time. He said he wrote this like I was in his head in some way, which I found really interesting. And does she think Carrie is too good for Mr. Big? She had inexplicable feelings. It is the human being that can't explain to her friends why somebody that might be beneath her is dictating the hunt. You can't miss this. Listen to Are youe a Charlotte? On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[14:39]
Tracy B. Wilson
A lot of times, the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.
[14:47]
Holly Fry
Three or four days a week, I.
[14:48]
Tracy B. Wilson
Would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.
[14:53]
Therapy Gecko Host
The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on everybody's business. From Bloomberg Business Week, I'm Max Chavkin.
[15:01]
Tracy B. Wilson
And I'm Stacey Vanek Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.
[15:12]
Therapy Gecko Host
With guests like BusinessWeek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull, we'll take you inside the boardrooms, the back rooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.
[15:25]
Tracy B. Wilson
Hey, I want to learn about vechain. I want to buy some blockchain or.
[15:28]
Therapy Gecko Host
Whatever it is that they're doing.
[15:31]
Tracy B. Wilson
So listen to everybody's business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. About 3 million women joined the workforce in the United States between 1940 and 1942. And Philip K. Wrigley thought that maybe the same trend could apply to professional ball. Women's teams could play in ballparks where the home teams were on the road, keeping the sport in the parks going while so many men were away at war. These teams of women could also help boost the national morale and help the war effort with things like fundraising and recruitment drives.
[16:12]
Holly Fry
Wrigley teamed up with Ken Sells, who had previously worked for the chewing gum business but had become assistant general manager of the Chicago Cubs. On February 17, 1943, they issued a press release announcing the creation of the All American Girls Softball League. Their plan was to recruit players from the women's softball teams that had been established all over the country. At the beginning, Jim Hamilton was the lead talent scout in the US And Johannes Gottselig, known as Johnny, headed up recruitment in Canada.
[16:44]
Tracy B. Wilson
But Wrigley also wanted to make the game a little closer to what spectators might expect from a baseball game. So they worked out a rule set that had elements of both baseball and softball. Like softball, it used a larger ball in an underhanded pitching style. But like baseball, the teams had nine players per side rather than softball's 10. The playing field would also have a longer pitching distance and running path than softball did, but it was still shorter than what was being used in baseball. Players in this game would also be allowed to steal bases, something that was not allowed in softball. These changes caused some controversy about exactly what sport was being played out there on the field, and the league changed its name to the All American Girls Baseball League. Partway through the 1943 season, as recruiters.
[17:34]
Holly Fry
Visited softball teams to look for players, hundreds of women and girls expressed interest in playing professionally. About 280 were invited to the final tryouts, and 60 players from the US and Canada were ultimately selected to play in the 1943 season. Some of these young women were as young as 15, although most of them were between 18 and 22. As was the case with Major League Baseball at the time, the newly established women's league excluded black players.
[18:04]
Tracy B. Wilson
These players were arranged into four teams of 15 players each. The Rockford Peaches of Illinois, the South Bend Blue Sox of Indiana, and the Racine Belles and the Kenosha Comets of Wisconsin. Each of these was not far away from a much larger major city. They were also close enough together to allow the teams to travel from one city to the next for games while still conserving fuel and rubber during wartime rationing.
[18:31]
Holly Fry
The league's setup was significantly different from Major League Baseball or most other leagues at the time. The league itself was a non profit organization with Philip Wrigley, Paul Harvey, and Branch Rickey as trustees. Much of the initial funding came from Wrigley himself. He spent about $250,000 getting the whole project started, and he contributed to the team's maintenance costs, especially in the first year.
[18:57]
Tracy B. Wilson
The players contracts were also centrally owned by the league. Rather than being owned by one of the four teams. This meant that the players pay was set by the league. There were no bidding wars with teams trying to entice the best players to sign on with them. That first year, the players made between $45 and $85 a week. That does not sound like much, but it is significantly more than most of them had been making in agricultural or factory work or maybe playing in a paying softball league. Players in the league were prohibited from doing any other work during the season.
[19:32]
Holly Fry
The centrally owned player contracts also meant that the league had the right to trade players from one team to another. One of the league's goals was for all the games to be as evenly matched and exciting to watch as possible. So player trades happened throughout the season. As they tried to keep this balance.
[19:50]
Tracy B. Wilson
Each team had a manager who also acted as a coach. These were typically men who had experience in major league or minor league baseball. Every team also had a business manager as well as a chaperone who was a woman and was a paid part of the staff. During the league's history, most of the chaperones had some experience in working with women's athletic teams.
[20:10]
Holly Fry
The chaperones were responsible for making housing arrangements for the team, handling money, and approving any housing and dining accommodations that the team was going to use. In some ways, they were a little like athletic trainers as well, being trained in first aid and responsible for the team's first aid kit and the treatment of injuries. They were also ultimately responsible for the player's conduct, behavior and appearance.
[20:35]
Tracy B. Wilson
That last point was a lot. Most of the players came from working class and agricultural communities that didn't really regard women's participation in softball as unusual in any way. A lot of them had been playing on teams that had been organized by their employers, with that involvement being seen as pretty normal and fun. But that wasn't necessarily true among the middle class, which was a big part of the audience that the league was hoping to attract. The idea that women were playing baseball, which was considered to be a game for men, also raised some suspicions about the players. A common stereotype was that women athletes were lesbians. That's a stereotype that still exists today, but without nearly the level of stigma that was Attached to it in the 1940s.
[21:21]
Holly Fry
So the league went to great lengths to reinforce the idea that these players weren't just women, they were ladies. Specifically patriotic, wholesome, middle class, heterosexual ladies. Outwardly, the league described all its rules and training about things like beauty and conduct as a service teaching working class girls to be middle class ladies, which of course suggested that to be middle class was better than to be working class. And on top of that, a lot of the rules and standards in place were also meant to reduce suspicions of lesbianism.
[21:56]
Tracy B. Wilson
This included the players uniforms. These were one piece pastel colored tunic like garments with a flared skirt, which were worn with satin shorts and knee socks. They were designed by Wrigley's wife, Ada, along with poster artist Otis Sheppard and softball player Anne Harnett. They were also patterned after women's figure skating and tennis attire. These uniforms were meant to set the players apart from the barnstorming bloomer girls that we referenced earlier and to reinforce the idea that the players on the field were femin and women. These skirts did not really do much to protect the player's legs from scrapes and other injuries, but the players were also expected to look pristine at all times and not really have any visible injuries.
[22:40]
Holly Fry
Perfectly prim, athletic lady.
[22:44]
Tracy B. Wilson
It's the whole kind of convoluted tangle, yeah.
[22:48]
Holly Fry
The specific rules varied over the league's history, but the general idea of players being the right kind of woman was part of it. Throughout, each player was issued a guide for all american girls. How to look better, feel better, be more popular. In the 1943 season, Helena Rubenstein's beauty salon taught charm and beauty lessons for the players that included hygiene, personal appearance, etiquette, and things like how to gracefully get in and out of a car or go up and down stairs. The Ruth Tiffany school provided these lessons the next year. Formal charm lessons ended after that point, but a focus on appropriate feminine behavior continued.
[23:30]
Tracy B. Wilson
Players were also issued a beauty kit that they were expected to keep stock. It included cleansing cream, lipstick, rouge, deodorant, astringent, face powder, hand lotion, and hair remover. They were required to be attractive and presentable at all times, and they had to wear a dress or a skirt anytime they were seen in public. Most of the players wore trousers on the bus for the sake of comfort, Especially during nighttime road trips between games, but kept a skirt with them to change into if they stopped for something like a restroom break or a meal.
[24:02]
Holly Fry
Some of the other rules from the player's code of conduct no boyish bobbed hair, no smoking no drinking alcohol and no social engagements unless they were approved by a chaperone. Lipstick was mandatory at all times, and there were also more mundane rules about things like punctuality.
[24:21]
Tracy B. Wilson
The player's code of conduct specified a $5 fine for the first offense, a $10 fine for the second offense, and suspension for the third, but there were players that faced harsher penalties. Josephine D' Angelo, known as JoJo, was cut from the Blue Sox in her second year from the team after she got a bobbed haircut that was described as too short and butchy in some accounts. Frida and Olympia Savona, who were star players from the New Orleans Jacks Brewing Company softball team, were passed over for the All American Girls League because of their masculine appearance. There were definitely some news stories that made disparaging comments about the Savona's appearance, but Frida wrote to a reporter to say this had nothing to do with why she was not in the league. She said she was just happier and better paid where she was.
[25:10]
Holly Fry
Fraternizing with members of other teams was also forbidden within the league. The league framed this as a way to keep the level of competitiveness high, but many of the players interpreted it as a way to discourage romantic relationships between them.
[25:24]
Tracy B. Wilson
So that's kind of an overview of what the league was like when spring training started its first season on May 17th of 1943. That happened in Chicago. The first pitch of the season was thrown on May 30th of 1943, and.
[25:39]
Holly Fry
We'Ll talk about how things grew and evolved from there after we first have.
[25:43]
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[26:16]
Therapy Gecko Host
I found out that was related to.
[26:18]
Kristen Davis
The guy that I was dating.
[26:19]
Holly Fry
I don't feel emotions correctly. I am talking to a felon right now and I cannot decide if I like him or not.
[26:26]
Therapy Gecko Host
Those were some callers from my call in Podcast Therapy Gecko. It's a show where I take real phone calls from anonymous strangers all over the world as A phone call, fake gecko therapist and try to dig into their brains and learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's pretty interesting if you give it a shot. Matter of fact, here's a few more examples of the kinds of calls we get on this show.
[26:51]
Tracy B. Wilson
I live with my boyfriend and I found his piss jar in our apartment.
[26:56]
T Mobile Advertiser
I collect my roommate's toenails and fingernails.
[26:59]
Holly Fry
I have very overbearing parents. Even at the age of 29, they don't let me move out of their house.
[27:04]
Therapy Gecko Host
So if you want an excuse to get out of your own head and see what's going on in someone else's head, search for therapy gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's the one with the green guy on it.
[27:19]
Kristen Davis
Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast Are youe a Charlotte? What we have All Been Waiting For. Sarah Jessica Parker is here and she is sharing stories from the very beginning. Like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot. Right. I have some memories I can fill in that you're going to fill me in. Yes. But then you forgot about it in the very long time they took about it. And she reveals what she thought when she read the script for Sex and the City the very first time he said he wrote this like I was in his head in some way, which I found really interesting. And does she think Carrie is too good for Mr. Big? She had inexplicable feelings. It is the human being that can't explain to her friends why somebody that might be beneath her is dictating the hunt. You can't miss this. Listen to Are youe a Charlotte? On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[28:21]
Tracy B. Wilson
A lot of times, the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one.
[28:34]
Therapy Gecko Host
The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on everybody's business. From Bloomberg Business Week, I'm Max Chavkin.
[28:43]
Tracy B. Wilson
And I'm Stacey Vanek Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.
[28:54]
Therapy Gecko Host
But guests like BusinessWeek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull. We'll take you inside the boardrooms, the back rooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.
[29:06]
Tracy B. Wilson
Hey, I want to learn about Vechain, I want to buy some blockchain or.
[29:09]
Therapy Gecko Host
Whatever it is that they're doing.
[29:12]
Tracy B. Wilson
So listen to everybody's business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[29:19]
Therapy Gecko Host
Foreign.
[29:24]
Tracy B. Wilson
The All American Girls Baseball League's first season included sporting events as well as wartime patriotism. Teams made appearances at recruitment drives and fundraisers, and they visited wounded soldiers that had returned stateside. On July 1, they held an All Star game against a team from the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, which was played under the lights at Wrigley Field. This event was part of a recruitment drive held free of charge and at night so that working women could attend. Some of the league's patriotism was more symbolic, like having the two teams that were going to be competing lined up in a V for victory during the national anthem at the beginning of every game.
[30:04]
Holly Fry
The 1943 season ended with a five game championship series in which the Racine Belles defeated the Kenosha Comets. More than 175,000 fans attended games in that first season. Then in 1944, the league expanded to six teams. Another competing league was founded that same year, the National Girls Baseball League. Established in Chicago, this league continued until 1954, although its history and activities aren't nearly as well documented as the All American Girls League.
[30:36]
Tracy B. Wilson
At the end of the 1944 season, Philip Wrigley sold the league to Arthur Meyerhoff for $10,000, which was a fraction of what he had put into getting it started and operating it. In those first two seasons, it had become clear that the sport of men's baseball was not in any kind of actual peril from the war. But apart from that, Wrigley was just not really interested in being so heavily involved in the league anymore. Meyerhoff had also been a big part of the league since its inception, and Wrigley was confident that he would maintain the same standards that Wrigley had established in terms of quality and entertainment.
[31:12]
Holly Fry
The biggest change at this point was that the league went from being a nonprofit to a for profit entity. Otherwise, the players contracts were still centrally owned and each team continued to have paid managers and chaperones. Meyerhoff put a big focus on marketing and promoting the league. He also organized postseason exhibition tours to Cuba and South America, mainly to countries where Wrigley chewing gum had a presence thanks to the rubber and chicle industries.
[31:40]
Tracy B. Wilson
Over time, the style of play within the league continued to shift and become more and more like men's baseball. The ball gradually got smaller and harder. Pitching and infield distances got longer. Sidearm pitching was introduced in 1946 and overhand pitching in 1948. Some players that had been recruited from softball teams had a little trouble adjusting to these changes, and Meyerhoff established a junior league and farm teams to cultivate new talent.
[32:08]
Holly Fry
Although the All American Girls Baseball League had started out with the idea of being a substitution for men's baseball During World War II, its popularity really peaked after the war ended in 1945. In 1946, a July 4 doubleheader in South Bend, Indiana, drew a crowd of between 10,000 and 20,000 people. Attendance peaked in 1948 with nearly a million fans in attendance that year. The league had 10 teams from Rockford to Peoria, Chicago and Springfield, Illinois Racine in Kenosha, Wisconsin, South Bend and Fort Wayne, Indiana and Grand Rapids in Muskegon, Michigan. Most of the team names were distinctly feminine, including the Peaches, Chicks, Millerettes, Daisies, Lassies, Colleen's, Sally's and Belles.
[32:56]
Tracy B. Wilson
Although the league grew between 1945 and 1948, it also faced some struggles in those years. The idea of women playing baseball had drawn suspicion since the beginning, but that increased when there was no longer a wartime patriotic need for women to take up what was seen as men's work. Individual teams also folded for various reasons from time to time, and then that put a strain on the rest of the league as it tried to absorb those other players.
[33:23]
Holly Fry
After a while, friction started to develop between individual teams in Meyerhoff's management company. While the league owned the players contracts, the teams all had their own owners, who started to object to the requirement to send some of their ticket revenues back to Meyerhoff. Meyerhoff was putting most of the proceeds back into the league, but even so, a perception grew that Meyerhoff was making money off of the team's work.
[33:48]
Tracy B. Wilson
As attendance started to fall off in 1948, Meyerhoff embarked on some ambitious plans to try to revive the league. This included an attempt to start an international women's baseball league, which would play in Florida, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Cuba during the winter and early spring. Although an international league was formed very briefly, it never really got off the ground.
[34:11]
Holly Fry
At the end of the 1950 season, the teams bought out Meyerhoff and became self governing and decentralized. The league's name had been through slight tweaks through the years, and at this point it became the American Girls Baseball League, or agbl, although most people still use the word all. At this point, players started contracting with teams for their rates rather than the league, which increased pay disparities as teams tried to attract and keep the best players.
[34:39]
Tracy B. Wilson
The only paid position in the league at this point was the commissioner, and without a Central League organization that was promoting and marketing the games, attendance continued to drop. The league also faced increased competition from other forms of entertainment in the 50s, including televised men's baseball games.
[34:57]
Holly Fry
The American Girls Baseball league dissolved in 1954. During its history, about 600 women from the United States, Canada and Cuba had played for teams in 14 Midwestern cities during baseball season. They played six or seven games a week, with doubleheaders on Sundays and holidays, sleeping on buses overnight as they traveled from one city to the next. This was a grueling schedule, which may be one reason why about a quarter of the players only played for one season or less.
[35:26]
Tracy B. Wilson
Although Major League Baseball had started to desegregate in the late 1940s and President Harry Truman issued an executive order to desegregate the armed forces in 1948, the All American Girls Baseball League was segregated throughout its history. Although two black women practiced with the South Bend Blue Sox in 1951, neither of them wound up signing a contract with the league.
[35:49]
Holly Fry
However, there were three black women who played on men's teams in the Negro leagues in the 1950s Mamie Peanut Johnson, Connie Morgan, and Marcenia Lyle, who used the name Toni Stone professionally. All three started with the Indianapolis Clowns. Toni Stone replaced Hank Aaron there, and her contract was sold to the Kansas City monarchs before the 1954 season. There are reports that Toni Stone tried out for the All American Girls League as well, but those are not concretely documented.
[36:21]
Tracy B. Wilson
After the All American Girls League was dissolved, many of the players adopted what's been described as a self imposed silence. Most of them did not really talk about their time playing professional baseball, even among their families. Reasons why are not entirely clear, but stigma may have been one factor. According to one survey that was conducted in the 90s, about 20% of players reported facing discrimination because of their history as an athlete.
[36:47]
Holly Fry
However, many used the money that they'd earned playing baseball to go to college or to start a career, with some attending college and graduate school during the off season. One researcher who interviewed players later in their life found that about 35% had graduated from college, compared to less than 10% of women in the general population in the same era. This has been described as a precursor to Title IX effects on women's college enrollment, giving women educational opportunities that they didn't have access to otherwise.
[37:18]
Tracy B. Wilson
When the women's liberation movement started in the 1960s and 70s, historians and other researchers started unearthing the league's history, and the players started reconnecting with each other and documenting their own history at the same time. In the late 70s, Dorothy Kamni Kamenchek and Marge Winzel and June Pepys all met up and started talking about organizing a reunion. In October of 1980, Pepys sent a letter to the few players whose addresses she had been able to find and started trying to track people down. By January of 1981, this had morphed into a newsletter which grew from a handful of addresses to more than a hundred. With this also coalesced into a players association that still exists today.
[38:03]
Holly Fry
The first of many reunions was held in Chicago in 1982, and the newsletter became part of an effort to establish a league archive and to get some kind of recognition in the National Baseball hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. It was during this process that the league's name became formally finalized as the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.
[38:25]
Tracy B. Wilson
The players efforts for recognition came to fruition on November 5th of 1988 with the formal unveiling of a permanent Women in Baseball exhibit at the Baseball hall of Fame. The league's players had been an active part in this exhibit's creation, including donating their photographs, uniforms, equipment, and memorabilia. A league archive was established at the Northern Indiana Historical Society Museum, now called the History Museum, in South Bend, Indiana. There was also an exhibition through the Smithsonian.
[38:56]
Holly Fry
The league was also the subject of a short documentary called A League of Their Own that aired nationally on public television on September 30, 1987. And of course, there's the 1992 feature film directed by Penny Marshall, which was a blockbuster and was actually when many people first heard about women's baseball.
[39:14]
Tracy B. Wilson
Another documentary tells the story of Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel. Donahue was recruited from Saskatchewan, Canada, and played for the Peoria Red Wings for four seasons after these two women met. In between seasons, Henschel left her life in Canada behind to join Donahue in the United States. Although the two of them described themselves at the time as cousins and roommates, they were really a couple, and the documentary tells the story of their lives together. The film is called A Secret Love. It was supposed to premiere at south by Southwest in March of 2020, but of course, because of the pandemic, south by Southwest has been canceled. So I'm not sure what the status of the film's debut is at this point. But at some point I think it might come to Netflix because there is a page for it in the Netflix Media Center.
[40:02]
Holly Fry
Exciting. Henschel is also one of the people Brittany delacreta interviewed when reporting her article the Hidden Queer History Behind A League of Their Own. At that point, both Donahue and Henschel were still living, but Donahue died in 2019. At that time, she and Henschel had been together for 71 years.
[40:22]
Tracy B. Wilson
The All American Girls Professional Baseball League's website for the player association also has a wealth of information on the individual players, including their photos, their team histories, their biographies, and for those who are no longer living, many of their obituaries are there as well. It is really a ton if you want to go read about some women baseball players. Lots and lots to look at there. Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, our email address is historypodcastheartradio.com and you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite show.
[41:12]
Therapy Gecko Host
I found out that was related to.
[41:14]
Kristen Davis
The guy that I was dating.
[41:15]
Holly Fry
I don't feel emotions correctly.
[41:17]
T Mobile Advertiser
I collect my roommates, toenails and fingernails.
[41:20]
Therapy Gecko Host
Those were some callers from my call in podcast Therapy Gecko. It's a show where I take phone calls from anonymous strangers as a fake gecko therapist and try to learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's very interesting. Check it out for yourself by searching for Therapy gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[41:45]
Kristen Davis
Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast Are you a Charlotte? Sarah Jessica Parker is here and she is sharing stories from the very beginning, like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot, right. I have some memories I can fill in and then you're going to fill me in. Yes, but then you forgot about it in the very long time they took me in. Forgot about it. Listen to Are youe a Charlotte? On the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
[42:15]
Holly Fry
I think it's a sign of great mental health to acknowledge the dark wolf inside you.
[42:19]
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[42:33]
Tracy B. Wilson
That time it is a healer. To hear this and more on healing.
[42:38]
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[42:42]
Tracy B. Wilson
Search 1 youe feed and listen now.
[42:45]
Kristen Davis
This week on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler. Ed Helms is here. I, of course, was drawn to the LSD story.
[42:52]
Therapy Gecko Host
This was all under official government activity. They built a apartment that had a glass mirror where he could sit there and watch. And then they would drug these customers.
[43:01]
Holly Fry
And he was just sort of taking.
[43:03]
Therapy Gecko Host
Notes and God knows what else behind this double mirror. And this was all in the name of science.
[43:09]
Kristen Davis
This just sounds like a guy off behind a wall.
[43:12]
Therapy Gecko Host
It does.
[43:12]
Kristen Davis
Listen to Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[43:19]
Therapy Gecko Host
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.