All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Difference between revisions

The '''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League''' ('''AAGPBL''') was a professional [[women's baseball]] league founded by [[Philip K. Wrigley]], which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the United States. Over 600 women played in the league, which eventually consisted of eventually 10 teams located in the American [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]. In 1948, league attendance peaked at over 900,000 spectators. The most successful team, the [[Rockford Peaches]], won a league-best four championships. The 1992 film ''[[A League of Their Own]]'' is a mostly fictionalized account of the early days of the league and its stars.

With the entry of the United States into [[World War II]], several major league baseball executives started a new professional league with women players in order to maintain baseball in the public eye [[History of baseball in the United States#The war years|while the majority of able men were away]]. The founders included [[Philip K. Wrigley]], [[Branch Rickey]], and [[Paul V. Harper]]. They feared that [[Major League Baseball]] might even temporarily cease due to the war because of the loss of talent,<ref name=WDL1/> as well as restrictions on team travel due to [[Rationing in the United States#World War II|gasoline rationing]].<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-flash-women-baseball-wrigley-0624-20180612-story.html |title=Female players hit a home run for wartime baseball — but were seen, rarely heard |last=Grossman |first=Ron |date=2018-06-24 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=2018-06-24 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The women's initial tryouts were held at [[Wrigley Field]] in [[Chicago]]. Scouted from amateur [[softball]] games across the country, over 200 women were invited to try out, and about 60 were selected for the league roster. Like the male major- league, the 'girls' league was also [[Baseball color line|informally segregated]],; thus, no African Americans were recruited or hired. Women were selected for their skilled play, but the player also needed to fit what was seen by marketers as a wholesome, feminine ideal.<ref name=May/> The first league game was played on May 30, 1943.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/10-fun-facts-about-the-allamerican-girls-professional-baseball-league/a830a7a0-1f96-4737-8e13-0a7942f1e2bc |title=10 Fun Facts About The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League |work=WBEZ |access-date=June 4, 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.sbnation.com/2018/5/30/17407798/women-baseball-trailblazers-reflect-aagpbl-75th-anniversary |title=Women's baseball trailblazers reflect on the league, 75 years after its founding |last=Hasse |first=Nicole |date=May 30, 2018 |website=SBNation.com |access-date=2018-06-07}}</ref>

Scouts for the Chicago-based All-American Girls Professional Baseball League initially sought and recruited talent from the Chicago softball Metropolitan League, along with several others. However, after seeing many of their players leave for the AAGPLAAGPBL, it was decided to then turn the amateur Metropolitan League to a professional league. The result was the creation of the six-team [[National Girls Baseball League]], which began in 1944, composed entirely of Chicago-area teams. The National Girls baseball League was founded by Emery Parichy, [[Charles Bidwill]], (owner of the [[Chicago Cardinals]] football team) and politician Ed Kolski. Pirachy operated the Metropolitan League. Football star [[Red Grange]] was hired to preside over the league. The NGBL was much less publicized than the AAGPLAAGPBL, but it paralleled the AAGPLAAGPBL, as it also lasted until 1954 and drew up to 500,000 fans per season. For a time, the two leagues were involved in a strong rivalry for players, before meeting and callingagreeing to a [[poaching]] truce in 1946. Many players and several managers appeared in both leagues.<ref name="sabr.org">{{Cite web |url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-international-girls-baseball-league/|title=The International Girls Baseball League |website=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/softballnationalnews/past-present/national-girls-baseball-league-1944---1954|title=National Girls Baseball League|website=Softball National News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationalgirlsbaseballleague.com/about|title=Their Turn at Bat: The Story of the National Girls Baseball League|website=National Girls Baseball League}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2017/4/10/18373414/national-girls-baseball-league-s-kotch-kowell-dead-at-91|title=National Girls Baseball League's 'Kotch' Kowell dead at 91|first=Maureen|last=O'Donnell|date=April 10, 2017|website=Chicago Sun-Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-01-11-9201030815-story.html|title=Obituary: Girls Baseball League Founder Emery A. Parichy |first=Jerry|last=Crimmins |date=1992-11-01 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

In the winter of 1952–1953, players from both the AAGPLAAGPBL and National Girls Baseball League played together in the four–team [[International Girls Baseball League]] based in [[Miami, Florida]].<ref name="sabr.org"/>

During [[spring training]], the girls were required to attend evening classes at [[Helena Rubinstein]]'s evening charm school classes. The proper etiquette for every situation was taught, and every aspect of personal hygiene, mannerisms, and dress code was presented to all of the players. In an effort to make each player as physically attractive as possible, each received a beauty kit and instructions on how to use it. As a part of the league's 'Rules of Conduct', the 'girls' were not permitted to have short hair, they could not smoke or drink in public places, they were not allowed to wear pants, and they were required to wear lipstick at all times. Fines for not following the league's rules of conduct were five dollars for the first offense, ten for the second, and suspension for the third.<ref name="leaguehistory" /> In 1944, [[Josephine D'Angelo|Josephine "JoJo" D'Angelo]] was fired for cutting her hair short.<ref>{{cite web |last1=de la Cretaz |first1=Britni |title=The Hidden Queer History Behind "A League of Their Own" |url=http://narrative.ly/the-hidden-queer-history-behind-a-league-of-their-own/ |website=Narratively |access-date=May 30, 2018 |date=May 30, 2018}}</ref> The women's contracts were much stricter about behavior than in the men's league, and each team was also assigned its own [[chaperone (social)|chaperone]] by the league.<ref name=May/>

The AAGPBL received extensive publicity from its inception throughout the 1940s. The league was featured in both national periodicals such as ''Time'', ''Life'', ''Seventeen'', ''Newsweek'', and American Magazine'','' as well as in local city newspapers. Philip Wrigley, the league's founder, believed in the value of advertising, which may have contributed to the league's extensive exposure and marketing focus. Wrigley learned to appreciate advertising from his father, William Wrigley, who had success with his chewing -gum company in large part due to marketing methods. The league remained under Wrigley's advertising influence until 1951, when individual team directors took over the publicity.<ref name="auto1">{{cite book |last=Fidler |first=Merrie A. |chapter=Establishing the Public Image: Publicity and Promotion, 1943–1944 |title=The Origin and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League |pages=50–68 |location=Jefferson, NC |publisher=McFarland |date=2006}}</ref>

The league's principal advertising agent was Arthur E. Meyerhoff, who handled the league's publicity from 1943 through 1950. Meyerhoff's promotional efforts focused on the value of national exposure in popular periodicals. These magazine articles attracted new fans and new players to the AAGPBL. The major publicity themes that characterized the league were “Recreation"Recreation for War Workers",” “Femininity"Femininity",” “Community"Community Welfare",” and “Family"Family Entertainment".”<ref name="auto1"/>

The league shifted to decentralized league administration from 1951 to 1954.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aagpbl.org/history/league-structure|title=League Structure |website=All-American Girls Professional Baseball League}}</ref> Thus, the responsibility was on individual team management to publicize and promote the teams. However, local managers were not always effective due to their lack of expertise in advertising. In the 1951 season, the league president Fred Leo asked all team presidents to provide publicity on games and training events. Only one team complied with Fred Leo's request, which led to an early 1952 preseason board meeting to discuss inadequate promotion.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Fidler |first=Merrie A. |chapter=Decentralization of Publicity and Promotion, 1951–1954 |title=The Origin and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League |pages=136–142 |location=Jefferson, NC |publisher=McFarland |date=2006}}</ref>

Due to the decentralized league administration, many of the promotion efforts from team management were aimed exclusively at local populaces. There were many promotional events with players, children's benefits, civic groups, and holiday celebrations. Along with daily newspaper reports, the primary advertising strategy was radio broadcasts.<ref name="auto"/>

The AAGPBL peaked in attendance during the 1948 season, when 10 teams attracted 910,000 paid fans.<ref name="leaguehistory" /> The [[Rockford Peaches]] won the most league championships with four (1945, 1948, 1949, and 1950). The Milwaukee/Grand Rapids Chicks were second with three (1944 in Milwaukee, and 1947 and 1953 in Grand Rapids). The Racine Belles (1943 and 1946) and the South Bend Blue Sox (1951 and 1952) each won two, and the Kalamazoo Lassies won in the league's final season (1954).<ref name=May>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BK3iCwAAQBAJ&q=from+1943+to+1945,+Arthur+Meyerhoff+from+1945+to+1951,+and+the+teams+were+individually+owned+from+1951+to+1954.+In+1947+and+1948,+spring+training+exhibition+games+were+held+at+the+Gran+Stadium+in+Havana,+Cuba. |title=Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball |last1=Heaphy |first1=Leslie A. |last2=May |first2=Mel Anthony |date=March 1, 2016 |publisher=McFarland |pages=9–16 |isbn=978-1-47666-594-8 |language=en}}</ref>

The 1992 film ''[[A League of Their Own]]'', although fictionalized, covers the founding and play of this league. [[Geena Davis]], [[Lori Petty]], [[Rosie O'Donnell]], [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]], and [[Tom Hanks]] were the stars of the film, which was directed by [[Penny Marshall]]. The league is the forerunner of later-day professional league sports played by women.<ref name=May/>

In 2022, a spin-off television series of the 1992 film, with the same name, was released (''[[A League of Their Own (2022 TV series)]]''). The series shares a number of similarities to the film, but showrunner [[Abbi Jacobson]] notes that the series aims to portray a more authentic representation of the league.<ref>{{Cite web |last=White |first=Abbey |date=2022-07-16 |title='A League of Their Own' Star Abbi Jacobson on Whether Series Characters Will Call Back to Team From 1992 Film |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/abbi-jacobson-a-league-of-their-own-characters-similarities-penny-marshall-film-1235175433/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> The television adaptation addresses homosexuality within the league, the reality of which has been discussed by former players.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-17 |title=Baseball icon and A League of Their Own inspiration Maybelle Blair comes out as gay at 95 |url=https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/life/baseball-icon-and-a-league-of-their-own-inspiration-maybelle-blair-comes-out-as-gay-at-95/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=GAY TIMES |language=en-GB}}</ref> The series also addresses race relations at the time, taking on a split format which follows both the Peaches and Max Chapman—a fictional Blackblack pitcher who was barred from trying out for the league.

Several histories of the AAGPBL have been published in book form.<ref>{{cite book |last=Macy |first=Sue |title=A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League |year=1995 |publisher=Puffin Books |isbn=0-14-037423-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Browne |first=Lois |title=Girls of Summer: The Real Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League |year=1993 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-00-637902-8}}</ref>

Although the AAGPBL was the first recorded professional women's baseball league, women had played baseball since the nineteenth century. The first known women's baseball team played at [[Vassar College]] in 1866,<ref>{{cite journal |first=Debra A. |last=Shattuck |url=http://innovators.vassar.edu/innovator.html?id=76 |title=Bats, Balls and Books: Baseball and Higher Education for Women at Three Eastern Women's Colleges, 1866–1891 |journal=Journal of Sport History |date=Summer 1992 |access-date=March 21, 2007 |archive-date=April 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429143736/http://innovators.vassar.edu/innovator.html?id=76 |url-status=dead }}</ref> while there were several barnstorming Bloomer Girls teams.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berlage |first=Gai Ingham |title=Women in Baseball |year=1994 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=0-275-94735-1}}</ref> (sometimes including men<ref>{{cite book |last=Ritter |first=Lawrence S. |title=The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It |date=June 1981 |isbn=0-941372-08-1}}</ref>)

[[Baseball Hall of Fame]] members [[Max Carey]] and [[Jimmie Foxx]] managed teams in the AAGPBL. The character of Jimmy Dugan, played by [[Tom Hanks]] in ''[[A League of Their Own]]'', was loosely based on Foxx's tenure in the league. However, several of his former AAGPBL players said that, unlike Hanks’Hanks's character in the movie, Foxx was always gentlemanly around them.<ref>{{sabrbio1Sabrbio|e34a045d|Jimmie Foxx|John Bennett|November 16, 2013}}</ref>

[[File: AAGSBL logo.jpg|thumb|100px|Logo of the All-American Girls Softball League, 1943]]The league went through a series of name changes during its history. It was founded as the '''All-American Girls Softball League''',<ref name="Cullen-DuPont2000"/> but, midway through its first season of 1943, the name was changed to the '''All-American Girls Baseball League''' (AAGBBL).<ref name="leaguehistory"/> After the 1943 season, the official League name was again changed, to the '''All-American Girls Professional Ball League''' (AAGPBL), reflecting that players were paid from the start and further separating it from existing amateur leagues.<ref name=WDL1>{{cite web|title=All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Player Marg Callaghan Sliding into Home Plate as Umpire Norris Ward Watches|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4025/|work=[[World Digital Library]]|date=April 22, 1948|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|access-date=December 31, 2013}}</ref> This name was used until the end of the 1945 season, when the league reverted to '''All-American Girls Baseball League''' (AAGBBL), which it would use through 1950. When teams were sold to independent owners at the end of the 1950 season, the official League name was changed to the '''American Girls Baseball League''' (AGBL), although it continued to be popularly identified as the '''All-American League''' or the '''All-American Girls Baseball League''' (AAGBBL). When the Players' Association was organized in 1986 and gained recognition from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988, it was again, and finally, named '''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League''' (AAGPBL).<ref name="leaguehistory"/>

[[File:ChicksUniform MillerPark.jpg|thumb|150px|Reproduction 1944 Milwaukee Chicks uniform on display at Miller Park]]The uniform was a one-piece short-skirted flared tunic with a team patch in the center of the chest. The base uniform was designed by [[Wrigley Company]] art director [[Otis Shepard]], assisted by Wrigley's wife Helen and Chicago softball player Ann Harnett, the first player signed by the league.<ref name="leaguehistory">{{cite web |title=League History |url=https://www.aagpbl.org/history/league-history |website=All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association |access-date=July 11, 2019}}</ref> Shepard was also the longtime art director for the [[Chicago Cubs]] and spearheaded a series of innovative uniforms beginning in 1937.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Thorn|first1=John|title=Otis Shepard, Baseball's Greatest Graphic Artist|url=https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/otis-shepard-2ac835a93d61|website=Our Game|publisher=Major League Baseball|access-date=May 3, 2018|date=August 10, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Lukas|first1=Paul|title=Possibly the Greatest Example of Uni-Watching Ever|url=https://uni-watch.com/2014/02/14/incredible-chicago-tribune-article-on-the-1937-cubs-uniforms/|website=Uni Watch|access-date=May 3, 2018|date=February 14, 2014}}</ref> Shepard designed all visual elements of the league, including game scorecards and promotional materials. For his work on the AAGPBL and the Cubs, Shepard was called the "chief visualizer of mid-century baseball.".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hathaway |first1=Norman |last2=Nadel |first2=Dan |title=Dorothy and Otis: Designing the American Dream: The Pioneering Designers of Baseball, Billboards, and Chewing Gum |date=2014 |publisher=Harper Design |location=New York |isbn=978-0062262431 |page=231}}</ref>

Shepard modeled the uniform after the figure skating, field hockey, and tennis outfits of the period. The uniforms included satin shorts, knee-high baseball socks, and a baseball cap.<ref name="leaguehistory" /> The team patches were modeled after each respective city's seal.<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=AAGPBL |author=AAGPBL Official |number=982178369725915137 |date = April 6, 2018 |title=On top are the logos used in #ALeagueofTheirOwn and on the bottom are the real logos. The logos are actually the city seal of the towns they played in. Why they changed the logos for the movie? Because it looked better on camera. }}</ref>

In the beginning, each team was issued one uniform style, to be worn in all games. Shepard unveiled the inaugural uniforms in a palette of pastel colors: green for Kenosha; yellow for Racine; blue for South Bend; and peach for Rockford. The accessories (cap, belt, and stirrups) were bold, darker shades of the team color. As new teams were added, they were given a new distinctive team color (gray for Milwaukee, pink for Minneapolis). Road uniforms were introduced to the league starting with the 1948 season.

*!scope="row" style="text-align:left;" |[[19541943 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|19541943]] – [[Kalamazoo Lassies]]<ref name=May/>

When the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was unable to continue in 1955, its history and its significance were forgotten by baseball historians. Many people in the 1950s thought that women were not supposed to play baseball, so most female athletes competed on other fields of endeavor. Finally, in 1980, former pitcher [[June Peppas]] launched a newsletter project to get in touch with friends, teammates, and opponents that resulted in the league's first reunion in [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]] in 1982. The Players Association was formed after a 1986 Reunion held in Fort Wayne as part of Run, Jane, Run, a local Women's Bureau event. Historian and Baseball card publisher Sharon Roepke (author of ''Diamond Gals'') who was circulating a petition to get the Baseball Hall of Fame to recognize the All American Girls Baseball League asked the players at the Reunion to organize to help the effort. A meeting was held at the South Bend home of Fran Janssen, and the Player's Association was born. June Peppas was nominated President.<ref>Minutes of AAGPBL origin meeting; personal recollection of participant Sharon Roepke</ref>

* [[Toni Stone]], [[Mamie Johnson]], [[Connie Morgan]] (the only three Blackblack Womenwomen to play in the [[Negro leagues]])<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/playing-with-the-boys-gender-race-and-baseball-in-post-war-america/ |title=Playing With The Boys: Gender, Race, and Baseball in Post-War America |first=A.J. |last=Richard |date=2019 |website=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>