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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 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]]'' and the 2022 [[A League of Their Own (2022 TV series)|show of the same name]] are mostly fictionalized accounts of the league and its stars.
==History==
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The AAGPBL received extensive publicity from its inception throughout the 1940s. The league was featured in 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
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, 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>
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{{expand section|date=May 2023}}
==Legacy==
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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
[[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"/>
In 2019, the Players' Association established ''American Girls Baseball,'' which promotes women's baseball for the [[World Baseball Softball Confederation]] [[Women's Baseball World Cup]].<ref>{{cite web |title=AAGPBL to increase support for women and girls playing baseball |url=https://www.aagpbl.org/articles/show/67 |website=AAGPBL Players Union |access-date=2024-05-24 |ref=AGB}}</ref> The organisation, headed by Sue Parsons (Rockford, 1953-54) with support from Misdee Miller, granddaughter of AAGPBL founder Phillip Wrigley, organises the All-American Woman’s Baseball Classic at [[Ed Smith Stadium]], the spring training home of the [[Baltimore Orioles]], in [[Sarasota, Florida]] during November in a tournament that began in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=All-American Woman's Baseball Classic |date=November 2022 |url=https://americangirlsbaseball.org/inaugural-all-american-womans-baseball-classic-to-take-place-at-ed-smith-stadium/ |publisher=American Girls Baseball |access-date=2024-05-24 |ref=AGBOSST}}</ref> The AGB tournament features four teams named as tributes for the original AAGPBL teams, with all teams using a progressive fade to white jersey based on the colours of the squad-- Rockford (peach with red numerals), South Bend (light blue with dark blue numerals), Racine (gold with brown numerals), and Kenosha (light green with green numerals) and white trousers. Games are played to modern WBSC Women's Baseball rules, with all games seven innings long.
==Rules of play==
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==Uniforms==
[[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
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>
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==League champions==
The League had twelve champions in its time of play. For the 1943 and 1944 seasons, the playoffs were a matchup of the first half champion and the second half champion. The seasons of 1945-1947 matched four teams for its postseason. For 1948 only, four teams each from the Eastern and Western Division made the postseason. The 1949 season utilized a system where six teams reached the postseason, with the 1 and 3 seeds having a first-round bye (the 2 seed played the 1 seed). The 1950 season had four teams reach the postseason. The 1951 season returned to the half system, but with a caveat that the top two teams of the first and second half went to the playoffs. For the final three seasons (1952-1954), they had the top four teams reach the playoffs.
*[[1943 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1943]] – [[Racine Belles]]▼
*[[1944 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1944]] – [[Milwaukee Chicks]]▼
<ref name=May/>
*[[1945 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1945]] – [[Rockford Peaches]]▼
{| class="wikitable"
*[[1946 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1946]] – [[Racine Belles]]▼
|+Overview of AAGPBL champions
*[[1947 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1947]] – [[Grand Rapids Chicks]]▼
|-
*[[1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1948]] – [[Rockford Peaches]]▼
!scope="col"| Year
*[[1949 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1949]] – [[Rockford Peaches]]▼
!scope="col"| Winning team
*[[1950 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1950]] – [[Rockford Peaches]]▼
!scope="col"| Series
*[[1951 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1951]] – [[South Bend Blue Sox]]▼
!scope="col"| Losing team
*[[1952 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1952]] – [[South Bend Blue Sox]]▼
|-
*[[1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season|1953]] – [[Grand Rapids Chicks]]▼
| [[Racine Belles]]
| 3–0
| [[Kenosha Comets]]
|-
▲
|[[Milwaukee Chicks]]
| 4–3
|[[Kenosha Comets]]
|-
▲
|[[Rockford Peaches]]
| 4–1
| [[Fort Wayne Daisies]]
|-
▲
|[[Racine Belles]]
|4–2
|[[Rockford Peaches]]
|-
▲
|[[Grand Rapids Chicks]]
|4–3
|[[Racine Belles]]
|-
▲
|[[Rockford Peaches]]
| 4–2
| [[Fort Wayne Daisies]]
|-
▲
|[[Rockford Peaches]]
| 3–1
| [[Grand Rapids Chicks]]
|-
▲
|[[Rockford Peaches]]
|4–3
|[[Fort Wayne Daisies]]
|-
▲
|[[South Bend Blue Sox]]
|3–2
|[[Rockford Peaches]]
|-
▲
|[[South Bend Blue Sox]]
| 3–2
|[[Rockford Peaches]]
|-
▲
|[[Grand Rapids Chicks]]
| 2–0
|[[Kalamazoo Lassies]]
|-
▲
| [[Kalamazoo Lassies]]
| 3–2
|[[Fort Wayne Daisies]]
|}
==AAGPBL Players Association==
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>
The current AAGPBL Players Association President is Richard Chapman, son of [[Dorothy Maguire]]. In 2017, he told ''[[Baseball America]]'' after his mother's death in 1981, he attended the first reunion as her descendant, "When I went to the reunion in 1982 to represent her, I learned more about her playing than she had ever said. There is a lot of history getting lost<ref>{{cite web |last1=Newcomb |first1=Tim |title=Working to Keep Girls Professional Baseball League History Alive |url=https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/working-to-keep-girls-professional-baseball-league-history-alive/ |website=Baseball Americaq |date=November 3, 2017 |access-date=2024-05-23 |ref=Chapman}}</ref>."
Membership is now offered to players, staff members, and descendants, in addition to associate memberships for baseball fans and historians.
65 original AAGPBL members appeared in the 1992 film ''[[A League of Their Own]]'' in scenes recreating the induction of the league into the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1988.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 1, 2022 |title=A League of Their Own (1992) – AFI Catalog Spotlight |url=https://www.afi.com/news/a-league-of-their-own-1992-afi-catalog-spotlight/ |access-date=2022-08-27 |website=American Film Institute |language=en}}</ref>
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