6 August 26
A New League of Their Own
On August 1, the Women’s Pro Baseball League held the game of its inaugural season, the Los Angeles Queens beating the New York Heights 10 to 8. The league was the brainchild of Justine Siegel, the first female coach in the MLB, and Keith Stein, co-owner of the Canadian Baseball League’s Toronto Maple Leafs, with the intent of increasing the visibility of women’s baseball. The games are all being broadcast on ESPN Select.
This first season features four teams: in addition to the Queens and Heights there are the Boston Hunters and the San Francisco Firebells. The games are all being played at a neutral site in Springfield, Illinois from August to September. Over 600 women tried out for the league from around 25 countries. An notable draftee, now playing for the Los Angeles Queens, is Mo’ne Davis who in 2014 was the first girl to throw a shutout in the Little League World Series.
Throwing out the first pitch on August 1 was 99 year old Maybelle Blair. She played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League made famous by the movie A League of Their Own.
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