Women in Baseball: The Blog
The Hall of Fame is in Great Hands with Jane Forbes Clark at the Helm
As baseball’s doors to inclusivity continue to swing open, there are women in leadership roles who are a substantial part of the game’s fabric. There’s a growing number who are in senior executive positions, but there is only one who serves as her organization’s ultimate visionary, and that’s Jane Forbes Clark, who leads the world-renowned National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Alta Weiss “The Girl Wonder”
A TURN OF THE CENTURY STAR PITCHER, A FUTURE AAGPBL STAR, AND AN AUTOGRAPHED BASEBALL.
“Would you like a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth?”
“My eyes lit up and I said, “yes!” And then she said, “would you like me to sign it?” and I said, “yes!” She took out her pen — there were no ballpoints in the 1940s — and she signed it.”
This conversation took place around 1946 between two very unusual baseball players. One was a 13-year-old girl, growing up in isolated Ragersville, OH, with baseball as one of her only entertainment options. “There was no television and I didn’t want to read. I guess there was a radio, the only real good thing to do was get out and throw the ball around, and my dad would play pitch and catch with me,” recalled Lois Youngen, now 89 years old.
We Were the Only Girls to Play in Yankee Stadium
“We Were the Only Girls to Play in Yankee Stadium” is an essay from the forthcoming book “Yankee Stadium 1923-2008: America’s First Modern Ballpark.” The book, being published by SABR in 2023, was edited by Tara Krieger and Bill Nowlin.
Between 1923 and 2008, Yankee Stadium hosted 6,746 major league baseball games, including 161 postseason games and 4 All-Star Games. On August 11, 1950, the stadium hosted its first and only game between two teams of female professional baseball players, when the Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies of the AAGPBL played a three-inning exhibition prior to that day’s contest between the Yankees and the Philadelphia Athletics.
Grassroots Baseball Women
Women have been at home in baseball for as long as men, but unfortunately, a “grass ceiling” has prevented them from participating in a sport that they too love. It seems that every time a female pushed open a new door to the game, it has swung shut behind her before others could follow. Change is finally in the air.
Grassroots Baseball is committed to telling the stories of girls and women in baseball on and off the field around the globe, past, present and future.
Kelsie Whitmore: One of the Game’s Rare Two-Way Players
Kelsie Whitmore was the only woman playing professional baseball on a men’s team in North America this season. The 24-year-old native of Temecula, CA has played baseball all her life. She is devoted to the game and has played at every level, from tee ball to “men’s” professional baseball. She has a relentless work ethic, an inexhaustible drive to play, and a deep love for the game. She’s building a path for herself and others, one step at a time. She signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League on April 8, and played with them for the entire season, with a brief July hiatus when she joined the U.S. Women’s National Team in a friendship series vs. Canada.
Leveling the Playing Field
Imagine being a 6th grader who loves baseball so much that you have played on teams since your rookie year of T-ball in kindergarten. At the ripe old age of 12, or maybe 13, you are told by your coaches, teammates, parents, and friends, that your career is over—not because of your talent or interest level, but because you are a girl. Instead, you are directed to the softball diamond.