GENDERED DREAMS: WOMEN IN

BASEBALL
 INTRODUCTION
• Women have been playing baseball
alongside men since baseball’s earliest
years.
• We will consider whether women
ballplayers have played alongside men
because they were good enough or
because of the publicity they would
generate for the business of baseball.
• And while women ballplayers have faced
discrimination, both formal and informal,
we will ask whether they must ultimately
be judged purely on their own merits as
athletes.
• Toward this end we will discuss the
women who played alongside men as
well as women playing in their own
leagues and the future of women ball
players in baseball.
 THE LAURELS AND ABENAKIS (1866)
• In 1866, Vasser College student Annie
Glidden wrote to her brother one of the
earliest references to American women
playing baseball:
• “They are getting up various clubs now for
outdoor exercise. They have a floral society,
boat clubs and baseball. I belong to one of
the latter, and enjoy it hugely, I can assure
you. We think after we have practiced a
little, we will let the Atlantic Club play a
match with us. Or, it may be, we will
consent to play a match with the students
from College Hill [a local boys' preparatory
school], but we have not decided yet."
• Glidden was a member of either the Laurels
or the Abenakis, Vassar's first baseball
teams.
 19TH
CENTURY
WOMEN’S
LEAGUES

• In the 19th century baseball was being played by women at Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke,
Smith, and Wellesley colleges as well as Vasser.
• Organized women’s games were also being held outside of colleges.
• Young women were playing baseball in 1867 at Miss Porter’s boarding school in
Farmington, CT, the stipulation being that they could not be seen from the road. Soon
they were challenged to a game by the men’s team from Trinity College. When some of
the parents found out, letter of protest were written and the team disbanded.
• The same year, members of a Ladies Club in Pensacola, FL, were playing in hooped skirts.
• There was a black professional women’s team: the Dolly Vardens.
• At the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY, you can buy a postcard of the Young
Ladies Baseball Club #1 of 1890.
• The Cincinnati Enquirer in 1899 had numerous articles on the Chicago Bloomer Girls, a
professional baseball team that competed against men’s teams throughout the Midwest.
 LIZZIE
ARLINGTON
(1898)
• Elizabeth Stroud (later known as Lizzie Arlington) grew
up playing ball with her brothers and father in
Pennsylvania.
• Discovered by a promoter she began playing
professionally in 1898 for $100 a week. She pitched
and played infield for a number of teams including the
reserve team of the Philadelphia Nationals and the
New York Athletic Club.
• She appeared in an organized minor league game when
she pitched for the Reading Coal Heavers of the
Atlantic League in a game against the Allentown
Peanuts. With her team ahead 5-0, she entered the
game to pitch in the 9th inning. She allowed two hits
and walked a batter to load the bases but retired the
next three to preserve the victory.
ALTA WEISS AND HER ALL-STARS
(1907) • In 1904, at the age of 14 Alta Weiss began pitching for
boys’ baseball teams in Ohio.
• At 17, she joined a men’s semiprofessional team, the
Vermilion Independents. 1,200 people turned out to
see her make debut. She pitched five innings giving up
only four hits and one run.
• Soon special trains were being run from nearby
Cleveland whenever she pitched. She played in an
exhibition game in League Park, Cleveland’s big league
ball field, in 1907 in front of 3,000 fans.
• Weiss found it difficult to play in a baseball skirt and
quickly discarded it: “I tried. I wore a skirt over my
bloomers and nearly broke my neck. Finally, I was
forced to discard it, and now I always wear bloomers.”
• Her father, a physician, purchased the Vermillion team
and changed their name to the “Weiss All-Stars.” They
barnstormed through Ohio and Kentucky to huge
crowds. Each game, Alta pitched five innings and then
moved to 1st base.
• She went on to Starling Medical School (now Ohio State
Medical College) and was the only woman in the class
of 1914. She became a physician but continued to play
off-and-on into the 1920s.
NEBRASKA BLOOMER TEAM (1910)
EARLY 20TH-CENTURY WOMEN BALL PLAYERS

• At the turn of the century, there were women professional players,

umpires, and owners.
• “Bloomer Girls” teams – named for suffragette Adelaide Jenks
Bloomer – became popular. These teams were composed mostly of
women, although some men played on them including Hall of
Famers Smoky Joe Wood and Rogers Hornsby who played with
them as they worked their way to the major leagues.
• Maud Nelson started her playing career in 1897 at a pitcher for the
Boston Bloomer Girls, went on to pitch for other teams, became a
scout, manager, and owner through 1935.
• Lizzie “Spike” Murphy played 1B from 1918-1935. In 1931 she
played first base for the American League All-Stars in a game
against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
 JACKIE MITCHELL (1931-1936)
• Taught by her father and her neighbor Dazzy
Vance (who showed her how to throw a “drop
ball” before he went on to be a Hall-of-Fame
pitcher), Mitchell was a left-handed pitcher who
grew up playing for women’s teams in
Chattanooga and Atlanta.
• In 1931, at the age of 17, she was signed by the
Chattanooga Lookouts, the AA minor league
affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.
• In March, the Chattanooga News reported: “She
uses an odd, side-armed delivery, and puts both
speed and curve on the ball. Her greatest asset,
however, is control. She can place the ball where
she pleases, and her knack at guessing the
weakness of a batter is uncanny…. She doesn’t
hope to enter the big show this season, but she
believes that with careful training she may soon
be the first woman to pitch in the big leagues.”
 JACKIE MEETS
THE BABE

• On April 2, 1931 the Lookouts played an exhibition game against the New York Yankees in
front of 4,000 fans. After the starting pitcher gave up a double and a single, Mitchell was
brought in to pitch to Babe Ruth. After taking the first pitch for a ball, Ruth swung at and
missed the next two pitches. Jackie’s fourth pitch was a called third strike. Lou Gehrig
came up next. He too struck out, missing the first three pitches he saw: all drop balls.
• Ruth said: “I don’t know what’s going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of
course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them
to play ball every day.”
• When Commissioner Landis heard of Mitchell’s performance he immediately cancelled
her contract remarking that baseball was “too strenuous for women.”
• Mitchell went on to pitch for the Israelite House of David commune. In 1933 she faced the
St. Louis Cardinals in an exhibition and won. The next morning a St. Louis sportswriter
reported: “Benton Harbor’s nomadic House of David ball team, beards, girl pitcher and all,
came, saw and conquered the Cardinals, 8 to 6, last night at Sportsman’s Park.”
• Tired of the constant degrading jokes, she retired in 1936 at age 23. She died in 1987 at
the age of 73.
 BABE DIDRIKSON (1934)
• Perhaps the greatest athlete of all
time, she played every sport and
excelled. Every American knew her
name.
• In the 1932 Olympics she won gold
medals and set world records in
track and field.
• She founded the LPGA and won
countless golf tournaments.
• She barnstormed in basketball and
baseball.
• She pitched against Major League
baseball teams in spring training and
exhibition games.
 ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL
LEAGUE
• Semi-pro women’s softball was popular across the U.S.
• During WWII, baseball executive were concerned about generating (1943-1954)
revenue as most players and many fans were serving overseas. Minor
league teams disbanded and major league attendance declined.
• In 1943 Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley started the All-American Girls
Professional Baseball League.
• Women came from all over the country to try out at Wrigley Field in
Chicago. Four teams were created including the South Bend Blue Sox and
Rockford Peaches.
• At first the game resembled softball more than baseball (shorter
distances, larger ball, underhand pitching). But over time, the women
played baseball (overhand pitching, regulation-size ball, and similar
distances).
• The players were required to wear short sleeves and skirts rather than the
bloomers that women normally played it. Women were also expected to
be “feminine” and were required to attend charm school classes and use
a beauty kit. They were not permitted to have short hair, smoke or drink
in public places, and were required to wear lipstick at all times. The first
two offenses resulted in fines. The third: suspension.
• During the 1948 season the league attracted 910,000 paying fans.
• During the league’s history, over 600 women played ball.
• Beginning in 1982 the former players started a newsletter, attended
reunions, and formed a Players Association.
• The 1992 film A League of Their Own covers the founding and play of this
league.
All-American Girls Professional Baseball
League player Dottie Schroeder on the cover
of Parade Magazine in August 1948. AAGPL PLAYERS: MARION BOYSON, HELENE
MACHADO, AND BETTY TERRY
THE ALL AMERICAN GIRL
“A GUIDE FOR ALL AMERICAN GIRLS – HOW TO
LOOK BETTER, FEEL BETTER, BE MORE POPULAR”

This guide was printed and distributed to all of the women who joined the AAGBL.
Your Beauty kit should always contain the following:
•Cleansing cream
•Lipstick
•Rouge – Medium
•Cream Deodorant
•Mild Astringent
•Face Powder for Brunette
•Hand Lotion
•Hair Remover
•Extra precaution [should be taken] to assure all the niceties of toilette and personality. Take
time to observe the necessary beauty ritual, to protect both health and appearance.
THE ALL AMERICAN GIRL
“A GUIDE FOR ALL AMERICAN GIRLS – HOW TO
LOOK BETTER, FEEL BETTER, BE MORE POPULAR”

BEAUTY ROUTINE – morning and night

In the morning, when you have more time to attend to your beauty needs, you
will undoubtedly be enabled to perform a more thorough job. Use your cleansing
cream around your neck as well as over the face. Remove it completely and
apply a second time to be sure that you remove all dust, grease and grime. Wipe
off thoroughly with cleansing tissue. Apply hand lotion to keep you hands as
lovely as possible. Use your manicure set to preserve your nails in a presentable
condition.
•Teeth – There are many good tooth cleansing preparations on the market and they
should be used regularly to keep the teeth and gums clean and healthy.
•Body – Unwanted or superfluous hair is often quite common. There are a number of
methods by which it can be easily removed.
THE ALL AMERICAN GIRL
“A GUIDE FOR ALL AMERICAN GIRLS – HOW TO
LOOK BETTER, FEEL BETTER, BE MORE POPULAR”

BEAUTY ROUTINE – morning and night

•Deodorants – The most important feature of some of these products is the fact that
the fragrance stays perspiration-proof all day. Deodorants keep you fresh and gives
you assurance and confidence in your social contacts.
•Eyes – The eyes are the windows of the soul. They bespeak your innermost thoughts.
Perhaps no other feature of your face has more to do with the impression of beauty,
sparkle and personality which you portray. A simple little exercise for the eyes can do
much to strengthen your eyes and add sparkle and allure.
•Hair – Hair is a woman’s crowning glory. Brushing the hair will help a great deal more
than is realized. It helps to stimulate the scalp which is the source of healthful hair
growth. It develops the natural beauty and luster of the hair. And it will not spoil the
hair-do. When brushing, bend over and let your head hang down. Then brush your
hair downward until the scalp tingles. Just a few minutes of this treatment each day
will tend to keep your scalp in fine condition and enhance the beauty of your
“crowning glory.”
THE ALL AMERICAN GIRL
“A GUIDE FOR ALL AMERICAN GIRLS – HOW TO
LOOK BETTER, FEEL BETTER, BE MORE POPULAR”

BEAUTY ROUTINE – morning and night

•Mouth – Every woman want to have an attractive and pleasing mouth. As you
speak, people watch your mouth and you can do much, with a few of the very
simplest tools, to make your mouth invitingly bespeak your personality. Your
beauty aids should, of course, include the appropriate type of lipstick and brush.
Caution – be sure that the lipstick has not smeared your teeth. Your mirror will
tell the tale – and it is those little final touches that really count.
•Hands – Cleanliness and neatness again come to the fore. Your hands should be
thoroughly cleaned and washed as frequently as seems desirable or necessary.
Soap and water and pumice will do this job to perfection. Then a protective
cream should be applied to keep hands soft and pliable and to avoid crack and
over-dryness. Your nails should be gone over lightly each day, filing to prevent
cracks and splits, oiling for the cuticle.
THE ALL AMERICAN GIRL
“A GUIDE FOR ALL AMERICAN GIRLS – HOW TO
LOOK BETTER, FEEL BETTER, BE MORE POPULAR”

• The women were baseball players, but due to the league product they were
not allowed to forget that they were women baseball players. The makeup,
the skirt, the presentation on and off the field were things that didn’t let the
players forget that they were women. Joyce Hill-Westerman (1945-1952)
described her reaction to the league’s product:
You had to look very feminine. That’s what they wanted, look feminine but play like
men. That’s what they expected. You had to have long hair and wear dresses and you
had to wear those uniforms. When I first saw those uniforms I said, ‘oh, I’ll never play
for them.’ Because you didn’t show your legs in those days. Especially in Kenosha
[Wisconsin], you know. Then later I thought, well I guess you have to play in those
uniforms if you want to play. (Joyce Hill-Westerman, interview by the author, tape recorded oral history,
Kenosha WI., 20 August, 2003).

• Wrigley must have realized that he was dealing with young women who had
rebelled in one way or another against the popular social conceptions that left
them confined to knitting, cooking, and other types of traditionally feminine
domestic duties.
THE ALL AMERICAN GIRL
“A GUIDE FOR ALL AMERICAN GIRLS – HOW TO
LOOK BETTER, FEEL BETTER, BE MORE POPULAR”

• The great emphasis placed on the proper conduct (i.e. appearance, proper dress, and
etiquette) are apparent in the foreword of the pamphlet A Guide for All-American Girls,
….You have certain responsibilities because you too, are in the limelight. Your actions and
appearance [both] on and off the field reflect on the whole profession. It is not only your duty to
do your best to hold up the standard of this profession but to do your level best to keep others in
line. The girls in our League are rapidly becoming the heroines of youngsters a well as grownups all
over the world. People want to be able to respect their heroines at all times…. We hand you this
manual to help guide you in your personal appearance. We ask you to follow the rules of behavior
for your own good as well as that of the future success of girls’ baseball…. A healthy mind and a
healthy body are the true attributes of the All American girl.
• The guide’s foreword served several functions for the league and provided a form of counsel.
•The code of conduct that laid down the rules for the players. There were separate sections such as
proper introductions, proper speech, proper sportsmanship, and proper dealings with the public
(fans, chaperones, etc.) The guide’s subsections dealt with the intricacies of Etiquette.
•Established standards of dress and appearance that created the feminine mystique of the Wrigley
promotional plan.
•Guided the players’ physical fitness, containing health and training tips. These sections dealt with
the stretching exercises and routines for the shoulders, for the chest and upper back, for the ankles
and knees, for the abdomen and waist, and for general circulation.
 ELEANOR
ENGLE (1952)

• Given the success of women ballplayers before, during, and after

the war many felt it was only a matter of time before women were
playing with men in the major and minor leagues.
• In 1952 the Harrisburg Senators signed Eleanor Engle to a minor
league contract.
• Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick called the transaction a travesty
and declared women ineligible.
• The ban on women playing professional baseball at any level
remained in place for 40 years.
• Still, women continued to play ball.
 TONI STONE (1953-1954)
• Growing up, Toni Stone played with boys’ and men’s teams in St. Paul,
San Francisco, and New Orleans.
• Ineligible to play for the white-only All-American Girls Professional
Baseball League, at age 32 Toni was signed by the Indianapolis Clowns of
the Negro Leagues in 1953.
• She took over second base after the team sold Hank Aaron to the Boston
(soon-to-be Milwaukee) Braves.
• She recalled that most of the players shunned her and gave her a hard
time: “They didn’t mean any harm and in their way they liked me. Just
that I wasn’t supposed to be there. They’d tell me to go home and fix my
husband some biscuits or any damn thing. Just get the ‘hell away from
here.’”
• She remembered stepping to the plate against Satchel Paige: “He was so
good that he’d ask batters where they wanted it, just so they’d have a
chance. He’s ask ‘You want it high? You want it low? You want it right in
the middle? Just say.’ People still couldn’t get a hit against him. So I get
up there and he say, ‘Hey, T, how do you like it?’ And I said, ‘It doesn’t
matter just don’t hurt me.’ When he wound up—he had these big old
feet—all you could see was his shoe. I stood there shaking, but I got a
hit. Right out over second base. Happiest moment in my life.”
• She hit .243 for the season but was sold to the Kansas City Monarchs in
1954.
• Stone retired after the 1954 season, worked as a nurse, and died at age
75 in 1996.
MAMIE “PEANUT” JOHNSON (1953-1955)
• Mamie grew up playing ball with her uncle and
strengthened her arm by throwing rocks at crows on the
fence of her grandmother’s farm.
• As a young girl she played for an all-white boys’ team,
the Long Branch Police Athletic Club in New Jersey, and
helped them win two division championships.
• During her High-School years she played semipro-ball for
two black male teams in Washington, DC.
• After she graduated she attempted to try out for the All-
American Girls Professional Baseball League but was
denied because she was black.
• But a scout for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro
League signed her and she pitched for the team from
1953-1955.
• She had a 33-8 won-loss record and hit .273.
• She graduated from college, became a licensed nurse
practitioner, and coached youth baseball teams.
• Video clips: www.visionaryproject.org/johnsonmamie/
CONNIE MORGAN (1954-1955)
• Connie Morgan was an accomplished all-around
athlete as a child. She played basketball and baseball,
frequently on boys teams.
• From 1949-1954 she played on the North Philadelphia
Honey Dippers women’s baseball team, playing nearly
all the positions but primarily catcher. In her final year
she batted .368.
• She read a newspaper article about Stone and Johnson
playing for the Clowns and wrote the owner to ask for
a tryout. She got it, impressed, and was signed to a
two-year contract.
• When Toni Stone was traded, Morgan took over at 2B.
She hit third in the batting order, had a .300 average,
and Clowns’ manager Oscar Charleston called her “one
of the most sensational” female players he had ever
seen.
• She said of her male teammates: “They treated me
well. They treated me like a sister.”
• She returned home after two years, worked for the
AFL-CIO and drove a bus for the Philadelphia schools.
 GIRLS BANNED FROM LITTLE LEAGUE
(1951)
• Little League Baseball was founded in 1939 for ages 5-18.
• In 1950, Kathryn Johnston tucked her hair under her cap,
used the nickname “Tubby” and posed as a boy. Once she
made the team, she revealed her gender and her local league
allowed her to play.
• In 1951, Little League regulations were changed to read:
“Girls are not eligible under any conditions.”
• Still, several girls played on Little League teams in the next
two decades.
• In 1972, Congress passed and President Richard Nixon signed
into law Title IX which states: “No person in the United States
shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in,
be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination
under any education program or activity receiving Federal
financial assistance.”
• This legislation protects a girl’s legal right to play baseball
wherever it is available in her community – regardless of
whether alternative sports (such as softball) are available.
This includes middle schools, high schools, and colleges, but
also youth baseball organizations.
GIRLS PLAY LITTLE LEAGUE (1974)
• In 1972, 12-year-old Maria Pepe was taken off a
team after playing in three games. With the help
of the National Organization for Women, she
sued.
• On Nov. 7, 1973 Sylvia Pressler, a hearing
examiner for the New Jersey Civil Rights Division
ruled that Little League Baseball must admit girls:
“The institution of Little League is as American as
the hotdog and apple pie. There is no reason why
that part of Americana should be withheld from
girls.” The decision was upheld by the Superior
Court in 1974.
• Little League responded by allowing girls to play
baseball and also by creating Little League Softball
for girls. Why?
• Today, about 100,000 girls are playing Little
League Baseball (about 1 in 7 baseball players). At
the same time, nearly 400,000 girls play in girls
softball leagues.
 JULIE CROTEAU (1989)
• One of the first beneficiaries of the court decision
allowing girls to play Little League, starting at age 8 Julie
grew up playing baseball every year.
• In High School she made the JV team but was cut and
didn’t make varsity in her senior year. She sued but lost
despite the fact that Ross Natolli, the baseball coach at
Catholic University, where Julie had taken a series of
clinics, testified: “She has average high school ability for
boys. She’s a line drive hitter, and she makes good
contact. I’m seeing seventy to eighty high school games a
year, and she has enough ability to make most high school
teams.”
• In 1989, as an 18-year-old, she made the men’s baseball
team as a freshman walk on at St. Mary’s College of
Maryland (NCAA Division III). She hit .222 her first season
as the backup at first base.
• After playing in college, she coached a men’s team at
Western New England University and men’s NCAA Division
I baseball at the University of Massachusetts.
• In 1992 she handled the baseball playing for actress Anne
Ramsey who portrayed Rockford Peach first basewoman
Helen Haley in A League of Their Own.
 ILA BORDERS (1994)
• At the age of 19 Ila Borders began pitching in
men’s college baseball games. She played for
Southern California College from 1994-1996
and Whittier College in 1997.
• She said: “I don’t want to live my life as
someone’s idea of a stunt. I’m here on my road
to the major leagues.”
• After college she signed with the St. Paul Saints
of the Independent Northern League. From
1997-2000 she pitched for four different
independent teams before retiring.
• She was a left-handed control pitcher with a
fastball that reached 82 mph, a curveball, and a
screwball.
• As both a starter and a reliever in 52 games and
101 innings pitched, she finished with a record
of 2 wins and 4 losses, a 6.75 ERA, a 1.85 WHIP,
and 36 strikeouts.
• http://youtu.be/XTvL7-41qAQ
 KENDRA HANES (1994)

• As a standout softball player at Oklahoma State, she was known for her power
hitting.
• At age 24 she played leftfield for the Kentucky Rifles of the independent Frontier
League in 1994.
• As she prepared for the her 50th game with the team she said that while she
realized that she would never make the Major Leagues and that there were
other women who might hit with more power, run faster, or “throw BB’s,” she
explained: “I’m here and they’re not. I’m opening doors.”
• She had 11 plate appearances in 10 games with 8 strike outs and 1 walk.
• In the field she did not make an error.
• She explained that while she would love to continue playing men’s baseball and
become a good hitter, she also wanted to stay in the game to make other
changes. She said that if women are to enter the ranks of scouts, coaches,
managers, and general managers, they will first need field experience. And she
was gaining that experience.
COLORADO
SILVER
BULLETS (1994)
• The Coors Brewing Co. sponsored the team and hired former major league pitcher Phil Niekro
to be the manager. 2,000 women tried out for 24 spots. Players were paid $20,000 for the 4-
month season.
• The team barnstormed the U.S. and Canada playing 50 games in Major League stadiums
against men’s minor league, semipro, and college all-star teams.
• Though they lost a lot of games, many of them badly, they also had some success. For example,
they beat an over-35 men’s team in St. Paul 7-2. Pitcher Lee Anne Ketchum struck out 14. Julie
Cotreau was also on the team.
• They drew over 8,000 in their opening game and regularly drew 4,000-5,000 fans.
• Elaine Amundsen, a 25-year-old pitcher, remarked on the women’s future: “It’s a great
opportunity to play against men, but I think everyone knows most men are bigger and
stronger. And guys who make it to the minor leagues are really good players. It’s very hard to
even get that far. I think it might be better to form a women’s league. A lot of people would
come out to see the teams play.”
• In 1996 the management of the team arranged for Pamela Davis to pitch for the AA Jackson
minor league men’s team in an exhibition game against the Australian Olympic team.
• The gimmick of the “battle of the sexes” proved outdated in the 1990s and the team folded for
financial reasons after four seasons of play (1994-97).
• Ketchum and Cotreau went on to play for the Maui Stingrays of the Hawaiian Winter Baseball
League.
 LADIES LEAGUE BASEBALL (1997)

• One of several women’s professional

baseball leagues attempted following the
release of the film A League of Their Own.
• In 1997 the league started with 4 teams in
San Jose, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and
Phoenix.
• The next year they changed their name to
the Ladies Professional Baseball League.
• They expanded adding teams in Buffalo, NY
and Augusta, NJ while the Los Angeles team
moved to Homstead, FL and the Long Beach
team folded.
• But 12 games into the second season the
league folded citing low fan turnout. The
average attendance was less than 500 per
game.
 KENDALL BURNHAM (2003)

• As a kid, Kendall Richards played baseball with the boys and soon
became a standout softball player.
• She was a four-time all-state shortstop in high school, won a
scholarship to national powerhouse UC-Berkeley, and was named to
the All-Pac 10 team in both of her first two seasons.
• She transferred to Texas A&M and was names All-Big 12 for her two
seasons with that team including an All-American honor as a senior
after hitting .468 with 10 HRs and 56 RBIs.
• Kendall joined the Georgia Pride of the now-defunct Women’s
Professional Fastpitch league in the summer of 1999. The following
season, the Pride became the Florida Wahoos, and Burnham helped
to lead the team to the WPF championship.
• She spent three years as the assistant coach of the softball program at
UNLV.
 KENDALL BURNHAM
(2003)

• In 2003 Kendall joined the San Angelo Colts of the independent Central League
and played alongside her husband who was the team’s third baseman.
• San Angelo manager Steve Maddock said: “I know her athletic background and
her abilities, and I watched her take batting practice. If anyone can do this, she
can.”
• Before her debut, she said: “I played baseball until I was 11, I think, 11 or 12
years old. And then I started playing competitive softball. And I actually haven’t
played baseball since I was 11…. It is actually quite a challenge. [I] wasn’t really
expecting to be playing ball at all, softball or baseball this summer. So there is
going to be a little bit of an adjustment. But it’s something that I’m looking
forward to.”
• In 7 plate appearances in 4 games she did not get a hit and struck out three
times. At 2B she had 5 chances but made two errors.
 USA BASEBALL
WOMEN’S NATIONAL
TEAM (2004)
• Since 1978, USA Baseball has been the National Governing Body for amateur baseball. It
represents the sport in the U.S. as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and
internationally as a member federation of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF).
• USA Baseball governs more than 12 million amateur players in the U.S.
• Since 1999, USA Baseball has been selecting teams of professional-level minor and major
league players to represent the U.S. in various international competitions including the World
Baseball Classic and IBAF World Cup. There are also national teams of collegiate and junior
players.
• The USA Baseball Women’s National Team was established in 2004.
• An 18-player team was selected following open tryouts across the nation.
• Julie Cotreau was the third-base coach and then manager of the 2004 and 2006 gold medal
winning teams at the IBAF Women’s Baseball World Cup. Lee Anne Ketcham was a coach and
Pamela Davis pitched for the team.
• When not competing in the World Cup, the team competes in international friendship series,
leads youth clinics, and works to grow the game of baseball among women in the U.S.
• In 2006, Major League Baseball acquired all USA Baseball commercial rights including
sponsorship, licensing, internet, and other business rights. In return, MLB provides a
guaranteed level of funding for amateur baseball programs.
• What will this mean for the future of women ball players?
AMERICAN WOMEN’S BASEBALL
FEDERATION

• There are a number of regional women’s baseball teams and organizations in

the U.S. that comprise the American Women’s Baseball Federation.
• For example, the Chicago Pioneers, an all-girls baseball program, was founded in
2006 and fields teams for girls 15 and under and 16 and over. Through 2011 13
Pioneers had played for their high school’s baseball teams, 9 have been National
Team selections, and one received an NCAA Division II scholarship for baseball.
• The Pioneers and other women’s programs are working with Little League
Baseball in the hopes of starting a girls baseball pilot program across the U.S.
• The IBAF is moving to form grass-roots baseball programs for girls in countries
around the world.
• The IBAF is also embracing women’s baseball as a partner in their bid to have
the International Olympic Committee restore baseball as a program sport in
2020.
 TIFFANY
BROOKS

• Tiffany Brooks is a right-handed pitcher and plays first base.

• She joined the previously male-only Big Bend Cowboys of the
Continental Baseball League on March 4, 2010. She was with team
through spring training and made the opening day roster. But she
asked for her release before appearing in any games.
• She has played in the California Winter League, Arizona Summer
League, and Arizona Winter League.
• She tried out for the Rio Grande Valley White Wings in 2010 but
was not offered a contract.
ERI YOSHIDA: THE “KNUCKLE
PRINCESS”

• Eri Yoshida is a 5’1” right-handed, sidearm, kunckleball pitcher. Her fastball

reaches 63 mph while her knuckler measures around 50 mph.
• At the age of 16, Eri was drafted by a Japanese professional baseball team, the
Kobe 9 Cruise of Kansai Independent Baseball League. In 2009, she appeared in
11 games before moving to the U.S.
• She pitched in the Arizona winter league and was signed by the Chico Outlaws of
the independent Golden Baseball League for the 2010 season.
• In 2011 she earned her first win pitching for the North American Baseball
League’s Maui Na Koa Ikaika. She beat the Edmonton Capitals 4-1, throwing five
innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking one and striking out one.
 PAM POSTEMA (1988)
http://www.hulu.com/watch/60234/a-celebration-of-womens-history-lady-at-the-bat-pam-postema-poised-to-umpire-in-the-majors

• After being rejected twice, Postema was admitted to umpire school in 1976.
• The following year she began her umpiring career in the rookie Gulf Coast League. She spent two years
there, two years at single-A, two years at AA, and spent six seasons at AAA Pacific Coast League.
• In 1988 Commissioner Bart Giamatti offered her a contract to umpire a spring training game and wanted
her to umpire the annual Hall of Fame game at Cooperstown, NY but Giamatti died before Postema was
able to umpire a regular season major league game.
• After her spring training game, pitcher Bob Knepper said: “I just don’t think a woman should be an umpire.
There are certain things a woman shouldn’t be and an umpire is one of them. It’s a physical thing. God
created women to be feminine. I don’t think they should be competing with me. It has nothing to do with
her ability. I don’t think women should be in any position of leadership. I don’t think they should be
presidents or politicians. I think women were created not in an inferior position, but in a role of submission
to men. You can be a woman umpire if you want, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. You can be a homosexual
if you want, but that doesn’t mean that’s right either.”
• Postema’s contract was not renewed in 1989 and she eventually filed a sexual discrimination suit against
major league baseball in federal court.
• The case was settled and she went on to be a truck driver for Federal Express.
• She published an autobiography: You’ve Got to Have Balls to Make It in This League and wrote: “Almost all
the people in the baseball community don’t want anyone interrupting their little male-dominated way of
life. They want big, fat male umpires. They want those macho, tobacco-chewing, sleazy sort of borderline
alcoholics. If you fit their idea of what a good umpire is, then you’re fine. And isn’t that the way society is?
Nobody wants any glitches. If somebody is a nonconformist like me…then we get shown the door. It’s hard
to accept. And I’ll never understand why it’s easier for a female to become an astronaut or cop or fire
fighter or soldier or Supreme Court justice than it is to become a major league umpire.”
 THE FRONT OFFICE

• Of the staff in MLB’s Central Office, women made up 38% of the positions based on
2010 MLB workforce data.
• According to MLB, at the director and managerial level, women occupied 32% of the
front-office positions at the MLB Central Office based on 2010 MLB workforce data.
• The Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros led MLB with 6
women each in vice president positions. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles
Dodgers each had 3 in 2010. 23 MLB teams have at least one woman in a vice
president position.
• In the 2010 MLB season, women held 18% of senior administration positions.
• The percentage of women in professional positions with MLB teams was 32% in
2010.
• As of 2011, Jennifer Steinbrenner-Swindal, Jessica Steinbrenner and Joan
Steinbrenner each held a Vice-Chairman position for the New York Yankees. They are
the only women who hold ownership.
 JOAN WHITNEY PAYSON (1968)

• Joan Whitney Payson was a sports enthusiast who was a minority shareholder in the New
York Giants Major League Baseball club. She and her husband opposed moving the team
to San Francisco in 1957. After the majority of the shareholders approved the move, she
sold her stock and began working to get a replacement team for New York City.
• Along with M. Donald Grant, the only other director who opposed the Giants' move,
Payson put together a group that won a New York franchise in the Continental League, a
proposed third major league.
• The National League responded by awarding an expansion team to Payson's group, which
became the New York Mets. As a result, Payson became the first woman to buy majority
control of a team in a major North American sports league, rather than inheriting it.
• Payson served as the team's president from 1968-1975. Active in the affairs of the
baseball club, she was much admired by the team's personnel and players and was
instrumental in the return of Willie Mays to New York City baseball in May 1972 by way of
trade and cash from the Giants. She died in 1975.
BERNICE SHINER GERA (1972)
• In her mid-thirties, married, and working as a secretary, Gera
decided to enroll in the Florida Baseball School in 1967 to train as
an umpire.
• After the six-week training she was rejected as an umpire by the
National Association of Baseball Leagues (NABL), which claimed
she did not meet the physical requirements for the job. But she
brought a lawsuit and won.
• On June 24, 1972 she umpired in a Class A minor league game
between the Geneva Rangers and Auburn Phillies of the New
York-Penn League.
• In the 4th inning, she ruled Auburn base-runer Terry Ford safe at
2nd base on a double play, then reversed her call. Auburn manager
Nolan Campbell disputed the decision and said that Gera’s first
mistake was putting on an umpire’s uniform, and that her second
mistake was blowing the call. Campbell was ejected from the
game.
• After the game was over Gera resigned saying she was
disenchanted with umpiring because the other umpires refused to
cooperate with her on the field. “Bernice would always say, ‘I
could beat them in the courts, but I can’t beat them on the field,’”
her husband quoted his wife as saying.
• She went on to work in promotions and community relations
office for the New York Mets and died in 1992 at age 61.
 ELAINE WEDDINGTON
STEWARD

• Born in New York, Steward worked in many positions with the New York Mets while in
school. She graduated from St. John’s University School of Law in 1987 and was chosen
for MLB’s executive development program.
• She began working for the Boston Red Sox and became the team’s Associate General
Counsel in 1988.
• In 1990 she was named Red Sox Assistant General Manager, the second African-
American (after Bob Watson of the Houston Astros) named to the post.
• In 1995 she became legal counsel and was named Vice President in 1998.
• In 2002 her title was Red Sox Vice President and Club Counsel.
• She said: “I’ve found a job I love. And I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do – sports
management and the negotiation of player contracts. But one of the best things about
working in a ballpark is when you get through your normal work day, and if there’s a
home game, you have something to look forward to.”
 JACKIE AUTRY (1999)

• The wife of Hollywood star, and Los Angeles Angels owner Gene
Autry, Jackie was named the Honorary President of the American
League in 1999, after the AL ceased to be an independent entity
and was folded into the MLB Central Office.
• Her only task for the season is to present the American League
Championship trophy, the William Harridge Award, to the
champion at the end of the ALCS as well as the ALCS MVP award.
• She is the only woman to ever serve on the Major League Baseball
Executive Council, Oversight Committee, and as a member of
the Board of Directors.
INITIATIVE ON WOMEN IN BASEBALL
(1999)
• In 1999, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig
announced the MLB was conducting a
market study that involved research on
female fans and their interest in the
sport.
• Conclusion: By a 2-1 margin, women
said that baseball is their favorite sport
to watch—on TV and in person.
• By the 2002 season, 35% of attendees
at baseball games were women and
many teams reported that nearly half
of their fans are women.
• Why are women seemingly more
attracted to baseball than other sports
such as football and basketball?
 JAYNE CHURCHMACK

• Cleveland Indians Vice President of Licensing

and Merchandising.
• She said in 2003: “The Indians rank No. 1 in
the category of female directors and managers
in Major League Baseball. Over 40% of our
front office staff is women, and at least 45% of
our fans are women. Baseball recognizes that
women are a vital part of our fan base and of
our workforce.”
• Yet when women do work in the front office,
they have generally occupied jobs in
marketing, sales, and community and media
relations. It is comparatively rare to find
women working in the baseball operations
http://youtu.be/4emI3-1tyAg
side.
 KRIS RONE

• Executive Vice President of Business Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Doubled sponsorship and marketing revenue in her first 4 years with the team.
• She created a premium-seat program for new suites and dugout seats in
Dodger Stadium, renting the facility for non-baseball activities and developing
additional sources of revenue in merchandise sales and corporate sponsorship.
• She emphasized marketing to Latino fans and Latino attendance at the stadium
increased 12% during her tenure.
• Resigned in 2004 over philosophical differences with the new owners—Frank
and Jamie McCourt.
• A graduate of Northeastern University, Hurley worked for Ernst &
Young accounting before joining the Walt Disney Co. She worked
for Disney for 6 years consulting on contracts, license deals, and
theatrical distribution agreements. CRISTINE
• She joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1998 as Director of Finance
and Accounting. HURLEY
• When Cristine Hurley joined the Los Angeles Dodgers organization
four years ago, some people thought she was owner Peter
O’Malley’s new assistant. “I was new and in a suit,” she says. “So
the only thing I could be was an assistant or a secretary.”
• Similar confusion developed on team flights. “When the wives saw
me,” Hurley says, “they asked, ‘Who is that?’ ‘Who is that?’ ‘Who is
that?’ They finally concluded I was a backup flight attendant,
because there wouldn’t be any other reason for me to be on that
plane.”
• Promoted to Chief Financial Officer in June 1999 and received the
Vice President of Finance title in November 2000.
• In April 2005 she was promoted to Sr. Vice President overseeing all
financial aspects, including budgeting and financial reporting, of
the Dodger organization.
• She reduced non-baseball expenditures by 10% during her tenure
and worked to complete the sale of the Dodger-owned spring
training facility in Vero Beach, FL, which drove $17.5 million in cash
inflows for the team.
• In 2007 she joined the National Basketball Association (NBA)
serving as Vice President of Team Finance.
• In 2009 she became a full-time sports finance consultant.
 WENDY SELIG-PRIEB
• Wendy Selig’s father was the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Selig family has owned the
team since it moved to Milwaukee from Seattle in 1970. Bud Selig put his 30% interest in the team
in a blind trust when he became commissioner in 1998.
• Wendy got her start in the Brewers marketing department after graduating magna cum laude from
Tufts University. She went on to serve in various positions with the Brewers including General
Counsel.
• After her father became Commissioner, she was baseball's only female President and CEO from
1998 until 2002 when she stepped down from her executive positions but continued to chair the
board of directors until the October 2004 sale of the team.
• Her husband Laurel Prieb, served in various capacities with the team, including — until 2004 — vice
president of corporate affairs. He went on to become an executive of Major League Baseball.
• During Selig-Prieb's reign as CEO, the Milwaukee Brewers compiled a record of 480-652 a winning
percentage of .420. The team was near triple digit losses every year, including one season with 106
losses. She also oversaw the construction of taxpayer-financed Miller Park, which opened in 2001
and was responsible for cutting the payroll each season prior to the team’s sale.
• In 2012 she was named president of Worth New York, a division of national women’s fashion
company Worth Collection Ltd.
• Born in Indiana, Ng graduated from the University of Chicago where she
played softball for four years and earned a degree in public policy. KIM
• She began her career as a special projects analyst for the Chicago White
Sox. With the Sox she handled the salary arbitration case of pitcher Alex
Fernandez.
NG
• She moved to the American League front office as Director of Waivers and
Records, approving all player transactions.
• In 1997, at age 29, she was hired by the New York Yankees as Assistant
General Manager
• In 2001 she was hired as the Assistant General Manager of the Los
Angeles Dodgers.
• In 2005 she interviewed with the Dodgers for the job of General Manager
(in charge of all player-personnel decision in the organization) but was
not selected.
• In 2008 she again interviewed for a GM position this time with the Seattle
Mariners. Again she was not hired.
• In 2009 she interviewed for the GM job with the San Diego Padres but
was again passed over.
• She remarked in 2011: “If I had not interviewed for several General
Manager positions, I would say maybe that position is closed off [to
women] at this point. But I think with people being open-minded enough
to give me an interview, I can’t say that there is any position at this point
in the front office that is closed off.”
• In 2011 Ng left the Dodgers to become Senior Vice President of Baseball
Operations for Major League Baseball. She remarked, “I’m a little
surprised that we haven’t seen more women come up in entry-level
positions through the ranks, at this point in time. My only hope is that
women do get recognized, and that we can put some programs in place http://youtu.be/DVzla99HN6o
to really at least get women into he system.”
 JAMIE MCCOURT

• Raised in Baltimore, at the age of 9 Jamie told her mother that she wanted to own a baseball team.
• She earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown, a law degree from Maryland, and an MBA
from MIT where she wanted to do her thesis on buying a baseball team or building a ballpark but
“not a single professor would sponsor it,” she said.
• She practiced law for 15 years and spent a decade as Vice President and General Counsel of The
McCourt Company, her husband Frank’s real estate development firm.
• The McCourt’s bought the Dodgers in 2004 from Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp for $430 million.
• She became the top female executive in baseball as Chief-Executive-Officer, President, and Vice Chair
of the Dodgers, overseeing all aspects of the business, from leading weekly meetings with senior
management to launching strategic development, marketing, and outreach initiatives.
• One of her initiatives, called Dodgers WIN (Women’s Initiative and Network), offered clinics, seminars
and other female-friendly events that she hoped would expand the role of women in baseball.
• She said: “Forty percent of our fan base is female, but very few women are visible in baseball. What
we want to do is create partnerships, so women can have a relationship with the Dodgers that
stretches beyond the game.”
• But not all is what it appeared to be…
 THE MCCOURT DIVORCE AND DODGER OWNERSHIP
DISPUTE
• In 2009 the McCourts announced they were separating after 30 years of marriage. One week later Frank
fired Jamie as CEO, accused her of having an affair with her driver who was employed by the team, and
changed the locks on her office.
• She subsequently filed for divorce. He claimed he was sole owner of the team, litigation ensued, and a
settlement was ultimately reached in 2011. Jamie received $130 million and relinquished her claim to the
team, ending the costliest divorce in California history.
• LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke summed up how the McCourts failed and Jamie in particular: “Turns out,
she was nothing but window dressing, cut and decorative and completely devoid of reality. While it was
Frank’s whacked vision that robbed the Dodgers of their soul, it was Jamie’s clumsy machinations that took
away their hear. Together they didn’t know anything about owning or running a baseball team, but they had
too much ego to ask…. The furious tone was set by Jamie, who fired some good people, forced some other
good people to quit, and generally created a bullying atmosphere that did not encourage good people to
join. She tried to rebuild the organization in her image because, as it turns out, she was only concerned with
that image. She preached community but only practiced Jamie. She talked about teamwork but only
huddled with Jamie…. It became obvious that she intended to own the Dodgers not as a baseball team
trying to win championships, but as a McCourt vehicle trying to win political friends. She not only couldn’t
run the Dodgers, she had absolutely no concept of the Dodgers. In the end, Jamie McCourt’s legacy will not
be what she did, but what she didn’t do. Her legacy will not be about court-alleged indiscretions or
unconscionable support demands, but about her failure to turn that aggressiveness into community
leadership and championship baseball. She didn’t manage. She didn’t mentor. She could have changed our
world, but instead seemingly cared only about spending thousands to change flowers in an office that was
finally taken from her, by a team that has finally, mercifully, been released from her grip. One down, one to
go.”
• MLB took over the team in April 2011. Commissioner Bud Selig cited “deep concerns for the finances and
operations” of the Dodgers who allegedly could not make payroll and who were heavily in debt.
• In June 2011 the Dodgers filed for Bankruptcy. Frank and MLB battled in Court until a settlement was
reached to put the team up for sale. The team was sold in 2012 for $2 billion.
 WORKING WOMEN
IN BASEBALL
(2008)

• In 2008, female baseball employees, 3/4 from the minor leagues, began their own
conference at the annual baseball winter meetings where baseball executives have
traditionally gathered to network.
• The event was started by Heather Raburn, a former softball player at New Mexico State
University and a senior account manager for marketing with Minor League Baseball.
• About 100 women participate in a 2-hour seminar to exchange ideas, offer support and
encouragement, and build a growing network of women in the sport. Topics included
career and family, leadership qualities, workplace etiquette, communications skills for
women, advancing in your career, and recognizing and/or increasing your value.
• Raburn said: “It’s more of a networking event. It’s a chance to talk to other women in the
same position and find out how they are handling situations and hear their insights on
different topics.”
• The event has recently been copied by Japanese baseball executives.
 PAM GARDNER

• Pam Gardner was working at an advertising agency in Chicago when she moved to
Houston in 1989, sent an unsolicited résumé to the Houston Astros and was hired as
director of communications. She steadily added additional duties after Drayton McLane
purchased the team in 1992.
• “As we were trying to revitalize the Astros, we saw her skills as a marketer and in sales,”
McLane said. “She played an important role in helping plan the strategy of the [public]
referendum and planning and building the [new publicly financed] stadium.”
• In 2001 she was named one of the team’s two Presidents (handling business operations),
becoming the only female CEO/President in MLB.
• She resigned in January 2012 in the wake of McLane’s sale of the club to shipping logistics
executive Jim Crane.
• McLane said executive changes are par for the course in MLB, adding, “When we came in
in 1992, we wanted to change a lot of the people who had been working for John
McMullen. We hate to see this change, but Pam had been with this team for years and
wanted to move on to something else in her life.”
 JEAN AFTERMAN
http://youtu.be/8soP8IqOS2A

• Afterman graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1979 and received
her JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1991.
• From 1994 to 1999, she was General Counsel at KDN Sports, Inc., a player-agent, and
handled business and legal affairs for international baseball clients.
• She went on to manage her own legal practice, providing athletic representation and
management with a specialization in arbitration proceedings.
• Since 2001, Jean Afterman has been the New York Yankees’ Assistant General Manager.
She was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2011.
• She became only the third female to hold the assistant GM position in Major League
Baseball (MLB) history.
• Afterman’s diverse business and legal background made her instrumental in the
Yankees’ efforts to spearhead operations in Asia and the signing of three-time MVP
Hideki Matsui.
 CONCLUSION

• Women have played organized baseball since the earliest days of the game.
• The women of Vasser College and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
showed that women could have leagues of their own.
• Individual players from Alta Wiess and Jackie Mitchell to Ila Borders and Eri Yoshida make
plain that women can play competitively alongside men.
• While Major League Baseball’s long-time ban on female players in both the major and
affiliated minor leagues surely stunted the progress of female ballplayers, some argue that
it is only a matter of time before the first female player debuts in the Major Leagues.
• And while other sports like golf, tennis, basketball, and soccer have enjoyed success with
female-only leagues, a women’s baseball league has yet to take hold. Why not?
• The main impediment to the formation of a competitive women’s baseball league at the
professional level is the prevalence of softball. Girls are channeled in to softball at young
ages. It is the established sport for girls at the high school, college, and Olympic levels.
• Ultimately, for women ball players to be taken seriously, they must be judged by the same
standards as other players – solely on their skills and not on their gender.
 REFERENCES
• Berlage, Gai Ingham. 1994. Women in Baseball: The Forgotten History. Praeger.
• Elias, Robert. Baseball and the American Dream: Race, Class, Gender, and the
National Pastime.
• Gregorich, Barbara. 1993. Women at Play: The Story of Women in Baseball.
Harcourt Brace & Co.
• Lanctot, Neil. 2004. Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black
Institution. University Press of Philadelphia.
• Reinke, Ed. 1994. “The Cycle Starts Here: Pro Baseball’s Only Woman Lives a
Dream,” The Spokesman-Review. August 11.
• Shattuck, Debra A. 1992. Bats, Balls and Books: Baseball and Higher Education
for Women at Three Eastern Women's Colleges, 1866-1891. Journal of Sport
History.
• Shea, Jim. 1994. “An Ever-Expanding Field: Bullets Provide Women with a Place
in Baseball.” Hartford Courant, June 5.