The Belles Of Baseball The All American Girls Professional Baseball League

The Belles of Baseball discusses how in the 1940s and 1950s, women broke traditional gender barriers by playing professional baseball, boosting morale during World War II and paving the way for future generations of female athletes. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

This in-depth treatment of the organization and operation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League draws on primary documents from league owner Arthur Meyerhoff and others for a unique perspective inside the AAGPBL. The study begins with a brief history of women’s softball, an important precursor to, and talent pool for, women’s professional baseball. Next the book investigates league administration and organization as well as publicity and promotion. Later chapters cover team administrative structures, managers, chaperones, player backgrounds, and league policies. Finally, discussion focuses on the activities of the AAGPBL Players’ Association from 1980 onward. Informed by many years of research and insights from former players, this exhaustive history contains 149 photographs.

For a dozen years in the 1940s and 1950s, more than 700 women played professional baseball in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Though some saw their brand of ball as a sideshow or wartime diversion, the women were all tough competitors and superb athletes. They set records that remain unequaled by their male counterparts, including Sophie Kurys' 201 stolen bases in a single season and Joanne Winter's 63 consecutive scoreless innings. And the 1944 AAGPBL All-Star game was the first night game at Chicago's Wrigley Field. This is the most comprehensive look ever at the players of this women's league. From Velma Abbott to Agnes "Aggie" Zurkowski, over 600 players are profiled. For each player, vital dates, place of birth, height, weight, defensive position, teams played for and seasons active are provided, along with complete career statistics. These data are followed (in most cases) by a brief biographical sketch that details the player's career, how she came to play in the league and information on her post-baseball career. Most of the photographs are from the personal files of the players and have never before been published.

Sue Macy presents an engrossing and deeply researched account of women's baseball in A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. "Play ball!" yelled the umpires as the teams of the AAGPBL took the field in the tense, war-torn days of 1943. Like all professional baseball players, these athletes scrambled to their positions, tossed balls across diamonds, and filled the air with chatter. But there was something different about them--they all wore skirts, went to charm school, and continually had to answer one question: "What is a woman doing playing baseball?" What were they doing? Having a great time, playing top-notch ball, and showing that a woman's place was at home only when she was at bat, behind the plate, or scoring a run. For twelve seasons, from 1943 to 1954, some of America's best female athletes earned their livings by playing baseball. This is their story in their own words, a tale of no-hitters and chaperones, stolen bases and practical jokes, home runs and run-ins with fans. Life in the league, however, was not all fun. Born out of a wartime "manpower" shortage, the AAGPBL ended with the growth of television and the ideal of the suburban home. Here, too, is the story of America's changing attitudes toward men and women and the roles we expect each to play. Author Sue Macy spent eleven years tracking down the women of the AAGPBL, interviewing them, and looking at their scrapbooks. Along the way she found that their odyssey did not end with the collapse of the league. The same courage and spunk the players displayed on the field led them to get back in touch with each other in the 1980s, to remind the world of what they had achieved, and to take their rightful places in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Balancing the voices of the women of the league with a lively, insightful overview of the changing patterns of American life, A Whole New Ball Game is a sports story full of telling insights about who we expect to be at home and how women can get back to first base.

The movie A League of Their Own put the AAGPBL on the map, but books tell the real story. Belles of the Ballpark does just that in an intimate, fun, and fact-filled account of the league and its players-from the inception during WWII, to its vibrant popularity today. Read about: The real motivations for forming a girls' baseball league, and what if took for aspiring players to make the grade, Life off the field and on the road for the girls leaguers, who endured grueling schedules, countless bus rides, and demanding public relations obligations, The evolution of the game they played - from softball to modified baseball to a highly competitive brand of hardball, Other features includes: Personal reflections from an all-star lineup of former players, The startling revelation of the gag rule Hollywood clamped onto former girls' leaguers ahead of the release of A League of Their Own, All about the first AAGPBL baseball cards, now scarce collectors' items, The story of the more than 20 former major leaguers who were part of the league, including several Hall of Famers, An interview with Casey Candaele, the big leaguer whose mom won an AAGPBL batting title, Profiles of the determined historians who led the crusade for AAGPBL recognition that culminated in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Plus over 50 photos, a league history Timeline, and ample resources Book jacket.

Alphabetically profiles over 600 members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from the 1940s and the 1950s. Notes their places of birth, heights, weights, positions, teams played for, and complete career statistics. Also includes photographs and post-baseball career notes for some players.

Growing up, Pat Brown had two dreams: to play baseball and to attend college. She was told she couldn't play baseball because she was a girl and couldn't attend college because she had no money, but in spite of the obstacles, she achieved both of these dreams, playing for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1950 and 1951 and going on to attend college. She is among the few women professional baseball players to be included into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. "As the only former AAGPBL player to have written about the League," Brown says, "I feel like I have finally pitched my no hit game." This is a memoir of playing baseball on the sandlot, discovering and playing in the AAGPBL, and playing basketball in college. Brown shares her thoughts on the League's history, including what Philip K. Wrigley sought to do by creating the AAGPBL, what happened after Wrigley left to give more attention to the Chicago Cubs, and why the League ended. She also considers the future for women's professional baseball. Interviews with such former AAGPBL players as Helen Hannah Campbell, Patricia "Pat" Courtney, Madeline "Maddy" English, Lenora "Smokey" Mandella, Jacqueline "Jackie" Matson, Jane Moffet, Mary "Sis" Moore, and Janet "Pee Wee" Wiley are included.

Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.