Today in History—May 30: The Real Story of A League of Their Own

May 30, 1943: How did women's pro baseball start?

Swing, batter, batter, swing!

And she did, on this day in 1943, when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) opened its first season. The Rockford Peaches of Illinois took on Indiana’s South Bend Blue Sox and lost, 1–0, while Wisconsin’s Racine Belles and Kenosha Shamrocks delivered a livelier opener, settled in favor of the Shamrocks, 8–6.

We were knee-deep in World War II, and America still wanted baseball. Chicago Cubs owner Philip Wrigley founded the women’s league to keep the sport going while the male players were serving overseas.

In the process, they broke ground for women’s professional sports in America. That wasn’t the goal, but the women’s excellence transcended Wrigley’s original aim.

Women from amateur softball leagues around the Midwest were invited to audition at Wrigley Field, and 60 made the cut. They were given strict rules that governed everything from alcohol consumption (only certain drinks and only after meals) to hairstyles (long and down) to fraternizing (never with players from opposing teams during the season).

That first season featured just four teams, and they played a baseball-softball hybrid, with underhanded pitching and a 12-inch ball. But over the next decade, the rules of play inched toward standard baseball: Base paths got longer, balls got smaller, and pitches went overhand. By the league’s final season, the rules matched men’s baseball.

Well, aside from the impractical skirted uniforms, lipstick requirements, and mandatory charm school.

Fun Fact

Players were not allowed to drive outside of their team’s city limits without special permission.

After the war ended and Major League Baseball returned—on television now—interest in the women’s league dropped off. It came to a close in 1954.

Then, in 1988, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened an exhibit dedicated to the AAGPBL. The response was overwhelming, with more than 1,000 fans showing up on opening day. Among them was director Penny Marshall, whose fascination with the league was channeled into the 1992 hit A League of Their Own.

The film fictionalized the Rockford Peaches’ story—but the league itself had already done the unbelievable.