Baseball is called “America’s pastime,” so it isn’t too shocking that the sport mirrors the mood and personality of the country. America hasn’t always been the most tolerant and progressive place on Earth, so it shouldn’t surprise you that baseball has reflected the country’s intolerance, refusing to let Black athletes play in the major leagues for the first five decades of its existence (via PBS). But at least that changed in 1947 when Jackie Robinson took the field, shattering the race barrier at great personal risk. Another barrier has never been broken — a woman has never played major league baseball.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t extremely talented female baseball players — or that a woman has never played professional baseball. As the documentary, film, and now TV series “A League of Their Own” explores, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) existed from 1943 to 1954, fielding 15 teams, employing nearly 600 athletes, and drawing in more than a million fans in a single season with its high quality of play.
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