153: Maybelle Blair - MLB

153: Maybelle Blair - MLB

From Sports' Forgotten Heroes by Warren Rogan

May 6, 2025 · 1h 5m · Episode 153

About this episode

The episode features Maybelle Blair, a baseball pioneer, and her impact on women's professional baseball, alongside author Kat Williams discussing her biography on May.

Maybelle (May) Blair is a baseball pioneer. In the movie, "A League of Their Own," Madonna's character was named after Maybelle, Mae Morabito. However, the character Madonna played was nothing like the real May. May did not join the AAGPBL (All-America Girls Professional Baseball League) until it was firmly established. But along the way, May certainly made her mark in baseball and softball. She played highly-competitive softball on the west coast, was discovered by a scout looking for great talent for a women's professional softball team, the Chicago Cardinals who were owned by the same Charles Bidwell who owned the NFL's Chicago Cardinals, and she made such an impression on everyone, that she ultimately wound up in the AAGPBL with the Peoria Redwings. While her career on the diamond is truly something to marvel at, today at the age of 95, she's still going strong making appearances and signing autographs, and remains a proponent of omen's professional baseball. In fact, there is a women's professional baseball league set to launch in May 2026. May's off the field life is also quite remarkable. And on today's episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes, Kat Williams, author of the book…

People in this episode

Guest: Kat Williams

Topics covered

  • baseball
  • women in sports
  • AAGPBL
  • softball

Keywords

  • Maybelle Blair
  • A League of Their Own
  • Chicago Cardinals
  • Peoria Redwings
  • women's professional baseball

Mentioned in this episode

Products: All the Way

Books & works: A League of Their Own, All the Way

Places: the west coast

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