The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
About this episode
This episode explores the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II and features insights from baseball historian Dr. Leslie Heaphy.
During World War II, afraid that major league baseball would need to pause while men were overseas fighting, Philip K. Wrigley, chewing gum mogul and owner of the Chicago Cubs, spearheaded a new professional ball league, this one made up of women players. In the twelve years of All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League play, over 600 women had the chance to play professionally, earning substantial salaries and delighting fans across the Midwest. Joining me in this episode is baseball historian Dr. Leslie Heaphy , Associate Professor of History at Kent State University Stark Campus, chair of the The Women in Baseball Committee of the The Society for American Baseball Research, and editor of the Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball . Our theme song is “ Frogs Legs Rag ,” composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “ That Baseball Rag ,” composed by Clarence Jones with lyrics by Dave Wolff; this recording by vocalist Arthur Collins, from June 12, 1913, is in the public domain and is available via the Library of Congress National Jukebox. The episode image is Dottie Schroeder, catcher, shouting play ball, on…
People in this episode
Host: Kelly Therese Pollock
Guest: Dr. Leslie Heaphy
Topics covered
- women in sports
- baseball history
- World War II
- professional sports leagues
- women's empowerment
- cultural history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Women in Baseball Committee, The Society for American Baseball Research
Books & works: Frogs Legs Rag, That Baseball Rag
Places: Midwest
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