All American Girls Professional Baseball League was an American sports organization that, between 1943 and 1954, grew from a makeshift wartime entertainment to a professional showcase for women baseball players.
From the time of its inception in 1943 until the time of its demise in 1954, the All American Girls Professional Baseball League included almost 600 women, who were recruited from the United States, Canada, and Cuba.
The league’s founder was Chicago Cubs owner and chewing gum magnate Philip K. Wrigley. He started the league out of a concern that men’s major league baseball would suffer when players were called for military service.
At this time even professional athletes were fighting for victory. The best of the best ball players like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, just to name a few volunteered for military service. Ted Williams actually flew combat missions for the Marines during both World War II and the Korean War.
The “Belles of the Ball Game,” however, delivered such a high level of play that, at the league’s peak in 1948, they drew more than a million fans to the stands.
During the 1940s women’s amateur softball leagues flourished throughout the United States and Canada. When Wrigley conceived his scheme, he scouted talent from these amateur leagues for his mainly Midwestern professional league.
During the 1940s women’s amateur softball leagues flourished throughout the United States and Canada. When Wrigley conceived his scheme, he scouted talent from these amateur leagues for his mainly Midwestern professional league.
During the early seasons the league used a large, almost softball-sized ball, which was pitched underhand. By the league’s final years, however, the women’s game resembled conventional baseball much more closely, with teams uses a smaller hard ball and pitchers employing an overhand pitch.
The league produced a number of excellent baseball players including first baseman Dorothy Kamenshek, second baseman Sophie Kurys, and pitcher Jean Faut. The return of televised major league baseball and careless promotion of Women’s league games led to the league’s demise in 1954.