The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
the nations 26 minor leagues had enough men left to play (Johnson, 1994).” Aside from this reason, there was concern over the continuation of baseball by several public figures, including President Roosevelt. It was thought that because of the long hours and demanding work of the war effort that it was important for the American people to have a way to blow off steam.
In the fall of 1942, Wrigley assigned a three-man team from the Cubs organization to look into developing a professional baseball league for women. His theory was that if Rosie the Riveter could keep wartime factories going, maybe Rosie the Right Fielder could do the same for baseball. After receiving positive feedback for the idea of a women’s baseball league, Wrigley dispatched thirty of his baseball scouts to search the U.S. and Canada for top women ball players (Marshall, 1992).
When looking for players, scouts were instructed to look not only at ability and talent, but also for women with “high moral standing,” and femininity. Initial tryouts were held in a dozen major cities. In May 1943 some 280 of them were invited to Wrigley Field in Chicago for the final selection process. In Chicago officials looked on as players were put through a series of tests and in the end of the week and several visits to the Helena Rubinstein studios, 64 women were chosen to be the first members of the AAGPBL (Pratt, Interview).
At the start of the league there were notable differences in rules and regulations of the game in relation to men‘s baseball. The circumference of the ball went from 12 inches in 1943 to 9-9 1/4 inches in 1954, which equals that of a major league baseball. Also over the course of the league the length of the base paths and the pitching distance increased by 20 feet each, leaving both a matter of inches in difference of men’s baseball. Regulation pitching style began underhanded and progressed to overhand and sidearm, also the same as the major leagues (Berlage 1994). Another major difference was in the appearance of the players. It was thought by Wrigley and his staff to be very important that the appearance and behavior of the players project femininity, and that every player display ladylike conduct.
In their efforts to control this, there were several guidelines and rules set forth by the league. As a means to design a more “feminine” uniform a committee designed a one-piece dress with a three-quarter length flared skirt and satin briefs underneath. These uniforms were praised as “dainty, pastel frocks, (Gregorich, 1993)” but the players found them less than practical. “I thought the uniforms were great. They were quite similar to what I wore teaching school (Pratt, Interview).” Pitchers had to pin their skirts down to avoid hitting them when they took their windmill windups, and base runners collected huge assortments of bruises and “strawberries” from [next page]