All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL)
How the League Started
The women who made up the teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) were pioneers in sports, yet they played for the love of the game. They crisscrossed the Midwest making history in ballparks, yet they simply wanted to drive in the scoring run. They were immortalized in the film A League of Their Own, yet they still gather at annual reunions just to see “old friends.” Their story is told in Polished in Public, First in Their Field, on view in the Lower Level Lobby at The History Museum.
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With the United States entering World War II, Philip Wrigley feared major league baseball would suffer as players were drafted into the armed services. He created the women’s teams to help keep stadiums full and maintain public support for Major League Baseball.
It worked. In the Midwest’s mid-sized towns, the 14 women’s teams in the AAGPBL drew significant support. The teams included the Rockford Peaches, South Bend Blue Sox, Kenosha Comets, Racine Belles, Milwaukee Chicks, Minneapolis Millerettes, Grand Rapids Chicks, Fort Wayne Daisies, Muskegon Lassies, Peoria Redwings, Chicago Colleens, Springfield Sallies, Battle Creek Belles and Kalamazoo Lassies.
The History Museum serves as a repository for the League’s artifacts, photographs and documents. Its All-American Girls Professional Baseball League collection includes photographs, programs, film footage, scrapbooks and playing equipment used by the teams. Individuals and institutions from across the country turn to The History Museum for AAGPBL research and information.
South Bend was one of the four original cities to field teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The South Bend Blue Sox remained in the League for all 12 years of League action, one of only two teams to play for the entire duration. Virtually every AAGPBL player who pitched, caught, batted, or fielded on a team was in South Bend at some point during her career. Every player has a history of baseball play in this community, no matter how brief. Even after League play ended, South Bend Blue Sox players have continued to live and work in the area.