Debra A. Shattuck pulls from newspaper accounts and hard-to-find club archives to reconstruct a forgotten era in baseball history. Her fascinating social history tracks women players who organized baseball clubs for their own enjoyment and found roster spots on men's teams. Entrepreneurs, meanwhile, packaged women's teams as entertainment, organizing leagues and barnstorming tours. If the women faced financial exploitation and indignities like playing against men in women's clothing, they and countless ballplayers like them nonetheless staked a claim to the nascent national pastime.
Making My Pitch tells the story of Ila Jane Borders, who despite formidable obstacles became a Little League prodigy, MVP of her otherwise all-male middle school and high school teams, the first woman awarded a baseball scholarship, and the first to pitch and win a complete men's collegiate game. After Mike Veeck signed Borders in May 1997 to pitch for his St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League, she accomplished what no woman had done since the Negro Leagues era: play men's professional baseball. Borders played four professional seasons and in 1998 became the first woman in the modern era to win a professional ball game.
Learn more about the value, diversity, and cultural significance of women in baseball.
Women in Baseball
Women and girls have participated in all areas of baseball ever since the game’s invention, excelling as players, umpires, coaches, owners, and more. This guide features resources detailing the historical and contemporary contributions women have made to the sport.
Women in Baseball Week
Women in Baseball Week is an annual, worldwide event recognizing the value, diversity, and cultural significance of women in baseball.
Tournaments, teams, libraries, museums, and individuals will join the International Women’s Baseball Center to recognize women’s contributions to baseball around the globe.