A League Of Their Own

With many minor league teams having disbanded because of World War II, due to the drafting of young men into the armed services, there was a legitimate concern that the pattern would continue and that Major League Baseball would suffer as well.

That prompted Philip K. Wrigley, the chewing-gum mogul who had inherited the Chicago Cubs, to conceive of a plan to boost sagging attendance.

The original concept was for a girl's softball league to be formed. But a board of trustees, which included legendary Brooklyn Dodgers President and General Manager Branch Rickey, decided to create a game that combined both baseball and softball with its own modified rules.

From its inception in 1943 through its demise in 1954, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a bastion for tomboys all over the U.S.

And Canada. In that inaugural season, the Racine Belles defeated the Kenosha Comets three games to none in a best of five series in the AAGPBL's equivalent of the World Series.

At its peak in 1948, the AAGPBL consisted of 10 teams and drew nearly a million fans.

The AAGPBL was depicted in the movie A League Of Their Own, starring Tom Hanks and Geena Davis.