Essay on The All American Girls Professional Baseball League

The Korean War, ranging from 1950-1953, marked the end to a major era in the sporting world as it was the last time professional athletes were expected to fight in war, regardless of their status as celebrities. Because of the time frame of the Korean War, famous athletes such as Ted Williams, Willie Mays, and Mickey Mantle, some of the greatest to ever play the game of baseball, were expected to be willing and able to fight. Each one of these men had different stories and attitudes when they were called on to serve, but one common denominator of all the men is that their legacies as soldiers were soon forgotten, whether positive or negative, in favor of their legacies as

The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League was founded by Phillip K. Wrigley. It was in existence from 1943-1954, and was started to keep the

Leagues began to be formed and the buildup for the game spread all over. It was known at that time as 'kitten league ball,' which was later shortened to 'kitten ball.' In 1922 the name 'kitten ball' was changed to 'diamond ball.' At different times, the name of the game also would include 'mush ball' and 'pumpkin ball.' It wasn't until 1926 that the term 'softball' was used, when Walter Hakanson of the YMCA of Denver, Colorado conceived of it while attending a meeting in Greeley, Colorado to form the Colorado Amateur Softball Association. There have been many variations of the game over the years as well. As the sport became more popular, leagues formed to help the sport grow. In 1931, an age 75-and-older team was formed, traveling around in suits playing the game, and calling themselves Kids and Kubs. Two years later the first-ever national amateur softball tournament took place in conjunction with Chicago's World's Fair and soon after, the reporter who wrote about the event, Leo Fischer, helped establish the Amateur Softball Association. Over the next seven years it was determined that more than five million players were active in the game. In 1946, the National Fastball League was established and was considered to be the top male fast pitch league to ever be put together. That year also saw the famous Eddie Feigner organize the King and His Court, a

The development of baseball solidified the significance of organized team sport in American culture beginning in 1845. While baseball was originally played solely by amateurs, on oddly shaped fields, and with not an incredible amount of action outside of the infield, baseball encompassed the reasons behind the importance of organized team sport. Not only do team sports encourage self-government, they also unite the community through

Baseball has always been more than just a sport to the American people. For many, it is a way of life, teaching not just brute skills but life lessons and morals. In the wake of World War I, racism and bigotry abounded in the United States. Even though the integration of schools had recently been instated, Jim Crow laws severely limited the activity of African Americans in society, resulting in baseball teams being limited to whites. Jackie Robinson made an important step in gaining rights for African Americans when he broke the color barrier of baseball in 1947. He did this by making civil rights his ambition even before the protests began (Coombs 117). Jackie Robinson’s fame as a baseball player and determination to defeat adversity

Black American men were banned from being able to play professional baseball from the early 1900’s till the late 1940’s. This sparked the creation of what was known as the Negro Leagues. The first successful Negro League was formed in 1920 by Andrew "Rube" Foster (https:// negroleaguebaseball.com), but suspended operations in 1931 due to the financial hardships associated with the Great Depression (Baseball: An Illustrated History, G. Ward, Page 87). As the Great Depression ended and America got closer to WWII, the popularity of the Negro leagues grew. The creation of the Negro National League and the Negro American League represented the two premier Negro leagues in the 1930’s and 1940’s. They were just as organized as their white counterparts. They played a 140 game schedule, had their own all-star games, as well as their own World Series (Baseball: An Illustrated History, G. Ward, Page 247). The Negro leagues flourished during WWII. The white players of the professional teams were being drafted and their

The All American Girl’s Professional Baseball League both challenged and reinforced traditional women’s roles. The AAGPBL only lasted for eleven years, but its effects are not forgotten. Towards the beginnings of the lead, along with the influential leaders, the players were the ones to make it famous. The AAGPBL made women athletics a possibility today and helped America to emerge to why women athletes are necessary. After the men returned from war, the league began to decline and the women were eventually forced back into being housewives and back into the households.

Before there were players such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball was strictly white players only. The color line of Major League Baseball excluded black players until the late 40’s. This didn’t stop the colored men of America from playing the beloved American sport. The creation of the Negro Leagues in 1920 by Rube Foster gave colored men a chance to play in their own professional league, similar to the Major Leagues, but for African-American men. The creation of the Negro Leagues was a result of the Jim Crow Laws, state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted after the Reconstruction period in the U.S., these laws continued in force until 1965. These laws created

When the topic of baseball comes up in a conversation, what do you think of? The field, a bat, the ball, or amazing plays, crucial games, and game winning performances. What about American history? Does World War II come to mind; most likely not. According to an article called “Food for Thought: Baseball and American History,” John P. Rossi quotes Jacques Barzun saying, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” Negro League Baseball can be used to shed light on the historical experience of African American’s in the United States.

Negro baseball leagues have a deep historical significance. Racism and “Jim Crow” laws encouraged segregation of African-Americans and whites. Arguably, the players on the negro baseball leagues were some of the best ever. Even today they are still being recognized and honored for their wonderful contribution to baseball as a whole. It started when major league owners had made a “gentleman’s agreement” to keep blacks from playing in the game. The barrier that went up was finally broken with a few black players being signed into white teams in the 1940s. It was once said by Martin Luther King Jr., “[Segregation] gives the segregator a false sense of superiority, it gives the segregated a false sense of inferiority.” While that is true of

It was right after World War II that Branch Rickey decided to come up with his plan that some call the “Noble Experiment or Great Experiment” to integrate baseball (Glasser).

When asked to describe a baseball the first word generally voiced is white, and before April 15, 1947 that is exactly what the game of baseball was, white. “There is no law against Negroes playing with white teams, or whites with colored clubs, but neither has invited the other for the obvious reason they prefer to draw their talent from their own ranks” (‘42’). These were the feelings of people living in 1947, that blacks and whites were not meant to play baseball together. Then, why decades earlier, had there been an African American in the league? In 1887, an African American Pitcher, George Stovey, was expected to pitch a game with Chicago, however, the first baseman, Cap Anson, would not play as long as Stovey was on the field. Other

Baseball han’t always been an economic powerhouse. By the 1869, the first professional baseball team was created. The Cincinnati Red Stocking were the first all-professional team. Before the Red Stocking, the game of baseball was an amateur sport. Players was still being paid under the table even though the game was an amateur sport. Players started to leave their

spread the sport of baseball all over the country. As an example, the union soldiers would play the game as a form of

The story of the campaign to integrate baseball remained unknown to most whites in the United States. For blacks, it was one of the most important stories involving racial equality in the 1930s and 1940s. Black sportswriters and others framed the campaign to end segregation in baseball in terms of democracy and equal opportunity. To black’s newspaper, if there could be racial equality in baseball, there could be racial equality elsewhere in society. The black sportswriters took their campaign to baseball commissioner. They made their case to baseball executives at their annual meeting. They met individually with a number of team owners who promised tryouts and then canceled the tryouts. Yet the story of the campaign to desegregate baseball remained unknown to most of the United States.