Jean Marlowe  Jean Marlowe of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League

Since Mother's Day is coming up soon, let's explore some special women in baseball.  Some you might not even know about.
  • Since 1866 women have been playing baseball.  The first women's baseball team was at Vassar.
  • 1974: The first woman to manage a men's baseball team was Lanny Moss, manager of the minor league, Portland Mavericks.The Little League officially admitted girls in June 12, 1974.
  • Lizzie Arlington was the first woman to sign a professional baseball contract in 1898. She was 20 years old and pitched one game for Reading, Pa. of the Class A Atlantic League.
  • 17-year old Jackie Mitchell signed with the Chattanooga Lookouts, a minor league baseball team in 1931.  She is best remembered for striking out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game.
  • The first official female umpire in men's baseball was Amanda Clement who umpired between 1905-1911 for Midwest semi-pro teams.  She had a very interesting uniform, which designed herself. It was an ankle-length skirt, white shirt with black tie and a baseball cap.  Guess where she stored extra baseballs..in her blouse of course.  She later got rid of the ties and had UMPS printed on the front of her uniform.
  • Remember the movie "A league of her Own" starring Geena Davis, Rosie O'Donnell and Madonna? This real life All American Girls Professional Baseball League debuted in 1943. Philip Wrigley, of chewing gum fame and also Chicago Cubs owner wanted to give baseball fans something else to watch during WWII and found there were many women with baseball talent in the US and Canada.Hall of Fame players, Dave Bancroft, Max Carey and Jimmie Fox were the managers, which helped to attract interest.  With many years of success the team folded in 1954.
  • In 1994 lla Borders became the first woman to pitch for a men's baseball team at Southern California College in Costa Mesa, California.
  • Effa Manley, co-owner of the Negro League team, the Newark Eagles, became the first woman to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY in 2006.