Editor: Keith Davis Writers: Alex Dippold, Dave Maley Publisher: Office of Public Information Volume 22, No. 6   November 1, 1999

Former "All-American Girls" to Tell League Story Until the 1992 movie A League of Their Own, their story was all but forgotten. But the athletes who made up the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League were pioneering women in sports. Two players and a bat girl from that league will be joined by a noted author of books on women’s athletics for a talk on Saturday, November 13. The presentation is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. in Textor 102, and it is free and open to the public. Gene Travis (left), who played for the Rockford Peaches, Betty Trezza, who played for the South Bend Blue Sox, and Caroline Odell, a Blue Sox bat girl, will discuss their experiences with the league, which represents a unique period in American sports history. Joining them will be Sue Macy, author of A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Formed in 1943 by chewing gum mogul and Chicago Cubs team owner Philip Wrigley, the AAGPBL captured the public’s attention with top-notch playing, proving that a woman’s place could be at home plate. Talent for the league was abundant, and it was soon evident that the women’s high caliber of play was going to be the main drawing card for the fans. At one point the league drew more fans than its men’s major league counterpart, peaking in attendance during the 1948 season, when 10 teams attracted 910,000 paid fans. Attendance declined in the following years, in part because of the rise of other forms of entertainment and the ability of major league games to reach a wider audience through television, and in 1954 the league folded. While A League of Their Own took dramatic liberties with some of the league’s history — actresses Geena Davis and Madonna portrayed composites of actual players — they did play in skirts, have chaperones, and take required etiquette classes, part of Wrigley’s desire to present the image of the "all-American girl." Evening entertainment was often confined to a game of cards in the hotel room, as most teams enforced a strict curfew. Most of the players were in their early 20s, but a few were still in their teens and some were as young as 15 years old. Macy spent 11 years interviewing players and poring over their scrapbooks and baseball cards to get the true story of the league, detailing not only the reasons for its initial popularity and ultimate failure, but also its lasting value. A Whole New Ball Game, published in 1993, was named an American Library Association best book for young adults and School Library Journal best book of the year. Macy is also the author of Winning Ways : A Photohistory of American Women in Sports and coeditor of the just-released Play like a Girl: A Celebration of Women in Sports. Copies of her books will be available for purchase at the presentation. The visit is sponsored by the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute, the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, the Department of Sociology, and the women’s studies program.