How Has The Baseball World Changed In The Fall Of 1942

The baseball world changed in the fall of 1942. Most of the minor league teams dispersed because the young men were being drafted into the service. The war was going strong and the belief that Major League Baseball Parks were in danger of closing prompted the creation of the All-American Girls Softball League during the spring of 1943. The League began as a non-profit organization and was lead by Philip K. Wrigley. Mr. Wrigley was the chewing-gum magnate and also owner of the Chicago Cubs’ Major League Baseball team. Mr. Wrigley along with his assistant, Ken Sells formed the League in the hopes to prepare if the attendance at the Major League parks would drop because of less quality players. These two men and several others formed a board

The only organized game for women at the time was softball, the board decided to include both baseball and softball into the new rules. They extended the length of the fields and pitching distance to reflect baseball rather than softball. Men’s base running and fielding were kept and now the women players were allowed to lead off and steal bases. At the time, softball teams were comprised of 10 players, but it was decided to bring the team number down to nine and adopt the type of equipment implemented by the men’s

Soon the sponsors and the managers realized that the war was not going to eliminate major league baseball. Mr. Wrigley lost interest in the women’s league. Even though attendance was down at the two parks in Milwaukee and Minneapolis, attendance increased in the smaller venues. Mr. Wrigley decided to sell the league to Arthur Meyerhoff, an advertising executive in Chicago. Mr. Meyeroff made several changes and began an extensive advertising campaign to promote the League in 1945. All was going well, the war was still being fought and the patriotic fans assured Mr. Meyeroff that women’s baseball had a future. Small and large families were showing up in great numbers to watch the women play ball. The Milwaukee Chicks moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the Minneapolis Millerettes moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Finally, the women were allowed to just play ball and show their athletic ability. The charm school closed! The women still played in exhibition games for army camps and visited wounded soldiers in veteran hospitals. Many of the players had relatives in the war and this war effort by the teams produced a great deal of positive publicity. August 14, 1945, the citizens of the United States celebrated the end of World War II. Appropriately, the women’s baseball team celebrated at the baseball park. Even though the war ended, the All American Girls Professional Ball League was at the