Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball

Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball

1 volume: Photos
Appendices: AAGPBL Rosters, AAGPBL teams, league champions and batting champions, Other Rosters, Women’s World Series Results, Women’s World Series Rosters, World Cup Rosters 2004, Tournament Results
Bibliography
Index

As Spring Training gets into full swing, it is time to think baseball. This book gives a unique perspective on the game as it details the history and personalities of women who were involved in the game both as players and owners. Women have been involved in playing baseball (not softball) since at least 1866 when Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY fielded a women’s team. From 1943 until 1954 there was a woman’s professional league, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) which fielded teams in places like Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield. In the mid-1990’s a women’s barnstorming team, the Colorado Silver Bullets toured the country playing against men’s major and minor league teams. Details of these teams and other incidents in the history of women’s baseball along with biographies and photographs of players are found in the main text of the book. The many appendices give the team rosters and a few statistics.

Unlike many books, the authors of this book consider it a work in progress as the records and information on women’s participation in baseball are nowhere near as complete as that existing for the men’s game. The bibliography is organized by player and team with lists of further resources. This book gives a good introduction and background on a little known sidelight of America’s pastime.