Women’s pro baseball swings for the fences

When Maybelle Blair, seated like a queen in a wheelchair, threw a ceremonial opening pitch on a misty August night, there might have been some crying in baseball.Ms. Blair, with her mane of white hair and fashionable wrap-around sunglasses, is a sports icon. Turning 100 this year, she starred in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1950s that inspired the hit 1992 movie “A League of Their Own.” She was a guest of honor at the inaugural weekend of the new Women’s Pro Baseball League earlier this month in Springfield, Illinois.“I want you to know that this is the happiest moment of my life,” she told the cheering crowd at Robin Roberts Stadium. “Nothing would stop me from being here if I had to crawl. I’ve watched so many of them, as little girls, grow up, and all they wanted to do was play baseball. And guess what? They are playing it.” Boston Hunters’ Assistant Coach Karavin Dew signs a young fan's glove before the Women’s Pro Baseball League’s first game at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, Aug. 1, 2026. Why We Wrote This As interest and investment in women’s sports surges, a new “league of their own” steps up to the plate: the Women’s Pro Baseball League. The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) is the fifth iteration of women’s pro baseball in the United States, the last being the short-lived Ladies Professional Baseball League, which folded in 1998. The WPBL is made up of four teams: the Boston Hunters, New York Heights, San Francisco Firebells, and Los Angeles Queens. Their season runs for eight weeks, and all games are played in Springfield and broadcast on ESPN Select. The league’s launch comes at a moment when interest in and investment across women’s professional sports in the U.S. are surging. Yet amid the celebration, pressures remain to prove that, this time, a women’s pro baseball league – without the extensive youth, collegiate, and professional development system that supports many other women’s sports – can succeed.The WPBL didn’t come out of left field. Baseball for All, the nation’s largest girls’ baseball organization, estimates that more than 100,000 girls play youth baseball in the U.S. In Canada, the second-most represented country in WPBL, there are 30,000 girls and women registered with Baseball Canada. Japan ran its own professional league for a decade before folding in 2019, and today more than 23,000 women play baseball there on 102 teams, according to MLB.com.If one thing was clear in the messages from the coaching staff in the days leading up to the opening pitch in Springfield, their rosters are stacked with elite athletes. Maybelle Blair, an original member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, throws a first pitch at the inaugural game of the Women’s Pro Baseball League, in Springfield, Illinois, Aug. 1, 2026. While some in the WPBL played softball in high school and college, others have been dedicated baseball players, securing spots on high school and collegiate rosters. For many players, it is their first time competing on a professional team made up entirely of women.Five WPBL players already play professional baseball with men in the Banana Ball Championship League, made famous by the Savannah Bananas. Ayami Sato of Japan, considered the best female player in the world with pitching speeds nearing 80 mph, plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Canadian Baseball League. With seven countries represented on the final WPBL rosters, dozens of players have competed in the biennial Women’s Baseball World Cup.“It’s really mind-blowing the talent that they have,” said Keith Foulke, a former relief pitcher with the Red Sox and, for their first three games, the manager of the Boston Hunters. “When I saw them play [during spring training] down in Fort Myers, it was like, ‘Wow. These aren’t women playing baseball; these are athletes playing baseball.’... They play the game at a very high level, and they play it the correct way.” Fans watch the Los Angeles Queens play the New York Heights in Springfield, Illinois, Aug. 1, 2026. The WPBL is the fifth iteration of a professional league in American history, and the first since the 1990s. Fans line upDespite a drenching rain, spirits were high at Robin Roberts Stadium. Fans queued up with umbrellas and ponchos several hours before the gate opened at the sold-out debut game on Aug. 1 to ensure they got a bobblehead giveaway of Mo’ne Davis, the first girl to pitch a shutout in Little League World Series history in 2014. She now plays center field for the Los Angeles Queens.An arc of colorful balloons framed the front gate, and the air was heavy with the smell of freshly potted flowers. Merchandise supplies – caps, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and canvas bags – quickly dwindled.“We were No. 9 and 10 in line at 12:30 p.m. to make sure we got our bobblehead,” said Brenda Highley, a retired Navy veteran and softball player, who drove 3 1/2 hours from Lakewood, Illinois. “It’s all coming around finally, and I want to be part of it.”The rain pushed back the original 5 p.m. start time, and spectators crowded beneath the stadium steps to stay dry. Every now and then, a cheer rippled through as players entered the stands to greet fans and sign autographs.Liz Gilder, a left-handed pitcher from Canada for the San Francisco Firebells, folded down her 5-foot-10-inch frame to eye level with a 5-year-old in a pink sweatshirt decorated with butterflies, clutching a pen and a baseball, muted by shyness. “She just started T-ball. She’s got a good arm,” says her mother. Boston Hunters’ captain, Alli Schroder, left, waits for the opening ceremony ahead of the first WPBL game. Los Angeles Queens player Amira Hondras, right, stands in the dugout before the game. Let’s play ballAfter the opening ceremonies, athleticism took center stage as the Los Angeles Queens and the New York Heights squared off.The Queens rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the second inning to beat the Heights 10-8. Maggie Foxx of the Queens secured the league’s first RBI on a two-run single in the first inning. Denae Benites of the Heights lifted the crowd to its feet in the fourth inning with a slug that disappeared into the rain and darkness over the head of Ms. Davis in center field for WPBL’s first-ever home run.“I never thought this [league] would happen. I’m 20 years old, and I thought this might happen when I was 50 and done playing,” said Ms. Foxx at the postgame press conference. “When I walked on the field, I started crying because of how much this moment meant to everyone.” New York Heights players salute the cheering public, Aug. 1, 2026. The WPBL opening season features four teams: the Boston Hunters, New York Heights, San Francisco Firebells, and Los Angeles Queens. Hurdles to overcomeIt remains to be seen if this fifth iteration of women’s pro baseball will finally take hold.“I think the time is right. There is a wave of women’s pro sports, and we’re certainly riding that wave,” says Commissioner Justine Siegal, founder of Baseball for All and co-founder of the WPBL with Keith Stein, the co-owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs. She cites as momentum the league’s Instagram following, which reached 175,000 followers before the first game. It has since jumped to more than 240,000 followers. Women’s Pro Baseball League Commissioner Justine Siegal gives an interview at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, Aug. 1, 2026. Part of that success depends on getting the word out. Many local spectators only heard about the league the week before. Becky Brouse Davis and her husband, Brad Davis, drove two days from West Virginia to catch the first week of games. The sports information director for West Virginia University Institute of Technology was so frustrated with the lack of details about the league and players that she started an independent website, thisiswomensbaseball.com.Even though the first game sold out on a rainy night, on the second night, a clear summer evening with cicadas chirping beneath a starry sky, the stadium was only two-thirds full.Longtime baseball fans and retirees Carl Bollinger and Mike Powers drove an hour down from Peoria, Illinois, after hearing about the league on talk radio. Even though the San Francisco Firebells, with No. 1 draft pick Kelsie Whitmore on the mound, defeated the Boston Hunters 11-3 with little drama, Mr. Powers says he’s glad they came.“The word ‘inaugural’ adds something to it. Anytime you see someone chase their dreams,” he says, pausing with a catch in his throat, “that’s worth something.”