The 1945 South Bend Blue Sox

Photos Courtesy of The History Museum; Bettmann/Getty Images

A Whole New Ball Game

Seventy-five years ago, many male baseball players went off to war. So female players stepped up to the plate.

March 26, 2018

By Joe Bubar

In May 1943, Betsy Jochum arrived at Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs. But she wasn’t there to watch a baseball game. She and nearly 300 other women had been invited to try out for the first professional baseball league for women.

Jochum had grown up playing softball in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the tryouts, she impressed the coaches with her speed, hitting, and fielding skills. Jochum was chosen to play for one of the new league’s four teams, the Blue Sox of South Bend, Indiana.

“It was the greatest feeling in the world,” Jochum told Scholastic News.

The new league came to be known as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Seventy-five years later, Jochum and the league’s other players are remembered as pioneers for women in sports.

A New League

During her first season with the Blue Sox, Jochum earned $50 per week. That was more than a lot of jobs paid back then. While growing up, she had never imagined that she’d get paid to play baseball. At that time, there were no pro sports leagues for women.

In fact, women weren’t considered for jobs in many industries. That started to change after the U.S. entered World War II in 1941. Millions of men joined the armed forces to fight overseas. That created a shortage of workers on the home front. Across the U.S., women stepped in to fill those jobs (see “Rosie the Riveter,” below).

The war also had a big effect on Major League Baseball. By 1943, more than half of the league’s players had joined the military. This worried Philip K. Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs. With many of the top players gone, he thought Americans might lose interest in baseball. That gave him the idea to start the AAGPBL. Wrigley hoped that women would keep baseball going, just as they were carrying on the work in offices, on farms, and in factories.

Girls on the Diamond

Opening day for the AAGPBL was May 30, 1943. At a small stadium in Rockford, Illinois, Jochum and the Blue Sox defeated the Rockford Peaches. At first, most people didn’t take the women’s baseball league seriously. But the players eventually won over many of the doubters with their talent.

“The fans didn’t expect us to play that well—until they saw us play,” said Jochum. She earned the nickname “Sock ’Em Jochum” for her hitting.

Unlike male players, female players had to play while wearing shorts and a skirt! Also, players were expected to act “ladylike” at all times, both on the field and off. During the league’s first two seasons, all the women were required to attend charm school. They were taught how to walk and talk “like a lady,” and even how to put on makeup.

A Lasting Impact

The AAGPBL continued after the troops came home when World War II ended in 1945. The league’s popularity reached its peak in 1948. More than 900,000 fans attended games that year.

Jochum retired from baseball after that season. She used the money she had saved while playing to pay for college. She later became a teacher.

In 1954, the AAGPBL came to an end. It had struggled to compete with Major League Baseball, which by then had started showing games on TV. Though the women’s league lasted only 12 seasons, it helped change people’s attitudes about sports.

“They realized that women can play as well as the men,” said Jochum.

Rosie the Riveter

Bettmann/Getty Images

During World War II, more than 6 million women joined the U.S. workforce. They often took on jobs that only men had done before. Many worked in factories, where they built weapons, ships, and planes for the war.

The U.S. government used a fictional character named Rosie the Riveter to encourage women to help the war effort. (A riveter is someone who fastens sheets of metal together, such as those on an airplane, using bolts called rivets.) The Rosie the Riveter character was taken from a popular song that could be heard on radios across the U.S. in 1943.

After the war, many women lost their jobs to men returning from overseas. Today, an image of Rosie showing her muscles is still a symbol of the strength of women everywhere.

Rosie the Riveter

Bettmann/Getty Images

During World War II, more than 6 million women joined the U.S. workforce. They often took on jobs that only men had done before. Many worked in factories. They built weapons, ships, and planes for the war.

The U.S. government wanted women to help the war effort. It used a fictional character named Rosie the Riveter to encourage them. (A riveter is someone who fastens sheets of metal together using bolts called rivets. Riveters worked in shipyards and factories.) The Rosie the Riveter character was taken from a song that was popular in 1943.

After the war, many women lost their jobs to men returning from overseas. Today, an image of Rosie showing her muscles is still well known. It is a symbol of the strength of women everywhere.