As baseball’s doors to inclusivity continue to swing open, there are women in leadership roles who are a substantial part of the game’s fabric. There’s a growing number who are in senior executive positions, but there is only one who serves as her organization’s ultimate visionary, and that’s Jane Forbes Clark, who leads the world-renowned National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum in Cooperstown, New York.

A TURN OF THE CENTURY STAR PITCHER, A FUTURE AAGPBL STAR, AND AN AUTOGRAPHED BASEBALL.

“Would you like a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth?”

“My eyes lit up and I said, “yes!” And then she said, “would you like me to sign it?” and I said, “yes!” She took out her pen — there were no ballpoints in the 1940s — and she signed it.”

This conversation took place around 1946 between two very unusual baseball players. One was a 13-year-old girl, growing up in isolated Ragersville, OH, with baseball as one of her only entertainment options. “There was no television and I didn’t want to read. I guess there was a radio, the only real good thing to do was get out and throw the ball around, and my dad would play pitch and catch with me,” recalled Lois Youngen, now 89 years old.

“We Were the Only Girls to Play in Yankee Stadium” is an essay from the forthcoming book “Yankee Stadium 1923-2008: America’s First Modern Ballpark.” The book, being published by SABR in 2023, was edited by Tara Krieger and Bill Nowlin.

Between 1923 and 2008, Yankee Stadium hosted 6,746 major league baseball games, including 161 postseason games and 4 All-Star Games. On August 11, 1950, the stadium hosted its first and only game between two teams of female professional baseball players, when the Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies of the AAGPBL played a three-inning exhibition prior to that day’s contest between the Yankees and the Philadelphia Athletics.

Women have been at home in baseball for as long as men, but unfortunately, a “grass ceiling” has prevented them from participating in a sport that they too love. It seems that every time a female pushed open a new door to the game, it has swung shut behind her before others could follow. Change is finally in the air.

Grassroots Baseball is committed to telling the stories of girls and women in baseball on and off the field around the globe, past, present and future.

Kelsie Whitmore was the only woman playing professional baseball on a men’s team in North America this season. The 24-year-old native of Temecula, CA has played baseball all her life. She is devoted to the game and has played at every level, from tee ball to “men’s” professional baseball. She has a relentless work ethic, an inexhaustible drive to play, and a deep love for the game. She’s building a path for herself and others, one step at a time. She signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League on April 8, and played with them for the entire season, with a brief July hiatus when she joined the U.S. Women’s National Team in a friendship series vs. Canada.

Imagine being a 6th grader who loves baseball so much that you have played on teams since your rookie year of T-ball in kindergarten. At the ripe old age of 12, or maybe 13, you are told by your coaches, teammates, parents, and friends, that your career is over—not because of your talent or interest level, but because you are a girl. Instead, you are directed to the softball diamond.

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” How true.

Those words were spoken by legendary shortstop Honus Wagner, who became one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1936.

The late, great Henry Aaron was renowned for his five-tool ability on a baseball diamond. But he was also a deep thinker who spoke words of wisdom. During his Hall of Fame induction speech in 1982, the slugging outfielder paid homage to Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, saying, “A man’s ability is limited only by his opportunity.”

Margo Price understands opportunity too. In 2002, in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, she made it her mission to assure children with disabilities that they had the opportunity to play baseball.

Route 66 in Texas runs from Shamrock to Glenrio, 189 miles in all as the horse gallops. The midway point is Amarillo, also known as the “Yellow Rose of Texas,” given the Spanish origins of the city’s name. It’s where you’ll find the Big Texan Steak Ranch, which promises that if you can eat their 72-ounce steak in under an hour, you get it for free, as well as the Cadillac Ranch, an artistic outdoor installation of 10 wildly spray-painted Caddies on end and all in a row. It’s also home to a vibrant grassroots baseball community.

If you want to find the roots of the game in Baxter Springs, head to the Little League field at the corner of 14th and Grant. That’s where you are more than likely to find Wayne Metcalf. Thanks to his care, passion, energy, and unwavering commitment, the kids in his community have been provided with joy and opportunity for more than half a century. He’s the man who has dusted off this wonderful home for so many young ballplayers.