All American Girls Professional Baseball League Essay — страница 2

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II, teams often attracted between two and three thousand fans to a single game. One league highlight occurred when an estimated 10,000 people saw a Fourth of July double-header in South Bend in 1946. The girls were having a good time and for a while the league was prospering; but who exactly was playing the league? The girls in this novel league ranged in ages from 15-28 years old (Fidler, 56). The majority of the girls were between the ages of 18-22 years old. As the league went on the average age kept on getting older because there wasn?t a big pool of new talent to draw in from. The typical height and weight of the girls was around 5? 5? and 130 pounds. Size was obviously not a deciding issue of playing in this league. The girls were drawn from a wide area of places covering

17 states and 5 Canadian provinces. Some Cubans eventually joined the league in 1946 (www.dlcwest.com). About half of the girls recruited from the states were from the Midwest and a good majority were from Illinois. A good number were from the west coast and were discovered when they tried out for men?s teams. Jean Faut was discovered this way when she was trying out for a men?s semi-pro team in California. Nancy Mudge was a Taylor student and was given a tryout by one of the scouts when Don Odle arranged for a meeting between the two parties. Many other girls joined the league in ways like these. Most of the girls had similar backgrounds as well. Eighty-three of the original ninety girls had played some form of organized softball. One third of them came from the same office

clerk profession (Fidler, 98), and eighteen percent of the league were former factory girls. The girls had interests in many other sports such as bowling, tennis, and basketball (Mudge interview). Very few girls were married. Only twelve of the hundred forty-four girls were actually married and only three of the girls had a kid (Macy, 67). Race was not a determining factor of who could play in the league, but very few Afro-Americans ever tried out. The league was dominantly Caucasian. Once the girls were in the league they had many rules that they had to follow. There were rules that outlawed certain hairstyles, banned drinking and smoking, and made it mandatory that girls had to wear lipstick at all times during the ballgames. Chaperones were always a must, and the girls could

not go anywhere without consulting their chaperone first (www.dlcwest.com). The girls did not seem to mind these rules because they were able to be playing baseball. For some of them this was a childhood dream coming true. It was the heart of the girls that gave this league successes and allowed the league to run for over 11 years when many people felt that it had no business being in effect (Nash, 101). Why was the All American Girls Professional Baseball League successful for many years? Many things contributed to making this league something that would impress even the biggest business tycoons. Location, publicity, a positive public image, financial stability, strong leadership, and curiosity from the fans gave this league many reasons to prosper for many years. The location

of the teams was a critical part of the success that the league saw. The teams were located in middle-sized cities with war industries. This provided entertainment to the hard working people who had some money to spend but couldn?t travel real far because of gas rationing. Being in these middle-sized cities allowed for the teams to generate hometown pride for the girl?s teams. ?It was kind of like a popular high school basketball team back then. Everyone wanted to cheer on their favorite home team?? said Fran Janssen (Janssen interview). Many of the girls lived in the towns they played in, and that gave newspapers great coverage on the hometown heroes that the girls would prove to be. Even national magazines and papers were covering the league. Life and Newsweek highlighted many

of star players in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. This helped the All American Girls Professional Baseball League gain even more popularity, and gave it the exposure that it needed to give itself a positive public image. The league required that the girls play with dignity and integrity, and that provided a good example for the fans to follow. The league?s positive public image concerning its hard play was due to one of the girl?s mottos, ?Play like men, but look like women.? (Life, 46). To gain respect and publicity the girls were sent to charm school before they could play. They were sent to a school that was run by Helena Rubenstein cosmetic company. At this school the girls were given a beauty kit, and taught how to look their best. Although this ?charm