Women's baseball players could soon have a league of their own again
Seventy years since the last professional women’s baseball league, another one hopes to give women a chance to shine in baseball
For nearly every highlight of Julie Croteau's trailblazing baseball career — all except her time as a double in “A League of Their Own,” really — she shared the field with men. Frequently as teammates. Always as foes. That's mostly how it's been for generations of female players.
So when she recently heard about plans to give today's players the chance to shine against other women in baseball, Croteau had one thought.
“It’s about time,” she said with a chuckle.
The Women's Professional Baseball League (WPBL) announced plans last month to launch in 2026 as a six-team circuit for female players. If and when it debuts, it will be the first pro league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — the one immortalized in “A League of Their Own” — dissolved in 1954.
