5 Books about Females on the Field

Women in Baseball BooksThe Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American exhibition on view at the Museum now points out how some of the greats did more than play the game, they changed it. Still, there are barriers that remain to be broken on the field and gender is one of them. Here are five books now on the shelves of the Museum Store that celebrate female players who swung for the fences.

  • Dirt on Their Skirts: The Story of the Young Women Who Won the World Championship by Doreen Rappaport
    You had to be really good to play in the 1946 championship game between the Racine Belles and the Rockford Peaches. Sitting in the stands, Margaret thrills to every crack of the bat. Seeing an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League game through the eyes of a fictional young girl, Dirt on Their Skirts is a potent reminder that women athletes have inspired young fans throughout the 20th century.
  • A Game of Their Own: Voices of Contemporary Women in Baseball by Jennifer Ring
    Twenty American women were selected to represent Team USA in the fourth Women’s Baseball World Cup in 2010. Most Americans, however, had no idea such a team even existed. A Game of Their Own chronicles the largely invisible history of women in baseball and recounts players’ optimism, feistiness and ability to stay true to themselves.
  • Mo’ne Davis: Remember My Name by Mo’ne Davis
    In August 2014, Mo’ne Davis became the first female pitcher to win a game in the Little League World Series and the first Little Leaguer to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. A month later she earned a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This memoir from a girl who rose to national stardom before beginning eighth grade encourages young readers to reach for their dreams no matter the odds.
  • Queen of the Diamond: The Lizzie Murphy Story by Emily Arnold McCully
    Baseball was not a game for girls in the early 1900s but that didn’t stop the talented Lizzie Murphy who, at age 18, signed up with a professional baseball team, determined to earn her living playing the game.
  • A Whole New BallgameA Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Sue Macy
    From 1943 to 1954 some of America’s best female athletes earned their livings by playing baseball. This is their story in their own words, a tale of no-hitters and chaperones, stolen bases and practical jokes, home runs and run-ins with fans.

Larry Solomon, Museum Store Manager

 


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