Women in Baseball Week 2021 is here! Join in July 25-31, 2021 wherever you are, anytime during the week. How? That’s up to you! If you are involved with baseball yourself, post on your favorite social media site using #WomeninBaseballWeek and tagging @IWBC4me in your posts. If you are part of a team, museum, library, historical society, or other group that have local women who have left their mark on baseball in your region, share their contributions with the world. Again, be sure to use #WomeninBaseballWeek and tag @IWBC4me so we can highlight your stories here.
About
Women in Baseball Week is an annual, worldwide event recognizing the value, diversity, and cultural significance of women in baseball. Women play a vital role in all aspects of the sport north, south, east and west–-help us celebrate each one! Tournaments, teams, libraries, museums, and individuals will join the International Women’s Baseball Center to recognize women’s contributions to baseball around the globe.
While recent years have seen more women on the field, behind the plate, and in the broadcast booth, this momentum can only be sustained with everyone’s investment in working together. By joining forces and supporting those with similar goals, we create more opportunities, expand youth participation, and encourage a culture that places women at the center of the world’s best sport. What does teamwork mean to you? How has a group dynamic positively impacted your game, your community, or your goals? This is the week to celebrate your efforts! Share your story and join those worldwide who step up to the sport for a stronger tomorrow.
How you can participate:
- Promote your team and playing opportunities
- Highlight your participation in baseball with a photo or story
- Learn about the history of women in baseball
- Spotlight your organization’s materials that document women in baseball
- Share your local history of women in baseball
Share your events and experiences online! Add #WomeninBaseballWeek and tag @IWBC4me to add your chapter to the story.
2021 Events
Here are a few of the events scheduled for this year’s celebration!
Events throughout the summer will be posted here. If you have a Women in Baseball event to share, contact us at info@womeninbaseballweek.org
IWBC Reads: Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers (Virtual Event) March 13, 2021
Debra A. Shattuck pulls from newspaper accounts and hard-to-find club archives to reconstruct a forgotten era in baseball history. Her fascinating social history tracks women players who organized baseball clubs for their own enjoyment and found roster spots on men’s teams. Shattuck explores how the determination to take their turn at bat thrust female players into narratives of the women’s rights movement and transformed perceptions of women’s physical and mental capacity.
The author will join us for this virtual event! Please note start time is Eastern Standard Time. Free but registration is required. Visit Eventbrite for more details.
Virtual Voices of the Game: Perry Barber (Virtual Event) – March 18, 2021
Longtime umpire Perry Barber will join the National Baseball Hall of Fame to discuss her baseball career. Barber has been a professional umpire since 1981, umpiring more than 6,300 games in her career. Barber has umpired at all levels of the game, including major league spring training, and has also worked games in numerous other locations, including Japan and the Caribbean. A friend of the museum, Barber has taken part in the Annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture as well as our Annual Film Festival with Perry Barber: The Lady is an Ump!
Watch the replay of this event at Virtual Voices of the Game.
The Drew Barrymore Show: Maybelle Blair – March 31, 2021
Maybelle Blair will be a guest on Wednesday’s The Drew Barrymore Show! The show airs 9am Eastern in NYC on CBS and 2pm PST in California. Check out clips on YouTube and http://thedrewbarrymoreshow.com. Maybelle is on a hitting streak, inviting you and the world to join her in building #APlaceofTheirOwn for women and girls in baseball. You don’t want to miss this!
History Camp Colorado: Isabel “Lefty” Alvarez – April 1, 2021
(Virtual Event)
(Virtual Event)
Isabel Alvarez grew up in Cuba, where she played baseball with the boys in the streets. She immigrated to the United States when she was 15 where she became a professional baseball player with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Join us for our discussion with Kat D. Williams of the International Women’s Baseball Center to learn more: History Camp
SPoRT Apparel and Collectibles: Opening Day Sale (Rockford, IL, USA) – April 2 & 3, 2021
Celebrate Opening Day and get 20% off all SPoRT Apparel and Collectibles Merchandise April 2 & 3, exclusively at Crimson Ridge (735 N. Perryville Rd. Rockford, IL 61107).
IWBC Reads: Throw Like A Woman by Susan Petrone (Virtual Event)- April 17, 2021
“While, on the surface, this is a novel about a woman battling to make her way in the man’s world of professional baseball, debut author Petrone presents a stirring and humorous story of a woman doing considerably more than that—trying to rediscover herself, provide for her family, and perhaps find a little love along the way.” – Booklist
Join IWBC Reads for a virtual discussion on Susan Petrone’s novel. For more information or to register, visit Eventbrite.
To purchase your own copy of the book, visit IWBC Bookshop.
Kalamazoo Public Library: Baseball Books on Deck (Virtual Event) – April 22, 2021
The hit 1992 film A League of Their Own made the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League famous. But the players’ stories are still untold. The 600 women who played for the AAGPBL through the 1940s and 1950s enjoyed a rare opportunity to lead independent lives as well-paid professional athletes. Their experiences in the league led many to education and careers they never imagined. Join Kat Williams in a discussion of her 2 books The All-American Girls After the AAGPBL and Isabell “Lefty” Alvarez: The Improbable Life of a Cuban American Baseball Star.
To register, visit Baseball-Books-on-Deck-2021.
IWBC Reads: Isabel “Lefty” Alvarez: The Improbable Life of A Cuban American Baseball Star” by Kat D. Williams (Virtual Event) May 22, 2021
Kat D. Williams traces Isabel “Lefty” Alvarez’s life from her childhood in Cuba, where she played baseball with the boys on the streets of El Cerro, to her reinvention as a professional baseball player in the AAGPBL and American citizen. Register for this virtual discussion at Eventbrite.
To purchase your own copy of the book, visit IWBC Bookshop.
SABR Women in Baseball Scholarship March 2, 2021 – June 14, 2021
Each year, SABR’s Women in Baseball Committee is pleased to award a scholarship to high school seniors in its Women in Baseball Essay Contest. Students are asked to write an essay of 1,500 words or less addressing the following question: “Choose one person or event in women’s baseball history that you believe has made a significant impact on the game and explain the importance.”
For more information or to download the 2021 application, visit SABR Women in Baseball Scholarship.
SPoRT Apparel and Collectibles: Indoor City Market (Rockford, IL, USA) Friday, May 21 – June 18, 2021
Enjoy 20% off of your favorite Rockford Peaches gear and all SPoRT Apparel and Collectibles at the Indoor City Market / lower level (3:30 – 8:30pm) every Friday from May 21 through June 18. Visit Rockford City Market for directions and more information.
SABR & IWBC Women in Baseball Conference: Call for Papers March 1, 2021 – July 5, 2021
The International Women’s baseball Center is once again partnering with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) in sponsoring the 3rd Annual Women in Baseball Conference. This year’s conference theme is “Breaking Barriers: Women in Baseball Around the World.” All topics related to women’s baseball are welcome for individual oral and poster presentations.
Please submit abstracts of approximately 200 words, along with contact information and a short biography, by July 5, 2021, to Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu.
Kalamazoo Growlers: A League of Their Own Night (Kalamazoo, MI, USA) – July 16, 2021
A League of Their Own night will take place on Friday, July 16th at Homer-Stryker Field. The Growlers will rest their usual home jerseys and wear special Kalamazoo Lassie’s jerseys. After the game is played, the jerseys will be auctioned off to fans interested in owning a remake of the classic Lassie’s jersey.
For more information, visit Kalamazoo Growlers.
Women on the Diamond Art Competition March 1, 2021 – July 30, 2021
Sponsored by International Women’s Baseball Center and Women in Baseball Committee of Society for American Baseball Research.
Two categories for entries: Professional and Amateur categories for entries. Winning entry in each category plus runner-up may have their art
displayed during an IWBC/SABR event in 2021. The winning
entry in the professional and amateur category will receive a $100
prize. The Decision of the jurors is final. Photos of winning entries
and runners up will also be included in an upcoming issue of the
Women in Baseball Newsletter for SABR as well as their weekly
email newsletter TWIS and in the IWBC newsletter.
For more information on contest guidelines, visit Women on the Diamond Art Competition2021.
SPoRT Apparel and Collectibles: Women in Baseball Week Sale (Rockford, IL, USA) – July 30 & 31, 2021
Celebrate Women in Baseball Week and get 20% off all SPoRT Apparel and Collectibles Rockford Peaches Merchandise July 30 & 31, exclusively at Crimson Ridge (735 N. Perryville Rd. Rockford, IL 61107).
Youth Art Contest: “Women on the Diamond” March 1, 2021 – August 23, 2021
Sponsored by International Women’s Baseball Center and Women in Baseball Committee of Society for American Baseball Research, School Entries (under age 16). Winner will receive a set of art materials—for the individual student. All schools that enter students will have their name placed in a drawing and two winners will be chosen. The winning schools will each receive $150 worth of age appropriate books about Women’ baseball for their libraries. Photos of winning entries and runners up will also be included on the IWBC /SABR websites and other social media. There may also be an opportunity for art work to be displayed at events hosted by the IWBC and SABR.
For more information on contest guidelines, visit: Youth Art Contest 2021 IWBC SABR.
SPoRT Apparel and Collectibles: Indoor City Market (Rockford, IL, USA) Friday, July 30 – August 27, 2021
Enjoy 20% off of your favorite Rockford Peaches gear and all SPoRT Apparel and Collectibles at the Indoor City Market / lower level (3:30 – 8:30pm) every Friday from July 30 through August 27. Visit Rockford City Market for directions and more information.
Grand Valley State University Digital Collections: All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Interviews (Allendale, MI, USA) – Ongoing
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was started by Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, during World War II to fill the void left by the departure of most of the best male baseball players for military service. Players were recruited from across the country, and the league was successful enough to be able to continue on after the war. The league had teams based in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and operated between 1943 and 1954. The 1954 season ended with only the Fort Wayne, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Rockford teams remaining. The League gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball. Many of the players went on to successful careers, and the league itself provided an important precedent for later efforts to promote women’s sports.
To access this collection visit GVSU Special Collections and University Archives.
University Library System: Women in Baseball Resources (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) – Ongoing
This guide highlights materials on the history of women in baseball and resources on contemporary events and organizations. Learn more about the value, diversity, and cultural significance of women in baseball. Visit this research guide at Pitt ULS.
Digital Commons @ Winthrop University: All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (Rock Hill, SC, USA) – Ongoing
The Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University is fortunate to have a burgeoning collection of material pertaining to the AAGPBL. The collection was begun in 2005 with the gift of Elizabeth “Lib” Mahon’s papers and later acquired acquired Jean Faut’s Papers. The Archives has material pertaining to several other players, including Sue Kidd and Ruth Born, as well as the league as a whole. For more information, or to access the digital archive, visit The Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections.
SABR & IWBC: Women in Baseball Conference (Rockford, IL, USA) – Sept. 10-12, 2021
SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center have announced a call for papers for the third annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference, scheduled for September 10-12, 2021, at Rockford University in Rockford, Illinois.
This year’s conference theme is “Breaking Barriers: Women in Baseball Around the World.” All topics related to women’s baseball are welcome for individual oral and poster presentations.
Please direct questions to Leslie Heaphy at lheaphy@kent.edu.
Past Event Highlights
Beginning in 2017, baseball fans around the globe have celebrated Women in Baseball Week in their own ways. Here are some of the people and organizations that participated.
Contact
Women in Baseball Week, developed by Ryan Woodward, is a project of the International Women’s Baseball Center. Contact Ryan at info@womeninbaseballweek.org.