‘A League of Their Own,’ reborn
Women’s professional baseball returns to the US after more than 70 years
FROM RIGHT HERE IN BOSTON. IF YOU BUILD IT, SHE WILL COME. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN 70 YEARS, WOMEN ARE GETTING A BASEBALL LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN IN THE UNITED STATES. BEING ON THIS TEAM AND BEING ABLE TO CREATE THAT SISTERHOOD, THAT FOREVER FRIENDSHIP OR THAT BOND, THAT’S BEEN A DREAM MY WHOLE LIFE. THAT DREAM IS NOW COMING TRUE. 24 YEAR OLD KATIE REYNOLDS OF BELMONT IS ONE OF 120 WOMEN DRAFTED IN NOVEMBER TO THE NEW WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE. I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER FORGET THAT NIGHT WHEN YOU HEARD YOUR NAME. WHEN I HEARD MY NAME. FOURTH ROUND, FIFTH PICK. THE MOST INCREDIBLE MOMENT OF MY LIFE. YEAH. THERE’S ME AT THE LIKE AT THE COUNTER. JUST WAYLAND JUST ARE JUST GOING NUTS. I HAD MY FRIENDS, THEIR OLD TEAMMATES FROM HIGH SCHOOL, OLD COACHES RIGHT FROM WHEN I WAS THIS BIG. I DEFINITELY WAS CRYING WHEN I GOT MY NAME CALLED, THAT’S FOR SURE. YOU CAN ALLOW A COUPLE TEARS HERE AND THERE, BUT I DO UNDERSTAND WHERE TOM HANKS IS COMING CRYING. THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL. THE LEAGUE WILL START WITH FOUR TEAMS REPRESENTING BOSTON, NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO. REYNOLDS WILL SUIT UP FOR SAN FRAN A MOMENT SHE’S BEEN PREPARING FOR SINCE SHE WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD. I PROBABLY CAME OUT OF THE WOMB WITH A BASEBALL IN MY HAND. AT NINE, SHE TRIED HER HAND AT PITCHING AND WAS HOOKED. I WAS ONE OF THE FIRST CURVEBALLS THAT A LOT OF THE KIDS IN MY TOWN SAW. SO THAT KIND OF PUT ME MAYBE AHEAD OF A LOT OF THE PEOPLE IN MY TOWN, IN MY LEAGUE. THE SUPPORT OF HER MOTHER, A FORMER BASEBALL LITTLE LEAGUER HERSELF, AND HER FATHER, WHO TAUGHT HER HOW TO PITCH, HELPED PROPEL THIS RIGHT HANDER THROUGH LITTLE LEAGUE INTO HIGH SCHOOL AND ONTO COLLEGE ON ALL MALE TEAMS. SO I WALKED INTO THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AND, YOU KNOW, THIS UPPERCLASSMAN WALKED UP TO ME AND SAID, HI, NICE TO MEET YOU. WE’VE NEVER HAD A GIRL ON THE TEAM. THAT’S AWESOME. AND I WENT, ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT. RECEPTION. YEAH, I KNOW, IT WAS GREAT. I WAS ABOUT 13 WHEN I HAD A COACH. HE WAS NEW AND HE SAID HE DIDN’T WANT ME ON HIS TEAM BECAUSE GIRLS DON’T PLAY BASEBALL. AND I JUST DECIDED I’D PLAY FOREVER. IT WAS DEFINITELY AN UPHILL BATTLE FROM THERE, BUT I COULDN’T LET THE NAYSAYERS, YOU KNOW, TELL ME WHAT TO DO. SO I KEPT GOING. JUSTINE SIEGAL DIDN’T HAVE AS WARM OF A RECEPTION AT THE BEGINNING OF HER BASEBALL CAREER, BUT DIDN’T LET THAT STOP HER. I GOT MY DOCTORATE AT SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE, WHERE I WAS AN ASSISTANT BASEBALL COACH, AND THEN I BROKE THE GENDER BARRIER AND BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO COACH MEN’S PRO BASEBALL IN BROCKTON. IN 2011, SIEGAL BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO THROW BATTING PRACTICE TO AN MLB TEAM, THE THEN CLEVELAND INDIANS. FOUR YEARS LATER, SHE WAS HIRED BY THE OAKLAND ATHLETICS, THE FIRST FEMALE COACH EMPLOYED BY AN MLB TEAM. YEAH. SO HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO PROVE YOURSELF IN THAT WAY? YOU KNOW, I DID EVERYTHING I COULD TO KNOW AS MUCH ABOUT THE GAME AS I COULD LEARN, AND THEN CARING ABOUT THE PLAYERS. AND WITH A PHD IN SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY, YOU LEARN WHAT MOTIVATES PEOPLE. IT’S ALL ABOUT HELPING THE PLAYER BE THE BEST THEY CAN, THE MOST RECENT JEWEL IN HER CROWN. CO-FOUNDER OF THE WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE. WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE’RE STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE FROM THE 1940S AND 50S. AS YOU KNOW, THE MOVIE A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN. AND THEN CONTINUING THAT LEGACY. AND THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR US TO START OUR PRO LEAGUE, BECAUSE WOMEN’S SPORTS HAS NEVER BEEN HOTTER. REGULAR SEASON PLAY STARTS IN AUGUST FOR ITS INAUGURAL YEAR, ALL FOUR TEAMS WILL PLAY AT THE SAME PARK ROBIN ROBERTS STADIUM IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. YOU KNOW, WE PLAY ON THE SAME DIMENSIONS AS THE MEN YOU’RE GOING TO SEE. WE COULD PLAY AT FENWAY. WE’D BE HAPPY TO PLAY AT FENWAY. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS WE HAVE AN ALUMINUM BAT AND WE PLAY SEVEN INNINGS IN 2027. THE LEAGUE PLANS TO MOVE PLAY INTO ITS HOME CITIES AND EVENTUALLY ADD MORE TEAMS. WE WANT PEOPLE TO COME WATCH THE GAME, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THAT’S IN PERSON OR STREAMING. FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS. WHAT DO YOU HOPE HAPPENS? WE’RE STARTING HERE. WHAT DO YOU HOPE CAN HAPPEN? I HOPE THAT IT GETS AS BIG AS THE MLB OR EVEN THE WNBA. MAYBE. KATIE REYNOLDS WILL BECOME A HOUSEHOLD NAME. LOVE THAT. I THINK ALSO JUST THAT GIRLS KNOW THEY CAN DREAM OF BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER. THAT TO ME IS SUCCESS. THAT NO GIRLS EVER TOLD THAT SHE CAN’T PLAY AGAIN BECAUSE THEY NOW CAN SEE THAT THERE IS A FUTURE FOR THEM. SO COOL. AND THE SEASON STARTS ON AUGUST 1ST. YOU CAN CATCH WPBL GAMES VIA STREAMING AND ON THE LEAGUE’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL. THE REGULAR SEASON AND PLAYOFFS RUN ABOUT EIGHT WEEKS, ABOUT EIGHT WEEKS BACK TO KATIE REYNOLDS, THE PITCHER SHE SAYS HER FAVORITE BASEBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME, PEDRO MARTINEZ. SHE WAS A BABY WHEN PEDRO WAS PLAYING FOR THE RED SOX, SO SHE’S REALLY ONLY SEEN HIM THROUGH YOUTUBE VIDEOS. LOVES HIM AND WOULD LOVE TO MEET HIM SOMEDAY.
‘A League of Their Own,’ reborn
Women’s professional baseball returns to the US after more than 70 years
Updated: 8:23 PM EST Jan 7, 2026
Women are returning to professional baseball in the United States for the first time in more than 70 years. The Women’s Professional Baseball League is set to launch in the summer of 2026, reviving a legacy last seen in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s and ’50s that was depicted in the cinematic classic “A League of Their Own.”The new league will feature four teams — Boston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco — and begins play in August at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. The league plans to move teams into their home cities by 2027 and later add more teams.Among the 120 players drafted is 24-year-old right-handed pitcher Katie Reynolds of Belmont, selected in the fourth round. Reynolds has played baseball since she was seven years old, often on all-male teams, advancing from Little League through college with support from her parents. She’ll play for the San Francisco team and says being drafted was the most incredible moment of her life.The league was co-founded by Justine Siegal, a longtime baseball pioneer who was the first woman to coach men’s pro baseball in Brockton. In 2011, she became the first woman to throw batting practice to an MLB team — the then-Cleveland Indians. Four years later, she was hired by the Oakland Athletics and became the first female coach employed by an MLB team.The league uses the same field dimensions as men’s baseball, but uses aluminum bat,s and games are just seven innings. For Reynolds and Siegal alike, success means more than wins — it’s proving to girls everywhere that professional baseball is finally within reach.
Women are returning to professional baseball in the United States for the first time in more than 70 years. The Women’s Professional Baseball League is set to launch in the summer of 2026, reviving a legacy last seen in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s and ’50s that was depicted in the cinematic classic “A League of Their Own.”
The new league will feature four teams — Boston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco — and begins play in August at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. The league plans to move teams into their home cities by 2027 and later add more teams.
Among the 120 players drafted is 24-year-old right-handed pitcher Katie Reynolds of Belmont, selected in the fourth round. Reynolds has played baseball since she was seven years old, often on all-male teams, advancing from Little League through college with support from her parents. She’ll play for the San Francisco team and says being drafted was the most incredible moment of her life.
The league was co-founded by Justine Siegal, a longtime baseball pioneer who was the first woman to coach men’s pro baseball in Brockton. In 2011, she became the first woman to throw batting practice to an MLB team — the then-Cleveland Indians. Four years later, she was hired by the Oakland Athletics and became the first female coach employed by an MLB team.
The league uses the same field dimensions as men’s baseball, but uses aluminum bat,s and games are just seven innings. For Reynolds and Siegal alike, success means more than wins — it’s proving to girls everywhere that professional baseball is finally within reach.