Summary Diamond Girls All American Girls Professional Baseball League CBS Sunday Morning 10 7 12 (Youtube) www.youtube.com
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Bill Geist Baseball is often called our national pastime Diamond for good reason. Here's Bill Geist with the story of some women who played a memorable role in baseball history.
n/a We hear plenty about baseball's beloved boys of summer. Take me
n/a out to the ball game Take me out with the ball game
n/a It's time you met the girls.
n/a Buy me some peanuts and crack good jam. I don't ever ever care if I never get back. Oh, it brings back such memories.
n/a Mary Pratt, 93 years old, a lefty.
n/a 1, 2. 3 strikes, you rock.
n/a Hitched a no hitter for the Rockford Peaches back in 43.
n/a The spectators admired the fact that we girls could play ball the way we did. Janine Lesko and Katie Horstman Those were the best times of my life, really.
n/a Began playing pro ball when they were just 16. Janine for the Grand Rapids Chicks. Katie, an all star for the Fort Wayne daisies.
n/a You remember how much you were paying back then when $50 a week. A week. And that was good? Good? That's better than milking cows Sunday 40ยข for mowing the lawn.
n/a So you're so competitive after all these years.
n/a Oh my gosh. Yeah. I'll be competitive till I die.
n/a Maybelle Blair, 85, pitched for the Peoria Red Wings.
n/a I was a righty Sunday Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax had nothing on me.
n/a Did you teach them some things?
n/a Oh my gosh. Yes.
n/a In all, 47 players from Baseball
n/a American Girls Professional Baseball League reunited recently at the Baseball Hall
n/a of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
n/a To see a permanent exhibit about There I am.
n/a About themselves, really.
n/a The belt is different. That's the fifties belt.
n/a The uniforms they had to wear were short skirted tunics.
n/a Oh my god. Those skirts. We didn't have sliding pads. What we had was boomers. That's it.
n/a I have you can still pick gravel out of my side here. I was gonna call up my rear end, but you can still pick Mhmm. Gravel out of here.
n/a An all American pastime, baseball brings out the all American Baseball league for spring training at Alexandria, Virginia. Donnie Schroeder is quite confident that her hair won't get in her eyes.
n/a Skill and femininity were key.
n/a At first, players were sent to charm school.
n/a They taught us how to do makeup, how to keep our hair nice, how to walk. No slacks, no blue jeans, no shorts, skirts, or dresses.
n/a Each team even had a chaperone.
n/a So you used to be a sergeant in the, marines. Oh my god. She was tough.
n/a That's tough. Yeah.
n/a She was tough, but she kept us in line.
n/a So it's goodbye Baseball, and hello, uncle Sam.
n/a The league started in 1943 when the major and minor leagues were depleted by World War 2. It folded in 1954 Sunday was all but forgotten.
n/a Until 20 years ago when the hit film, A League of Their
n/a Own, premiered.
n/a She's under it.
n/a She knows. So Elmore's socks. What did she do?
n/a Are you crying? No. Was there ever any crying in baseball? Oh, god. We don't cry in baseball.
n/a There's no crying. There's no crying in baseball.
n/a Thank you very much. Thank you. If you would please play them.
n/a Since the film, the players have fans American. 100 of whom turned out in the rain at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse.
n/a 1, 2, 3. Go, all Americans.
n/a Sunday when the skies cleared, they played a ball game.
n/a Ready to go.
n/a Some playing for the first time in decades.
n/a Okay. Let's go. Mabelle coached a team of
n/a old timers mixed with some young players.
n/a You want no excuses out there.
n/a And that was And Mabelle was out to win.
n/a Listen. We're gonna try to beat their rear ends. So, it's gonna be rough, but we're gonna try. 3rd. Alright.
n/a Come on. Get them down. Get them down.
n/a They still have that old competitive spirit, certainly.
n/a Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.
n/a Hurry. Hurry.
n/a You're gonna lose.
n/a They don't feel like seniors.
n/a Yeah. And
n/a they sure don't hit like them.
n/a They don't. Way to go, gang. My work 80 year olds playing ball like 10 year olds. Oh, they've won alright.
n/a Do you think they still got it?
n/a Oh, they
n/a we Baseball. We'll always have it, Bill, until they put us under the ground Diamond sit up above this grass.