Major League Baseball (MLB) hasn’t had a female player on any of its teams in recent years. However, there was a big buzz in 2022 when Kelsie Whitmore made history by becoming the first woman to pitch in the Atlantic League.
The Atlantic League is the top level of professional baseball outside of MLB and is associated with it. Whitmore joined the Staten Island FerryHawks, an independent team in the Atlantic League, and played with them until 2023. She then moved to the Oakland Ballers in the Pioneer League earlier this year.
It’s worth noting that Whitmore isn’t the only woman who has tried to make it in baseball. Many female players have attempted to join various baseball leagues, but none have managed to reach MLB, for various reasons.
Women have had a long history in professional baseball. While several women’s teams have existed, only a few have made headlines for trying to break into MLB.
For instance, in 1931, Jackie Mitchell made a splash by striking out baseball legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during an exhibition game. Unfortunately, this led to her being banned from professional baseball.
In 1952, the league officially banned women from playing in MLB or its minor leagues. This ban lasted for decades and wasn’t lifted until the 1990s.
A significant milestone occurred in the 1993 MLB Draft when the Chicago White Sox selected Carey Schueler, a left-handed pitcher, in the 43rd round. This made Schueler the first woman ever drafted by an MLB team. Sadly, Schueler did not sign with the White Sox and instead played college baseball at DePaul University in Chicago.
Other women, like Ila Borders and Eri Yoshida, have played professional baseball in men’s leagues, though not in MLB. Borders was the first woman to start a game in a men’s professional league in 1997, and Yoshida played in various independent leagues in the U.S.
The debate about whether women should play in MLB continues, but Mike Scioscia, a former MLB manager and All-Star catcher, believes it’s possible. He told the Los Angeles Times that he sees no reason why women couldn’t develop the skills to pitch at a high level.
Additionally, while women aren’t in MLB right now, recent advancements like the option to create and play as female baseball players in the video game MLB: The Show hint that seeing a woman in an MLB roster might not be too far off. Time will tell if and when fans will get to see a female player in the MLB.
