The True Story Behind 'A League of Their Own'

When A League of Their Own was released in 1992, it brought attention to a women's professional baseball league that had disbanded nearly 40 years earlier. Based on the true story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which existed from 1943-1954, the film attempts to put the AAGPBL - which went from being a gimmick to save baseball from going extinct during WWII to a respected league that drew sizable crowds for years - in some sort of context.

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#baseballhistory #hollywood #weirdhistory

[shaunreinert]

There's that one scene where the officer from the military comes in with the letter that someone's husband was killed and that room goes from lively and vibrant to dead calm.
That scene gets me every time.

[NewMessage]

There's no crying in Weird History!

[nothingseehere.goaway]

I coached my son's Little League team since he was 3. I can't recall how many times I said the "there's no crying in baseball" line to my kids. The joke went over their heads, but the parents knew. And laughed every single time. 😊

[bradley]

"I'm singin' to Nelson! Ain't I, baby!"
Can we agree that the true hero of the movie was Marla Hooch?

[Hallows]

There was a period in my life where I was absolutely obsessed with this movie. It’s relatively rare for a film to catch my immediate attention so dramatically and to keep it for any definable length of time, but this was one of them.

[skyden]

The most heartbreaking moment of the film (imo) is when the message is delivered of Betty's husband being K.I.A. I always have a hard time watching that part because of the unfortunate historical truth of that type of scenario.

[trinaq]

I love this movie, I can't believe that it's 30 years old now. The TV series is also worth a look.

[GrumpyMeow-Meow]

“See, how it works is, the train moves, not the station.” -Jon Lovitz

[dinkyramirez]

R.I.P To The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League 🌷

You Are Remembered Forever... ⚾️

[johnmathias]

I grew up in the town this movie was filmed in. I remember being a kid and going downtown to watch them film scenes. I got the chance to meet a lot of the actors and actresses. Fun memory!

[kingoreo]

My grandma was in this league ❤ RIP, Grandma.

[jb]

"Geena Davis's character was based on this real life person -- except that they changed her backstory, her position, how long she played, her name...." Sounds like the only thing they kept was the fact that she played professional women's baseball.

[dudermcdudeface]

The movie hit a home run with its casting. I had crushes on most of them as a kid after seeing it.

[knitweardesignhouse]

Faye "Tiger" Dancer played for the Peoria Redwings in Peoria, Illinois in '47, '48, and 1950. Before that, she played for Minneapolis and Ft Wayne. I am from one county southwest of Peoria County. Didn't even know we had a team. Thanks, Weird History!

[pipepicasso]

My neighbor collected all of the women's autographs on the "League of Their Own" team. It was one of his baseball quests, going to many different conventions to meet each one and sign the collection. He recently has his baseball collection for sale by consignment. It maybe still for sale if anyone is interested.

[RavynAngelDarck]

I would have loved to have been at those games! My aunt was part of a softball league when I was a kid and she was one of the coolest people I knew!!!

[tedbare]

Yes, Dottie dropped the ball on purpose! She obviously felt sorry for her sister Kit!

[TheBlindPhotographer]

YAY! Weird history 😁 Here's one I'd like to hear about, the 2008 movie Changeling.

[AriKhuu]

Can you cover the watch hand painters in Radium Girls? They used radium to paint watch hands to make them reactive. BUT they would dip the brush in radium and then lick the tip to make it more fine to paint. They all have jaw cancer, some of their jaw bones crumbled into pieces just by touching. It’s a gruesome piece of forgotten history.

[jenniferriske]

My aunt was a director of Alzheimer’s home and one of the residents was a player for the Peaches. My aunt said her stories about her playing in the league were so interesting. She was a wonderful and interesting woman and she said that was one of the best times of her life.