Women's Pro Baseball League launches first season in Springfield, Illinois

The Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL), the first women’s professional baseball league in the United States in nearly 30 years, begins its inaugural season on Saturday. Four teams – New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco – will each play 15 regular‑season games and the playoffs at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, a 5,200‑seat ballpark that hosted one of the earliest paid women’s games in 1875. The league features marquee players such as Kelsie Whitmore, Mo’ne Davis and Ayami Sato. Kat Williams, chief executive officer of the International Women’s Baseball Center, said, “Women have always been part of this game.” Leslie Heaphy, president of the IWBC, added, “It’s needed and exciting.” The WPBL follows the historic All‑American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s‑50s, linking past and present women’s baseball.