The Women's Professional Baseball League Is Here
Photo: WPBL
The Women’s Professional Baseball League played its inaugural game on Saturday, August 1, 2026, marking the first women’s league since the shuttering of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1954. Mo’nae Davis, of Little League World Series fame, brought in the first run, Danae Benites hit the first home run, and Sarah Edwards recorded the first Grand Slam - all this in just over a week and eight games, no less.
The WPBL has been highly anticipated by baseball fans since its announcement in October 2024, and kept them wanting more with the subsequent announcements of their tryouts, draft, and team names with their stories. They may not be playing in their affiliated cities, hopefully they will in the near future, but they’re garnering fans around the country. When they take the field at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, the energy is palpable even through the screen for those of us who are unable to be there to experience the magic in person.
Opening day featured a rain delay, bringing players out from the two teams not playing that day to help with field ops. We were graced with the presence of Maybelle Blair, one of the most known players of the AAGPBL, with her bat shaped cane as well as the WPBL mascot styled and named after her! Her excitement for the league and love of the game shone during her brief on-camera interview where she said, “there will be women’s professional baseball as long as I’m on this side of the dirt.” Amen.
I’ve been excited about this league since their announcement in part because women and women’s sports have been an integral part of my coming to know, love, and understand sports in general. Being born and raised in Central Texas, I didn’t play or care very much for sports. When I finally had interest in learning I faced more scorn for my lack of understanding than encouragement for my new interest. When I started watching baseball, it was women on social media and in traditional reporting that I learned the most from!
So now I find myself enamored with a sport I love, watching people who were told for decades that they couldn't play now playing at the highest level. To quote Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, how can you not be romantic about baseball?
The early days have not been without their challenges and missteps. From the beginning, one of the biggest selling points for the league was that it would be broadcast for free on YouTube, like Banana Ball games. This was a huge deal because of the ease of access for anyone wishing to follow the historic league. However, it was announced just two days before the first game that they’d reached a media rights agreement with ESPN+ inside the United States. Putting them on ESPN’s broadcast channels would have been limiting enough, but putting it solely on streaming-set WPBL threads set plenty alight with frustration. If this is bringing some kind of cash infusion into the league, I can understand the move to an extent, but it seems more like it's bringing some legitimacy of legacy sports broadcasting to the fledgling organization – not necessarily a negative in and of itself. It would have been nice to see them get investment in their production though; as the league was going to air online for free, there was not a huge expectation for ESPN or MLB quality production, and ESPN need not have taken over, but some small problems, like the score bug, could have been mitigated if more people were on the ground to help with the process early on.
I need to tell you that I don’t like criticism for the sake of criticism. Some things are done incredibly well, and don’t warrant our comments about what could or should have done better. I want the WPBL to succeed and explode, and unnecessary naysaying can get in the way of that. That being said, one of the biggest challenges that the league needs to face is its commentary. The brief dead air, and a perceived lack of enthusiasm from the announcers by those watching at home adds up. There’s also the more pertinent issue of using male language for female players (first baseman, etc.). I understand it feels different to say out loud, but let’s get our minds and mouths used to it.
There was also the abrupt dismissal of Boston Hunters manager, Keith Foulke, in what seemed like moments before their fourth game. Little to no explanation was given beyond the League commissioner calling it a “baseball decision”. This is plausible given their last place standing, but strange nonetheless.
Overall, the opening weekend and first slew of games was marked with enthusiasm, and excitement – a hopeful sign for the league. Standouts such as Rocky Henley who played for the Colorado Silver Bullets, a pro women’s team that played independently in the 90’s, Kelsie Whitmore, a rising star in Baseball in the last few years, and the inclusion of phenomenal sideline reporting, although it could be placed better in the broadcast, made the first week of women’s pro baseball a can’t miss event.
I’ll ask an adjusted question: How can you not be romantic about women’s baseball?
David is a late in life baseball fan whose love for the St. Louis Cardinals will never be deterred. He is a full-time caregiver to his disabled son, and also happens to be a Pastor, Chaplain, and bookseller who somehow finds time to watch too much TV. The father of four lives with his wife, kids, mother, and pets in Georgetown, Texas.