1866

Women begin to play college baseball at Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, and Mount Holyoke Colleges (Vassar team, top right)

 

1867

​An all black women's team called the Philadelphia Dolly Vardens becomes the first professional baseball club (men's or women's) ever founded (right)

 

1898

Lizzie Arlington becomes the first women to sign with a men's professional baseball team, the Philadelphia Reserves

 

1907

Right-handed pitcher, Alta Weiss, the "Girl Wonder," signs with the semi-pro (men's) Vermillion Independents which later becomes the Weiss All-Stars (right)

 

1914

The National Amateur Baseball Federation declares baseball a boys' sport

 

​1928

14-year-old ​Margaret Gisolo stars on her Indiana American Legion team and leads them to the state championship (far right)

 

​1928

American Legion formally bans girls from participation

 

​1931

17-year-old Tennesee native Jackie Mitchell signs a minor league contract with the Chatanooga Lookouts, striking out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during an exhibition game (right)

 

1931

​Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis voids Mitchell's contract, officially banning women from MLB

 

1939

Little League baseball formally bars girls from participation

 

1943

The All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) is founded, becoming the most popular women's baseball league in history and operating through 1954 (right)

 

1950

​Kathryn "Tubby" Johnston of New York becomes the first girl to play Little League baseball (far right)

 

1953

Toni Stone, a St. Paul native, becomes the first woman to play in the Negro Leagues (men's professional baseball) (right)

 

1953

Mamie Johnson signs with the Negro League Indianapolis Clowns becoming the first female pitcher in the Negro Leagues (far right)

 

1954

Second baseman Connie Morgan becomes the third and final woman to play Negro League baseball

 

1972

Federal legislation that prohibits gender/sex discrimination in public institutions, known as Title IX, becomes law

 

​1973

New Jersey Supreme Court rules in favor of New Jersey Little Leaguer Maria Pepe; girls are legally allowed to play Little League baseball (right)

 

1974

​Little League develops Bobby Sox Softball for girls

 

1984

​Victoria Roche, representing Belgium, becomes the first girl to play in the Little League World Series

 

1989

Julie Croteau walks on to the St. Mary's (Maryland) men's college baseball team (far right)

 

1992

"A League of Their Own," the Hollywood film depicting the AAGPBL, is released

 

1994

Brooklyn Park catcher Krissy Wendell becomes the first girl to start in the Little League World Series (right)

 

1994

​Ila Borders becomes the first woman to attend college on a baseball scholarship

 

1994

Croteau and Lee Anne Ketcham are the first women to play in a MLB sanctioned winter league

 

1998

Borders becomes the first woman to start and win a men's professional baseball game (far right)

 

2008

16-year-old pitcher Eri Yoshida becomes the first woman to play men's professional baseball in Japan

 

2010

Florida knuckleball pitcher Chelsea Baker throws two perfect games against boys Little League baseball teams (right)

 

2010

Yoshida signs with the Chico Outlaws, a US men's baseball team, becoming the first woman since Ila Borders to play professionally in the US (far right)

 

2011

​California high school pitchers Ghazaleh "Ozzie" Sailors and Marti Sementelli duel in the first high school varsity baseball game featuring two female starting pitchers (right)

 

2013

Sailors, a sophomore, is the only woman in NCAA baseball, pitching for the University of Maine Presque-Isle college team

 

2014

Mo'Ne Davis and Emma March become the 17th and 18th girls to play in the Little League World Series (right)

 

2014

Mo'Ne Davis becomes the first girl to hurl a shutout in the Little League World Series and the first Little Leaguer on the cover of Sports Illustrated (far right)

 

2015

Sarah Hudek, a lefty from Texas and USA Baseball player, accepts a scholarship to play college baseball at Bossier Parrish Community College in Shreveport, Louisiana.

 

2015
The first national all-girls baseball tournament is hosted in Orlando, Florida byBaseball For All. The tournament features 12 teams from across the country with girls ages 10-13, along with a Junior All-Stars division of 8-10-year-olds. The Carolina Terminators take home the title, with the Central Florida Rays placing second (both teams pictured at right), and the San Francisco BaySox winning bronze. 

 

2015

French 16-year-old Melissa Mayeux (right) becomes the first female to be added to the International MLB Registration List. Mayeux plays for the 18U French National Team. The list contains names of a select number of international prospects who are eligible to be signed by an MLB team.

 

2015

The US Women's National Baseball Team (far right) wins gold at the Pan-American Games in Toronto, Canada in the first international sporting event to feature women's baseball.

 

2015

Justine Siegal (right) is hired by the Oakland Athletics as a guest coach for their October Instructional League. Siegal becomes the first woman to coach for an MLB team.

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2020

Alyssa Nakken (far right) becomes the first woman hired as a full-time coach by a MLB team. The 29-year-old Sacramento State product begins her coaching career with the San Francisco Giants.

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2022

Rachel Balkovec (right) becomes the first woman to manage a Minor League affiliate when she takes the reins in Tampa for the Yankees Low-A affiliate Tampa Tarpons.

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Genevieve Beacom (right)becomes the first woman to play in the Australian Baseball League.

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Kelsie Whitmore (far right) is signed by the Atlantic League's Staten Island Ferryhawks as a two-way player (pitcher/outfield), the first woman to play in a MLB-partner league.

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For the first time in MiLB history, there are three women umpiring Minor League Baseball.

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2023

Ronnie Gajownik (right), former Team USA player, is promoted to manager of the High-A Hillsboro Hops, becoming the first woman to manage at that level.

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Olivia Pichardo (far right) walks on to the Brown University baseball team and walks into the history books as the first woman to play college baseball at the DI level.

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A record number of women are hired all across the professional baseball landscape in on-field positions.