Since this thread came up --- I thought this story was pretty cool:
Four Remarkable Women from Baseball History that Everyone Should Know About
More at the link.
Four Remarkable Women from Baseball History that Everyone Should Know About
>> Up until World War II, baseball was full of so-called barnstormers -- teams that would tour regions as a sort of carnival act, drawing crowds with bizarre attractions and entertainment. As you might imagine, this spawned innumerable odd stories, like, for example, novelty teams made up entirely of men with one arm or one leg.
But one of the strangest of them all involved Jackie Mitchell, who was just a 17-year-old girl pitching for a Chattanooga semi-pro team when she pulled off one of the most remarkable feats in the history of the game -- on April 2, 1931, Jackie Mitchell faced Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and struck them both out. << (on a total of seven pitches)
>> .... Undeterred, she [Mamie "Peanut" Johnson] started playing semi-pro ball, where she was eventually spotted by a scout for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. The Clowns liked what they saw and signed her along with two others -- infielders Toni Stone and Connie Morgan -- who together became the first women to play at any level higher than the Minor Leagues. <<
But one of the strangest of them all involved Jackie Mitchell, who was just a 17-year-old girl pitching for a Chattanooga semi-pro team when she pulled off one of the most remarkable feats in the history of the game -- on April 2, 1931, Jackie Mitchell faced Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and struck them both out. << (on a total of seven pitches)
>> .... Undeterred, she [Mamie "Peanut" Johnson] started playing semi-pro ball, where she was eventually spotted by a scout for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. The Clowns liked what they saw and signed her along with two others -- infielders Toni Stone and Connie Morgan -- who together became the first women to play at any level higher than the Minor Leagues. <<
More at the link.