45. There's No Crying in Baseball, But There Are Lesbians! Queer History of the AAGPBL

History is Gay

An episode Leigh has been dreaming of since the start of the pod is finally here! In this ep, Leigh is joined by guest host Frankie de la Cretaz, sports journalist, queer history buff, and certified Gaylor Swiftie, to discuss the queer history of women’s baseball & softball, in particular the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, aka the inspiration behind A League of Their Own! We discuss all the extreme “no-homo”ing that was happening in the League’s rules and regulations, and all the YES HOMO-ing that happened in spite of it, making the sport into an important site of queer community. We also introduce you to the wonderful world of AAGBPL’s rival for women’s baseball at the time, the National Girls’ Baseball League, and the contrasts between the two leagues. Thank you to Averie Severs for editing this episode.

Our guest host for this episode, Frankie de la Cretaz, can be found online @thefrankiedlc on Twitter and Instagram. You can check out their Linktree for links to purchase their book, Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League and see more of their writing.

Support filmmaker Adam Chu’s efforts to create Their Turn at Bat: The Story of the National Girls Baseball League, a documentary film about Chicago’s forgotten women’s baseball league at www.nationalgirlsbaseballleague.com!

Also, don’t forget to check out our bonus episode discussing A League of their Own, with co-creator Will Graham!

Outline

0:00 Introduction 5:26 Socio-Historic Context 12:12 The Leagues: AAGPBL 27:42 Why Do We Think They’re Gay?: Queerness and Women’s Sports 31:48-34:44 Word of the Week: Muscle Moll 34:44 Back to why do we think they’re gay 47:07 The Leagues: NGBL 53:19 Who Were They? Queer ball players of note 1:24:00 -1:24:53 Content Warning: Homophobic violence 1:27:50 Pop Culture Tie In 1:34:15 How Gay Were They? 1:39:50 Closing and Where to Find Us Online

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