Baseball is celebrating 70 years since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier today. But Robinson is far from baseball's only pioneer. Today we are telling the story of 12 great moments for African-American women in the game. In order, they are:

• The Dolly Vardens and the St. Louis Black Bronchos playing in the 19th century
• Olivia Taylor, the first black female owner (that we know about)
• Pearl Barnett, the first black woman (that we know about) to play semipro ball on a men's team
• Rachel Robinson, advocate for equality for decades
• Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, the only woman to ever pitch in the Negro Leagues
• Toni Stone getting a hit off of Satchel Paige
• Connie Morgan, 3rd woman to play for the Negro Leagues and the only time two women would be teammates on a men's team until 2016
• Minnie Forbes, the fourth woman to play Negro League baseball and also an owner
• Gloria Jean "Jackie" Jackson getting a tryout for the Pittsfield Senators
• Tamara Holmes' power hitting with the Colorado Silver Bullets
• Effa Manley is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006
• Mo'ne Davis on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2014

What we discovered as we began to share these stories was that the history of African-American women in the game is tied to every era and every facet of the history of the game itself, so here are some links to other information about some of the things we talked about today:

• MLB's Jackie Robinson Day
• The Saint Paul Saints celebrating baseball pioneers
  • Larry Doby Night
  • Ila Borders Commemorative Bobblehead Giveaway
• Larry Doby's belated induction to the HOF
• An expert helped us out with today's episode: Leslie Heaphy, author of the Encyclopedia of Women in Baseball (2016 edition now available!) Check out our previous episode with Leslie as our guest.
• John Thorne, baseball historian
• A part of the conversation that sadly was cut due to poor audio: Industrial League baseball. There were all kinds of leagues and online searches will give you local history information, but this article gives a nice overview of why and how these leagues came to be.
• The neglected history of baseball in Montreal
• The Commissioner of Baseball's Historic Achievement Award given to Rachel Robinson
• The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City
• An article about Toni Stone
• The video series "The Sweet Spot"
• First woman to get an at-bat in the Major Leagues
• Jackie Mitchell striking out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
• Jennie Finch managing a baseball game
• Kelsie Whitmore and Stacy Piagno on the Sonoma Stompers
• Anna Kimbrell and Kelsie Whitmore, first female battery on a men's team in over 60 years
• Minnie Forbes honored by President Obama
• The founding of Little League softball
• The International Women's Baseball Center
• Last year's Jackie Robinson Day episode all about Effa Manley
• Baseball HOF inductees
• Negro Leagues museum Twitter account
• Women on the Sports Illustrated cover by decade (link is for the 1950s, the site allows searching by decade.)
• The Smithsonian article on women and SI covers
• Kris is ranting about MLB's new rules.
• The women's baseball clinic at PNC park to which A.J. is headed
• Tip of the rally cap to the Twins for having a clinic and to the Red Sox and Yankees for having women's baseball fantasy camps.

Some announcement and where you can find us:

• A.J. is looking for former Colorado Silver Bullets players. Email her at [email protected] or get in touch on facebook.
• Pinterest Page
• Twitter
• Our website womensbaseball.libsyn.com
• We are now part of the great podcast group at baseballtalkradio.com, check them out!

Inspired by the movie Hidden Figures, we are bringing you a women's baseball story you didn't know you needed to know. As we did with our Effa Manly episode last April, we are doing this episode in the style of one of our favorite podcasts, The History Chicks. Check out photos and videos of Julie Croteau on the Women Belong in Baseball Pinterest page. Links to things we discussed today:

• The biography YouTube Video done by students
• The Washington Post article on what the high school softball team thought of the lawsuit.
• Some information on Title IX
• If the Fredericksburg Giants are still in existence, I could find no current link to them.
• Julie's IMDB page
• The Colorado Silver Bullets
• The Hawaii winter baseball league Julie and a teammate were invited to play in no longer exists.
• The U.S. Women's National Team
• The photo of coach Julie in action
• Julie's biography on the Stanford website
• SABR and the SABR Women's Committee
• Women Belong in Baseball has a new website!
• Recommend a favorite show to your friends using the #trypod tag

Books we discussed: Women at Play: the story of women in baseball

By Barbara Gregorich

Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1993

No Girls in the Clubhouse: the exclusion of women from baseball

By Marilyn Cohen

McFarland, 2009

Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball

By Leslie Heaphy and Mel Anthony May

McFarland, 2006 [2016 edition forthcoming]

A Game of Their Own: voices of contemporary women in baseball

By Jennifer Ring

University of Nebraska Press, 2015 Recommended web sites: baseball-reference.com

Inspired by the movie Hidden Figures, we are bringing you a women's baseball story you didn't know you needed to know. As we did with our Effa Manly episode last April, we are doing this episode in the style of one of our favorite podcasts, The History Chicks. Check out photos and videos of Mary "Bonnie" Baker on the Women Belong in Baseball Pinterest page. Links to things we discussed today:

• The movie A League of Their Own (It is the highest grossing baseball film of all time. No, it is not the highest grossing film by a female director, I checked, that honor belongs to Frozen.)
• Bonnie Baker on What's My Line?
  • Investigative reporter Dorothy Killgallen
• Bonnie's sister Gene's AAGPBL stats
• The documentary A League of Their Own. A donation of any amount will enable you to stream it online.
• The Baseball Hall of Fame traveling exhibit
• The AAGPBL Song
• The International Women's Baseball Center in Rockford, IL
• The Kalamazoo Public Library page about the Lassies
• Biography of sportswriter Grantland Rice who produced the 1950 movie Bonnie was in
• Bonnie Baker in the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
• The Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame
• The Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame
• The AAGPBL is inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
• Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, where the family is working on getting Mary inducted
• The mural at Central Park in Regina
• The play "Diamond Girls"
• The University of Notre Dame AAGPBL collection
• The museum of the Blue Sox in South Bend

Books we discussed: The Origins and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Merrie A. Fidler McFarland, 2010 Girls of Summer: in their own league by Lois Browne HarperCollins, 1992 The All-American Girls After the AAGPBL: how playing pro ball shaped their lives by Kat D. Williams McFarland, 2017 The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book: comprehensive hitting, fielding, and pitching statistics by W.C. Madden McFarland, 2008 Recommended web sites: aagpbl.org baseball-reference.com

August is a busy season for baseball players, fans and friends. While we await space in our lives to debrief everything that's going on, here's an audio scrapbook for you, featuring:

• A.J. goes to a baseball clinic in Minnesota
• Thoughts from the "We Are Baseball" traveling Baseball Hall of Fame exhibit
• Kris tells her baseball story and wants to hear yours
• and more!

• A.J. successfully stumps Kris multiple times.
• Kris almost successfully stumps A.J.
• We take on the listeners' big questions.
• We talk ball.
• We give away prizes.

The trivia episode, jam-packed with facts, celebrations, good stories, and a lot of fun.

In April, while at the baseball tournament in Melbourne, Australia featured on Episode 7, A.J. recorded her Women in Baseball Manifesto. Now stateside, she and Kris hear that audio and talk about who really gets in the way of the dream of women's baseball and what we (and you) can do about it. Below are some links to things discussed in the show.

The International Women's Baseball Center, hosts of the Ruth Hartman Memorial Tournament.

The Baseball for All Nationals coming up in San Francisco.

The children's book that made Kris hopeful for the future.

Tryouts are underway for the U.S. Women's National Team.

Our favorite podcast The History Chicks.

Mini-interviews and reflections from the Greater Melbourne Women's Friendship Baseball Tournament in Melbourne, Australia April 2016.

Meet 16-year-old Kensi: ballplayer, coach, role model, and advocate. Kenzi shares her story with us and tells us how she gives back to others in girls' baseball.

Also debuting on today's show: our new segments! News, Tip of the Rally Cap, Announcements, and Fun Fact of the Day.

The future of women's baseball looks amazing. Meet 13 year old Sophia and 9 year old Chloe, talented girls who play ball. Hear about their successes on and off the field, how they talk about playing ball when people ask, who they look up to, what their dreams are, and what they would tell other girls who want to play. Do not miss these inspiring conversations.

Baseball integration is the story of more than just one man and one season.

Effa Manley co-owned the Newark Eagles in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. She managed travel arrangements, finances, and player contracts, made player decisions, and even managed the finances of the entire league. In a time when women were not visible in baseball, she was a force. She was also a civil rights activist and community leader.

She led her team through the Depression and a World War, won a Negro championship in 1946 with a team that could have beaten any team in baseball at that time, and when integration came to baseball was not afraid to speak up to powerful men like Branch Rickey, Bill Veeck, and Jackie Robinson to insist that the contributions of the Negro Leagues be acknowledged.

She was a tireless advocate for preserving the history of Negro League baseball and it is in large part thanks to her that players received recognition later in life. Effa herself is the only woman inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

With acknowledgement to our friends the History Chicks for use of their format, today we tell you the story of this remarkable woman and the untold story behind black baseball and baseball integration. We hope you enjoy it.