Women playing professional baseball is almost unheard of. Just over 20 years ago, a California woman had a successful college baseball career and made it to the minor leagues.

In this edition of Reading Baseball, Pete Peterson explains why he believes this remarkable woman should’ve been included on a list of the 100 most accomplished and influential women of the past century to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment.

Reading Baseball is a series of essays and commentaries by Richard “Pete” Peterson, author of Growing Up With Clemente and editor of The St. Louis Baseball Reader.