Book Review | The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Anika Orrock

The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is a nonfiction book by Anika Orrock.

This book chronicles the history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and the stories of the first women to play professional baseball in a league of their own.

"In 1941, the world was at war, and with American men fighting overseas, the much needed pastime of professional baseball was in danger of extinction—until women stepped up to the plate."

In this heartwarming illustrated history, the League's story is told by the ones who know it best: the players. Author Anika Orrock collects a variety of funny, charming, wince-worthy, and powerful vignettes told by the players themselves about their time playing the American pastime.

I miss baseball so hard right now, and this book filled some of that void for me.

The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was different than I expected. It's mostly a book of quotes from the players, the coaches, and the press.

I loved the quotes from the players! It began with little snippets that every girl can relate to! Boys not wanting a girl on their team until - of course - they started losing (Lois Youngen) or being told girls don't need baseball gloves (Norma “Hitch” Whitney).

Then it moved on to the memories of these incredible women playing baseball. At first these memories were absolutely precious, but the insights regarding their uniforms and femininity and the makeup requirements were hard to hear! I think the quotes did a good job of showing what things were really like for these women.

I loved getting insights into how tough and amazing these women were! I just wish I could have gotten more information about each of them. There were a few profiles of the baseball players, but the narrative was mostly about the league as a whole. I would have loved some background on the women and some specific stories about the women to give more substance to the quotes in the book.

Overall, though, this was a wonderful book to curl up with for an evening. I love this sport, and it's amazing to think of all of the things these women accomplished both on the field and after.

⭐⭐⭐★★

Review copy provided by publisher