NCW Libraries

"Mamie "Peanut" Johnson had one dream: to play professional baseball. She was a talented player, but she wasn't welcome on the all-white Girls Pro Baseball League team due to the color of her skin. However, a greater opportunity came her way in 1953 when Johnson signed to play ball with the Negro Leagues' Indianoplis Clowns, becoming the only professional female pitcher to play on a men's team. During the three years she played with the team, her...

"'Play ball!' yelled the umpires as the teams of the AAGPBL took the field in the tense, war-torn days of 1943. Like all professional baseball players, these athletes scrambled to their positions, tossed balls across diamonds, and filled the air with chatter. But there was something different about them--they all wore skirts, went to charm school, and continually had to answer one 'What is a woman doing playing baseball?' What were they doing? Having...

"In 1950, Kathryn Johnston wanted to play Little League, but an unwritten rule kept girls from trying out. So she cut off her hair and tried out as a boy under the nickname "Tubby." She made the team--and inspired future generations. An inspiring and suspenseful story about what it means to want to do something so badly you're willing to break the rules--and how, sometimes, breaking the rules can lead to change"-- ""The true story of Kathryn "Tubby"...