A New Era; A New League
The All American Girls' Professional Baseball League came from the minds of Philip Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs, and Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Wrigley knew World War II was hurting Major League Baseball and he was concerned it might even be shut down because President Roosevelt was going to call off Major League Baseball until the war was over. Wrigley had a plan; he would start the nations' first women’s' professional league "To furnish additional means of healthful recreation to the public who are... under sever pressure from war work" ("Classy Athletes" 1). Since Major League Baseball was loosing its appeal, and semi-pro and amateur softball leagues were experiencing a decade long boom, Wrigley noticed these two facts and then started the All American Girls' Professional Baseball League. It all started with the Cubs scouts inviting 280 women to compete on four teams, Philip Wrigley and Arthur Meyerhoff instructed the scouts to weigh physical appearances and ability to play the game while evaluating ("1940" 35-36). Then, they pulled 60 of the best players from the amateur softball leagues and divided them into four teams; the Racine Belles, the Kenosha Comets, the South Bend Blue Sox, and the Rockford Peaches (Fincher, Jack 275).