“Having a daughter, it’s really exciting to give her exposure to female professional athletes,” said Antonietta Mabry, 47, an accountant from Columbus, Ohio. “It’s such a rare thing, so it’s really cool to give her some really positive female role models and examples.”
Mabry was accompanied by her husband, Jason, a 48-year-old auditor, and their daughter, Rosalee. The 9-year-old Mabry got her glove autographed by San Francisco second baseman Amanda Gianelloni.
The Firebells and Boston Hunters — the league’s other two teams — play on Sunday. A couple players from each team helped the grounds crew pull the tarp off the field after the rain subsided.
“I’m excited to be here because I play softball and I really like it and it’s really cool that I get to see professional women play,” Rosalee Mabry said.
The WPBL paid tribute to the past, present and future of women’s baseball during a rain-delayed pregame ceremony. The crowd cheered as the lineups for the Queens and Heights were announced.
But the biggest ovation of the night was for 99-year-old Maybelle Blair, who threw a ceremonial first pitch to San Francisco’s Kelsie Whitmore, one of the biggest stars of the WPBL. Blair, who serves on a WPBL advisory board, played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which ran from 1943-54 and inspired the 1992 movie, “A League of Their Own.”
“I think that’s pretty incredible,” Benites said. “Maybelle’s been sticking with us since the beginning of this journey. She’s paved a path for us, really. … She’s a special person and I’m so happy that she got to make it out here and do that today.”
Lindsey Keirsey, 42, a high school history teacher in Fenton, Missouri, said she is obsessed with the AAGPBL and “A League of Their Own.” She attended the game with her husband, Drew, 43, and their four children, Hadley, 17, Nolan, 15, Elam, 11, and Abbott, 10.
“We go to St. Louis Cardinals games all the time,” Hadley Keirsey said. “As much as I love baseball, I think it’s an amazing opportunity to see so many women be able to play and just break ground like that. Even though it’s just a sport, I think that if we can do things like this and let women play in sports like this, women can do so many more things.”