The 1944 Minneapolis Millerettes
The Second World War welcomed a new tide of women’s empowerment in the United States. With men gone in the war, there were gaps in the workforce that finally let women step up to the plate.
For the Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley, that also literally meant baseball. With so many popular Major League players gone, Wrigley was afraid that baseball was being forgotten in the American culture. He recognized that there were players out there who could fix this: women.
In 1943, Wrigley created the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, or the AAGPBL. The league was originally made up of four professional teams. A nationwide talent search was conducted, looking for the best female players in the country.
After a successful first year, Wrigley expanded the AAGPBL into two larger Midwestern cities, including Minneapolis. The Minneapolis team was named the “Millerettes” and included players from as far away as Canada and Southern California.
The 1944 season proved to be the Millerettes’ first and last year. By the end of the season, the Minneapolis Millerettes had come in last place out of all six teams. Despite a few wins and exceptional games, the Millerettes struggled. Teammates left. Local businesses refused to support them. Ticket sales were low. Even the Minneapolis press stopped covering them. Nicknamed the “Orphans,” the Millerettes were destined for other things.
In 1945, the Millerettes were relocated to Fort Wayne, Indiana. As the new Fort Wayne Daisies, the remaining players gained a devoted fan base and made it into the seasonal playoffs multiple times.
The AAGPBL, like the Millerettes, had a brief run–formally ending in 1955 after a series of controversies. But their legacies in women’s sports live on, both in Minneapolis and the world. Learn more about the AAGPBL in “A League of Their Own.”
From July 24-30 the International Women’s Baseball Center is celebrating Women in Baseball Week. Follow along on Twitter with #WomeninBaseballWeek.
Scans from the Millerettes vertical files in the Minneapolis History Collection at the James K. Hosmer Special Collections.
This post was researched and written by James K. Hosmer Special Collections intern Catherine (Cat) Dang. Cat is a digitization intern and a 2017 Urban Scholar. She is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota.
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