Stadium Politics, RaysUp, WBSC in Rockford, Women's #BaseballWorldCupW & AAGPBL

Episode 368 BaseballBiz Stadium Rays IWBC, WBSC, BaseballWorldCupW

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett, your host, and with me today, of course, is Mr. Mat Ger- w- wait, what? Mat,Mat,where are you? Oh, that's all right. I remember Mat is on vacación. That's right, he is enjoying himself with his family and friends up there in Nova Scotia, taking in all the wonder and nature of that w- fantastic place, whether it be in the woods or maybe he's riding the rapids and rivers there as well.

But I know one thing about Mat,he has got his thumb on the pulse of baseball wherever he's at. And if you haven't kept up, check him out, of course, on Blue Sky, because he's throwing in pieces here and there of what's coming up with the trade deadlines. Some fascinating stuff there. He and I have talked about, of course, Luis Arraez, and we talked about Tarik Skubal, but who's gonna be on the Rays team and who's gonna be mixing and matching?

Who's gonna be surrendering a t- a player, and who's gonna be picking somebody up? So [00:01:00] we'll have more on that in a future episode once Mat returns from the great wilderness. Anyway, so let's get started One I'd like to commend and compliment Brent Cardy, a friend of the show, and he's been a guest here as well with Mat and I.

He has started up a whole, uh, column, if you will, and it's on Substack. I- I'd recommend going ahead and subscribing to it. I certainly have, and you can find it at thecardyshow.substack.com. The Cardy, and that's C-A-R-D-Y, show.substack.com. I mean, I, I love Brent because one thing, he has a deep knowledge on the Blue Jays.

Um, his enthusiasm about the game and the history of it, he's ... It allows him a vision to kind of see what's unfolding. In a recent article, I know he looked at, uh, Hall of Famer-bound Mr. Blue Jay Max Scherzer, and Brent takes a look and [00:02:00] says, "Will Mad Max stick around for potential post-season?" Hmm, that's a good question.

He gives us kind of a breakdown on Mad Max and the possibilities with that, so well worth checking out. And again, you can find Brent's wisdom at thecardyshow.substack.com. Another friend of the show, Mr. Lou Schiff, he was suffering last week, and painfully so by his post on Blue Sky with baseball in law, and the, the point that he was having was that the Marlins had a 12-game losing streak.

That's ... And that, if you compare that with what the Boston Red Sox had just c- had enjoyed, and that was a 15-game winning streak. You know, Boston had that going on where they broke a record of, oh, 80 years since the last time they had that strong of a winning streak. But the Marlins had lost 12 games in a row.

Philadelphia gave them a break on that. The Phillies [00:03:00] lost three games to the Marlins. So if you look at the MLB standings, you'll see the Marlins have won three of their last 10 games. Sad part, too, is when you look at forgive me, Lou, I know you grew up loving a team in New York, and that was the Mets, right?

Correct me if I'm wrong. But the Mets th- haven't actually been relishing a great season this year either, uh, with 43 wins and 60 losses. The other good thing, though, Lou, is that you're going to have your Marlins facing the Mets here, I think, within a week, so I'm looking forward to seeing what that series is gonna look like.

Trade deadline news, what's happening? Well, we're gonna find out from Mat when he returns, 'cause he's really got the inside on this. If you've been following him on Blue Sky, you already know. I mean, on the show we talked in the past about Tarik Skubal, will he be there? Will Luis Arraez be there? We'll talk on these when he gets back.

But [00:04:00] he's ... If you're following on Blue Sky, he has been posting a few things about starting pitchers, and how we probably don't expect a lot of activity until August 3rd, 6:00, when the trade deadline closes. Past week though, it's been kind of fun watching the Rays and, uh, new guy Grady Emerson. You know, he's was the number two pick in the MLB draft, and the Rays got him.

Emerson showed up at the Trop last week. A lot of enthusiasm about this young player, and some of the folks had a, got a chance with MLB to talk with him, and he is excited about it. And the one thing I keep hearing over and over is, will he be with the Rays in less than two years, this high school student?

That would be something. I know that's probably his goal. Whether the Rays will follow that or not, we'll see. And when I'm talking about the Rays also, it's been interesting to look and see as far as trades, and one of the things that have gone on is Curtis Mead. You know, he's, [00:05:00] he's hasn't been with the Rays for a little while, but he, uh, was with the Nationals and they traded him to Red Sox as a second baseman.

Uh, so and see, the Nationals exchanged him for a homegrown rookie, Connelly Early. We'll see how that plays out over time. You know, but going back to what I'm saying about, uh, Grady Emerson, it was interesting during his visit, I was watching some of the footage prior to the game when he was attending there at Tropicana Field.

And I saw some of the Rays players, and you could see these red circles on their necks and different parts of their exposed limbs and such. And I'd forgotten about the cup therapy, where they do like a vacuum cup therapy on players to help, I guess, increase circulations to that part of the body, where they, they put something akin to a glass suction cup over that part of the body and pulling the blood up to it.

And it's kind of freaked me out there at first. I thought somebody had some kind of weird giant measle thing going on , but it's quickly pointed out to me, "No, Mark, that is the cupping [00:06:00] therapy." Rays has a little concern about the All-Star Blues, A team comes back from that. Sometimes it's a little bit of a rough ride, and it had a little of that going on.

But they are maintaining their lead across the entire American League with a 589 average. You know, the Yankees keep bopping up and down with a second spot. I think currently they're two and a half games behind the Rays. And when you're here in Tampa and you're talking about the Rays, sooner or later somebody is going to be talking about the potential for a new stadium in Tampa and whether or not the city council will put a bar on that and stop it altogether if something's going to happen.

They had a vote the other day on taking, I guess, some of the memorandum of understanding and forwarding it to, uh, the state, but it ran into a speed bump. That speed bump was in the form of four council members, Lynn Hurtak, Charlie Miranda, Guido Maniscalco, [00:07:00] uh, sorry Guido if I got that wrong, and Bill Carlson.

Bill Carlson, they all voted against having it transmitted to the state. Some of this information comes from looking at stories from the tampabay.com. Councilperson Lynn Hurtak said, "I think it's a waste of time to send it to the state if I'm going to just vote against it." I get that. That makes sense. But it seems like you're already predestined to saying there's no opportunity.

And Mayor Castor here in Tampa, she, she kind of led the negotiations with all this. And she's a little upset with some of that, is what you might have meant. I mean, she isn't screaming or shouting, but, you know, she says that it defies common sense. A quote here I read is, it's from Mayor Castor, "It's beyond frustrating that as city and county leaders are working tirelessly to hammer out an equitable deal to bring the race to Tampa, city council members want to halt our efforts in their tracks."

[00:08:00] Unquote. She continues, "Some of them clearly are intent on killing the Rays plan even before negotiations are done and an agreement is ready for review." You know, there are some naysayers, and there are those who I think are political pomposity have to speak on this topic, and Councilman Carlson, who is also a candidate for mayor, certainly did earlier.

He did. He criticized Jane Castor. I mean, she's the one who's been negotiating. She says... Carlson said, "It's obvious to everyone that the divide between City Council and the Rays was caused by Jane Castor and her cronies. They were either grossly inept by excluding council from the negotiations, or they did it on purpose to serve their political agenda.

They seem to be setting up the Rays for failure so they can blame the City Council," Carlson said. "The citizens of our community deserve better. Castor needs to stop the [00:09:00] dirty politics or step aside so this city can start to work for its citizens again." I don't know what he means by that. Jane Castor has worked for the citizens of Tampa all along.

I hold her in great esteem, and that says something because I ho- there's very few people I hold in great esteem. Uh, the-- Carlson to me just sounds like somebody looking for a podium to beat in, in hopes of getting the attention of future voters for his, uh, his bid for the mayor of Tampa. Now, Jane Castor is a, is a lame duck.

Uh, she doesn't have any real push, I think, about the Rays to, to keep her in office because as of May 2027, her second and final term would have concluded with Tampa. So what's gonna happen? What will be lost without the stadium? Well, I don't know. Like I say, all the political pomposity, do I want it to ru- you know, to rule everything here?

No. I mean, think about a [00:10:00] few years back when Tampa Bay almost became a three-title city. The Bucs had won the Super Bowl in the NFL. The Lightning in hockey, they had brought home the Stanley Cup and taken it in a parade of boats and almost dropping it into the water. And the Rays, they came close that year to winning the World Series with the Dodgers, but it was not to be Now in a city which has been averaging a population growth of over five thousand the last few years, we need to acknowledge there is growth.

Does that include more tax dollars to support a Tampa Rays stadium? It certainly adds more sunshine to a potential halo of revenue to Tampa with the addition of a successful team like the Rays. I'm going to encourage you to write, call, heck, and even visit your Tampa cast- councilperson's office. Have a political polite, emphasis on polite, discourse, you know, backed by a voting fan base [00:11:00] here could make the difference in a new Rays stadium in Tampa.

Now, if you've been listening to me before, you know I've made myself clear on how I feel about giving billionaires gifts of taxpayer money and land. But as a fan, I set aside some of those feelings in order to see Tampa thrive with a Rays team and venue that will increase a fan base and revenue on this side of the bay.

So I don't know where you're at, but, you know, if you enjoy baseball and you live in Tampa, I can't see anywhere but to go ahead and support this program. Yes, there probably could be m- made some, uh, changes and see about if we can get a little bit more, uh, to get something back initially from the Rays ownership, you know, whether it be a percentage of the naming rights or, uh, b- whatever, get something back on some concessions for the city.

I'm not saying there isn't room for some of that. But [00:12:00] to just stop it and not send the, the, uh, not send the document to the state, I think is falling way short of a commitment of the politicians to try to make an increased potential for the Rays to be here in Tampa. Well, I mean, otherwise, I think this ship is going to sail, and you might see the Orlando Dreamers pick it up.

Who knows? But again, I would encourage all of you to find a way to reach out to your councilperson or other politician and tell them this is important to you as a fan of the Rays, and we need to make it happen, period. I want to thank you to Ken Babby, who I think as one of the owners of the Rays, has made a very special concentrated effort to be out there to answer as many questions as possible.

He's in front of as many organizations as needed, whether it be meetings or gatherings, and telling the story of the future of the Rays with the stadium. I don't know what more they can do. [00:13:00] So if you have ideas, send them to us. Cer- certainly send them to the Rays and your council people

Okay, so this keeps updating. Uh, Thursday morning here I am reading a little bit more. WSF has posted some things. The... Was it the Hank and Aaron Show too? Bill Carlson, the councilman from Tampa, who's been, uh, saying quite a bit. Um, he said, "Well, the numbers that were presented then are different than the numbers are now, and I wouldn't have known that if Friday had h- hadn't happened because the mayor's office had not allowed us to participate."

Until Babby and Carlson met for breakfast Friday, the city's negotiating process was largely controlled by Mayor Jane Caster's administration, which Caster said regularly briefed council members. And then let's see, Carlson says, the mayor will say, oh yeah, we're giving people briefings, but briefings are one [00:14:00] directional.

It doesn't have a to and fro, Carlson said. Oh Continue on with the story from WSF. In May, Tampa and Hillsborough approved the non-binding framework. The city's contribution, including 80 million from its portion of a special half-cent sales tax, which must go only forward-- only toward, rather, infrastructure and 100 million if you...

You know what? I'm not gonna do this. This is ridiculous. Huh, here we are Thursday morning, and there's some updates coming out. I'm seeing some other remarks oppo- from, uh, Carlson and being reported on WUSF, and I think also, uh, from when he was meeting on, I think it's The Hank and Aaron Show and, uh, or maybe it's the J.D.

Peterson Show. He's been out there on a lot of different shows. Anyway, there's, uh, after what seemed to be a good meeting between Carlson and Ken Babby, uh, Ken Babby asked, "Hey, can we take a photo together and put it up on social media and see how we're getting along?" And Carlson did and put it [00:15:00] up on X, and underneath it was showing the photo of giant Carlson and Ken Babby.

He says, "Jane has led us in negotiations so far, and all we have seen is political s- chaos. Don't you think the Rays should give council a chance to fix this?" That doesn't sound like the, the idea of what Ken Babby was looking for in that photograph, trying to show b- they're getting together, but that's kind of the way things are going.

Carlson said he has heard from constituents on both sides of using public money in the stadium deal. He expects the council's new arrangement with the Rays will bring greater transparency and lead to the best possible deal for consideration. Yeah, well, I guess he's coming here at the last minute, gonna save us all.

So we'll see how that works out. I don't know, like I said, I, I... Politicians, I know we have to get them involved because they're the ones who manage our money and taxpayers' money, and I just sometimes wish there was just a whole lot less [00:16:00] personality and a whole lot m- more work getting done. So come on, everybody, cross your fingers, still talk to your council people and see what's what.

You know, with Mat gone, I'm thinking about a lot of other friends on the show. We talked about, of course, Brett Carty, and we talked about Lou Schiff. I'd also like to mention Ryan Woodward. He and the people from the International Women's Baseball Center did a great job this week in Rockford, Illinois, hosting the group stage for the WBSC Women's International Baseball Cup.

Now, right now, that means they, uh, had six teams there from... Let's see, who were they? They were China, Korea, Mexico, uh, Australia, Canada, and the US, and those six teams came to Rockford, where Ryan and the others had put together a great week and played for five days. [00:17:00] So it was a round robin. Each team faced another one And they did a fantastic job.

If you got to watch any of it, I was watching some of it on Prime Video, and I think it was on GameTime as well, but they did a fantastic job with it. And the players, oh my gosh, you got to see some of the fantastic USA players who would also be, uh, playing for the Savannah Bananas as well as being on the Women's Pro Baseball League.

So kudos to IWBC for putting on a great tournament. There were some teams that were having a, a bit of difficulty, like Hong Kong, China. Uh, I don't believe they won a single game in there. A lot of heart, and they came a long way to play those games. But you got to realize, as one broadcaster pointed out, when your pool of athletes is from a city like Hong Kong and China, with the population compared to the entire United States, you're only going to be able to achieve a certain level of [00:18:00] athlete.

Whereas you can filter down to such a m- a pinpoint more elite when you have a much larger population to pull from. Looking forward to the Women's Pro Baseball League, which will also be taking place in Illinois, and I highly encourage you to catch some of that too. Some of the women who were playing in Rockford for the US will certainly be in the Women's Pro Baseball League as they have their inaugural season starting up here in about a week in Springfield, Illinois.

So that should be quite exciting. What about people like Kelsie Whitmore, Danay Benitez, Valerie Perez, I believe, is still on that team. The WPBL's inaugural season starting up here in just a few days, actually, I guess, in, uh, Springfield, Illinois. Uh, we'll have a cover some of that, and I'm trying to get some of the people from the Women's Pro Baseball League on the show.

So look forward to sharing that with you as well. With everything going on with Women's Pro [00:19:00] Baseball League and also what went on with Rockford this past week, I wanted to kind of maybe take a tip of the hat to the past, uh, including an interview with our, our good friend, a good, the late Sue Zipay and Lois Youngins.

So we've dug up that interview, and I hope you enjoy it, and we're gonna go ahead and play that now. Again, I wanna thank, uh, Lois Youngins and the late Sue Zipay for that wonderful interview and sharing delightful moments from their time with the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. So I'm just gonna continue to tell you guys, go out, enjoy baseball.

Find it wherever you can, whether it's a high school, whether it's collegiate, professional, semi-pro, or just going ahead and putting a game together with a few friends. Enjoy the game. So until next week when Mat returns, look forward to seeing you guys again real soon.[00:20:00] 

This week on BaseballBiz On Deck, we're gonna be talking to two of the players from the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, Sue Zipay and Lois Youngin. They're gonna tell the tales that have been also chronicled in the fiction of the League of Their Own. We're gonna be speaking about the reality and what they're doing today to continue with that league.

Sue Zipay is heading up a new League of Their Own tournament coming up here in Sarasota. It's the All Americans Women's Baseball Tournament. That's gonna be November 17th through 19th. I'll put up more information on it later on, but just wanted to get you warmed up for that event. So let's get started

[00:21:00] Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett, your host, and with me today I have two wonderful women who are going to share the story of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, what it meant to them, you know, their journey through that, and what's coming with the future as well. I have Miss Sue Zipay and Lois Youngin.

So thank you both for being with us today. 

Lois Youngen: Oh, so pleasure- Thank you for having us. 

Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh, so much is going on. You know, the way my interest got started with all this is years ago, like a lot of folks, uh, first real introduction was watching A League of Their Own, and I said, "Is that, did that really happen?

Was that for real?" I was born in 1956, so at the end I guess of, of, uh, everything going on with all of the le- the league, but man, that was just so vibrant. And to find out as they got to the end of the film, they're showing, you know, some women in... That, you know, you al- you guys, I guess, but, uh, not actually making a [00:22:00] connection but kind of alluding to that these are the women who were in the film, uh, the depicting.

But those were actually fictional characters, but kinda based on, on what you all did. Is that, is that accurate? 

Sue Zipay: Yes, I think so. 

Mark Corbett: Okay. Well, good. Oh my- Lois- Well- 

Sue Zipay: Lois, you interrupt me if you disagree 

Lois Youngen: I, I, I'm going to tell the gentleman, Mark, that the movie was about 75% accurate. The other 25% is what I call Hollywood hyperbole.

And we needed that 25%. We're, we're not upset about the few little risqué kinda scenes. 

Mark Corbett: Add a little flavor, draw a few more eyeballs or two. 

Lois Youngen: Absolutely. 

Mark Corbett: I love it. Oh my gosh, well, I can't imagine what that would've been like. Uh, Lois, what, what year did you actually come into the league? 

Lois Youngen: I came into the league in 1951, and I played through 

Mark Corbett: 1954.

[00:23:00] Wow. 

Lois Youngen: I played for the Fort Wayne Daisies and the South Bend Blue Sox. Those are my only really two teams. You probably would like to know that my first manager in 1951 with the Fort Wayne Daisies was Max Carey, Baseball Hall of Famer. 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Lois Youngen: In 1952, it was the slugger, the great Double X Jimmy Foxx. 

Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh.

Lois Youngen: He only managed one summer, and I was fortunate enough to get to know him So I might as well go ahead with my Jimmie Foxx, all right? 

Mark Corbett: Please do. 

Lois Youngen: Well, in the movie, since we brought up the movie, if you had been, uh, reviewing the film when it came out in 1992, you would have read that the Jimmy Dugan character, played by Tom Hanks, was a thinly veiled Jimmie Foxx.

Mark Corbett: Oh, wow. 

Lois Youngen: In other words, Jimmie Foxx was a falling down drunk in [00:24:00] the movie. Ooh. Obviously, having played for him, I can tell you he was not a falling down drunk. He was, however, an alcoholic, and that was well known. 

Sue Zipay: Yeah. 

Lois Youngen: But if you remember your personal health 101, you will know that there are functioning alcoholics that do well day to day, and he fell into that category.

So he never missed a game. He never drank on the bus. He never missed the bus. He always tipped his hat, and he certainly never yelled, "There's no crying in baseball-" ... in front of a large group of fans. Uh, we adored him, actually. I can't think of anyone that played for him in 1952 that didn't think he was just about one of the nicest men they had ever met.

Mark Corbett: Wow. Well, well, Lois, how did, how did you get started? I mean, I... You had to have a personal interest in the game long before you made it to the [00:25:00] league. How did that, uh, connection start? 

Lois Youngen: Well, my dad was a, uh, pretty fair baseball player himself. He played in college and pitched. But, uh, he really didn't spend a lot of time playing ball with me.

Everybody thinks he did, but he didn't. What happened was we lived in a small rural town, and the houses were on one side of s- the street, and there was pasture field on the other side, and there were only boys in the neighborhood. So there's no television, remember. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, 

Lois Youngen: yeah. This is, this is the 1940s. And, um, my mother said, "You can't read all the time," and kicked me out of the house.

And all of a sudden, I found out I had athletic ability that I didn't know I had. So the boys said, "Well," Since I was the only girl, "Uh, we'll let you play, but you have to either choose between right field or catching." [00:26:00] Being smarter than the boys, I said, "I'll catch." So that's how I became a catcher, and that's how I honed my skills, I guess, playing with the boys.

Mark Corbett: I gotta tell you, Lois, I respect catchers more than anything else. I mean, today I had the opportunity to speak in front of a Boys & Girls Club out in Tampa, and I always ask the kids there, you know, w- well, those who are playing, "What are, what role do you play? What position?" And the young man says, "Catcher," and I, I applaud him right off.

I start right there. I said, "My gosh." I said, "As that, in that role, you see the whole game, you know?" Right. You're, you're, you're talking to the pitcher. The, you're saying, "Hey, this is the next, this is the pitching we need." You, you become basically the captain of the team to do that. So was that interesting both as, as a, a young woman being the, the unofficial captain, if you will, as a catcher, or is that realistic of me to say that?

Lois Youngen: Well, maybe I thought it, but I'm not sure the 

Sue Zipay: boys did. [00:27:00] I, I, I told you she'd have a good story for you, Mark. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, no, no doubt. Yeah. Oh, man. No, but to, to... Again, like I said, the catchers, though, you know, in, in life you see a lot of them become managers as well. But let's talk about the manager position with, with you young ladies at that time.

Uh, there had to be protocols. There had to be things they could and couldn't do. I know they show the Hanks character falling down drunk or coming into the, the, uh, locker room, et cetera, with the- 

Lois Youngen: Yes, no one would ever have done that in the 1940s, not even Tom Hanks in person. So it just wouldn't have happened.

Mark Corbett: That, that's part of the Hollywood hyperbole, I guess. 

Lois Youngen: That's part of the Hollywood hyperbole. Yep, you're 

Mark Corbett: right. Oh, my gosh. So how did you still connect with, with the, the league itself? How did the introduction go? 

Lois Youngen: Well, for me, it's different for each gal, I think. There were many tryouts [00:28:00] in the beginning.

See, I played at the end of the league. The league started in '43, started with four teams. It grew to eight teams in 1947 and '48, and then it dropped down again. I played the last four years, 1951 through '54, and, uh, we had six teams in '51, and then in the next three years we only had five. And I guess I should call myself Lois the Terminator because 

Sue Zipay: Oh.

Harsh. 

Lois Youngen: Well, that's the end. That was the end of the league then in 1954. But we had 12 very good years, and in 1947 and '48, almost a million people saw those eight teams play. My gosh. Now, keep in mind, we played every night, seven days a week, with double headers on Sunday. Um, my phone's ringing. I'm sorry, I'm gonna whip over here and shut it off.

Mark Corbett: That's fine and dandy 

Sue Zipay: [00:29:00] Lois has a PhD, I think that's what you call it, from- 

Lois Youngen: Yeah ... that 

Sue Zipay: college. I'm here. Sorry about that. Yeah. I was j- I was just telling them about your doctorate or whatever you have, you know, bells and whistles education. 

Lois Youngen: Well anyway, I, I had us having a million people see the, uh, eight teams play- Jesus

and that's because we played over 100 games. It, it varied from 100 to 110 or so. 

Sue Zipay: I just wanted to jump in here. It's a far cry from what MLB now does with their pitch- Yeah ... you know, they have, uh, X number of pitches and they have to take them out. You know, some of our girls pitched a game and then they pitched the next day, they pitched a game again, a full game.

And of course we were doing nine innings at that time. Now the girls are doing the seven inning games. 

Mark Corbett: Well, I'm curious, Sue, I mean, what, you were a pitcher yourself, weren't you? 

Sue Zipay: Not much. Uh, he only put me in there when he was desperate. And I, I basically played second base and I played right field, and I didn't play a whole lot first year.

I was two, only two years, uh, '52 and '53. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Sue Zipay: [00:30:00] And, uh, second year I was beginning to feel like one of the gang really, although even as a rookie going into the league, um, the players that had been there for many years were so receptive and, and so kind to the young girls coming in. It was like a family, really was.

Mark Corbett: Well, that's important. I mean, we talk a lot, you know, when I'm, like even today with the youngsters at the Boys & Girls Club, talking about team, we're talking about community, we talk about spirit, you know, and having that energy that you share together. And to me that's, that's a big part of what I, what I see that you all have been doing, not just from historically, but also what's happening now, and we'll talk about that in a moment about in Sarasota a- and your also meetings.

I did wanna ask in regards to fans, what were the fans like to you all in the stands? How, how are y'all treated by your fans? 

Lois Youngen: Wonderfully. We had a fan base that would rival any of the major leaguers, only on a smaller scale And we had a Daisy fan [00:31:00] club. I don't remember one in South Bend, but we had a Daisy fan club.

And I'm not quite sure all the things that they did for us, but they did have a picnic for us once a year. And, um, can't tell you what else, to be honest with you. I can remember the gent- older gentleman that was the president, he wrote to us during the off-season, and any news about baseball related to our team, uh, he'd send it on to us between what would be, uh, October and the following May, you, let's say.

So I, I'm not sure what other functions he had, but, um, I, uh, he was... I, I can see him now. He was very, very nice gentleman. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Well, let, let me ask you, you all both, did I understand is, is it, was it 100 games a year? Is that what you're saying? 

Lois Youngen: Yes. And- Every night, seven days a week- Geez ... with doubleheaders on Sundays.

[00:32:00] Occasionally we'd have a day off, not very often. I know at the end of July, I was wishing that I knew more about Oregon rain, and a w- little of it would fly over and drop a little rain on us so- ... we had a day off or two. But, uh, seven days a week, doubleheaders on Sunday. 

Sue Zipay: Wow. 

Lois Youngen: The doubleheaders were only seven innings each.

Otherwise it was a full nine innings. 

Sue Zipay: Then, and then Mark, in addition, the ride home on the bus all night and then getting up the next morning for practice for the next day. Good Lord. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. You know, I could see that would either lay you out or you'd have to become a great athlete. I don't think there'd be much room for anything in between.

Sue Zipay: We were, we were young, and we were healthy, and we loved the game, right, Lois? 

Lois Youngen: Absolutely. 

Sue Zipay: Just loved it. 

Lois Youngen: A number of players would tell you that they would've paid their organization to play rather than getting paid. I didn't say that, but- ... people have, uh... Yeah, [00:33:00] catcher had a pretty tough time behind the plate.

Uh, there are some things you need to know about us. 

Mark Corbett: Please. Uh, 

Lois Youngen: we played in that revolutionary one-piece dress that you saw in the movie. 

Mark Corbett: Mm. 

Lois Youngen: All right? And, uh, unfortunately Mrs. Wrigley designed it, and she was enamored by Sonja Henie, was a wonderful skater. So she made it with a skirt so full that every time you bent over to field a ground ball, all you got was skirt.

Mark Corbett: Oh. 

Lois Youngen: So this was with the original girls in '43, and they said they immediately had to get big safety pins and pin in all that material. And then by the time Sue and I got to the league, over the years we had shortened that dress and shortened it and shortened it and shortened it, so when I played and Sue played, they, we played in a mini skirt.

So- ... in other words- [00:34:00] We had tights underneath, but we had full movement of both legs. But was still a one-piece dress, and I often wondered why Mrs. Wrigley wasn't smart enough to make it at least two pieces so when you raised your arm your whole uniform didn't come up. Yes. But obviously she was not a baseball player.

Mark Corbett: Yeah, y- you always wonder when somebody creates something and, and they don't have to use it, you know, how they do. And, uh, I mean, the one 

Lois Youngen: thing- We played in that all 12 years. 

Mark Corbett: Good Lord, woman, I- 

Lois Youngen: That revolu- revol- it was a revolutionary uniform, and it lasted, it was a thread that went through all 12 years of the league.

Mark Corbett: Wow. Wow, wow, wow. I, I keep wondering though, I see some of those cases where you see somebody sliding into base, I'm like, no, I, no, no. I mean, the strawberries that you guys must have got, the, the cuts, scrapes, and bruises must have been unbelievable. 

Lois Youngen: Well, Sue'll tell you if we got a [00:35:00] strawberry early in June, you had it at Thanksgiving.

Mark Corbett: Oh. 

Lois Youngen: Because you had to keep sliding on... We always slid feet first. I don't know if you remember in the movie, Madonna slides headfirst on her Material Girl's bosom. 

Mark Corbett: I 

Lois Youngen: wonder if they, I wonder if they paid her extra, Sue, what do you think? 

Sue Zipay: I don't... 

Lois Youngen: Uh, but we never slid headfirst, other than the fact if you got caught off of first base, you slid back headfirst.

But, um, we did what the men were doing in the major leagues, and they weren't, Pete Rose hadn't been born yet, I don't think. But anyway, uh, we were sliding feet first and not head first into second, third, and home. 

Mark Corbett: Now let me ask you another question too. You played for a couple d- different teams. Were you assigned to those teams?

Did you choose those teams? How, how did that work out? 

Lois Youngen: Well, I got, I, I tried out for the Fort Wayne Daisies, and, um, they, uh, [00:36:00] one summer between my junior and senior year in high school, I was 16, in January of that year they sent me a letter saying that, um, if I'm still interested, they'd like me to come to spring training along with 30 other, I'd be trying out with 30 other girls.

About, uh, maybe two or three weeks later, I got a check for $20 to get me to spring training. 

Mark Corbett: Ooh. 

Lois Youngen: So I went to spring training. I, uh, the hardest part was getting out of high school because in those days you didn't get out unless somebody died. So I got out of spring-- uh, I got out of school, went to spring training.

I think it was about four weeks long. I'm not quite sure on the length. Anyway, I came back, this was my senior year in high school. I went to my senior prom, I went through graduation, and I [00:37:00] became a Fort Wayne Daisy all in one week. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, wow. 

Lois Youngen: There you are. 

Mark Corbett: Well, that's a heck of a story. I mean, my gosh. I mean, it's, and such a change.

Do you-- I was wondering how the scouts did. I mean, they went out to find great talent, but there wasn't- They 

Lois Youngen: did at the beginning. Yeah. I guess in the beginning. By the time I got there, I actually, uh, I don't think they were doing any scouting, but they certainly allowed players to come in and try out, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time visiting a relative in Fort Wayne.

They said, "Do you wanna go see the Daisies play?" And I said, "Well, well, what do you think?" You know. "Oh, yes, yes." And in the seventh inning stretch, I turned to my cousin and I said, "I can do..." This is a 16-year-old now. "I can do that." And, uh, the next morning I had this tryout, which led to the letter, which led to the check for $20.

So, but I tried out, and I [00:38:00] think many of the gals tried out, but in the beginning they had scouts floating around. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. Well, that's exciting. I mean, to think if you're passionate about something, I think people, you know, th- they'll go for it. And, and yourself in that particular instance, it was obvious that you were taken by what they were doing on the field, be- wanting to be a part of it.

But it, it takes, like s- uh, the physicality and the athleticism to do that. I respect that, but I just cannot imagine with you all doing seven days a week, good Lord, and 100 games a year with, with, and with doubleheaders you said on Sunday? 

Lois Youngen: Doubleheaders 

Sue Zipay: on Sunday. Doubleheaders every Sunday. Yep. Yeah. And, and you talking about the fans there, I was gonna say that so many of them were the farmer boys because there were so many farms around there and, and they would come out.

That was their recreation on the weekends in particular. And, uh, those were the ones we dated, and then a few of them. And then, um- ... yeah, they'd ha- they'd have cookouts for us. You know, I can remember the steaks and the co- sweet corn and everything all [00:39:00] fixed for us when we w- come, come home from our road trip.

That was, that was our treat. You know, we'd have a big cookout and yeah, the fans were very good to us. Very good to us. Wow. 

Mark Corbett: I mean, but it goes 

Lois Youngen: like beyond- Well, remember- Go ahead ... there wasn't much else to do in those da- There's no television. 

Sue Zipay: Right. 

Lois Youngen: Right? Major League Baseball is so far away. The gas was rationed still.

You know, you couldn't drive to a Major League game. Um, so they stayed local, and they treated us very well, just like Sue said. 

Mark Corbett: I mean, there was something I heard as far as, like, spring training. Did, did you all have spring training? 

Sue Zipay: We did. Um, it wasn't, I don't remember how long it was. I, I'm not as good at just remembering stuff as Lois.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Sue Zipay: But I remember when I arrived there, I, I thought I was a pretty hotshot player back home, but when I got there and saw the level of, uh, the ability, I, I said, "Oh, well, I'm just a [00:40:00] small f- a f- little fish in a big pond here," and realized that, you know, I was gonna have to work to stay there. But the, the pr- the, a coach said to me when I was very nervous about being there, said, "You wouldn't be here if you weren't as good as the rest of us, Sue, so just stop worrying about it."

Mark Corbett: Good deal. Wow, Sue. You know, it's, to me, I, I, the whole idea of being on the road and the bus and all of these other women that you get to, the camaraderie you're able to build, uh, and Lois, like y- both of y'all were saying, as far as coming home to fans after being on the road and having a big cookout, my gosh.

Uh, that, that had to be exciting. But uh, still probably a lot of folks, especially since y'all were young, missing family at home? 

Sue Zipay: Oh, God. 

Lois Youngen: Oh, now wait a minute. Sue and I had a chaperone. Do tell. Every, every team had a chaperone, and that's another thread that went through all 12 years [00:41:00] Every team had a woman chaperone 

Sue Zipay: But homesick, but homesick was something that I was i- initially.

I wrote home every night. I've never been away from home from my home in Massachusetts, and it was tough. And by the way, the chaperone was the one who, who I tried out with in my, in my state of Massachusetts. She was about 30 miles away, and I went, drove to her house because my, uh, my high school softball coach said, "Did you know there was a pro league in the West?"

And I said, "What?" And I was visualizing millions of dollars and fame and fortune, and I went up and had a tryout with this Dottie Green, her name was, who had- Yes ... she originally had played in the league and, and tore her knee apart practically, and decided to stay on as a chaperone. So she was with the Rockford Peaches for many, many years.

And, uh, and so she, uh, apparently liked what she saw when I went up to throw a few balls, and two weeks later I got a contract in the mail. Uh, it just, pshh, that was it. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Sue Zipay: So. 

Mark Corbett: As I was wondering, [00:42:00] one of the questions, I was... about the chaperones. Do you want to say a little more about that, Lois? I want to hear that as well.

Lois Youngen: Oh, I was just going to say, it's a thread that went through all 12 years. Mm-hmm. And I think probably many of the gals would not have been able to play due to their parents' objection, possibly. Because we had a chaperone, it became m- a possibility and then a reality for many players. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Sue Zipay: And, and the chaperone was the one that took care of the strawberries.

The chaperone was the one that found a host for you to stay in. Uh, we al- we stayed in private homes, and by the way, when we came home they did our laundry, and there was... there was always a nice homemade cheesecake waiting for us when we arrived home. Oh. 

Lois Youngen: Not in Fort Wayne. 

Sue Zipay: Well- 

Lois Youngen: Obviously I was with the wrong team.

Sue Zipay: I- that's right, you were. I always, I've been telling you that for how many years now? Lois and I have a little thing going between the Blue Sox and the, uh, and the Rockford [00:43:00] Peaches. 

Mark Corbett: That, that cheesecake sounds good. Oh. Uh, Lois, I got a question to ask you. Being here from Tampa and near Ybor, you know, one thing we celebrate down at the Tampa Baseball Museum is Shooshie Wirth.

This is true. Yes. And she was with the South Bend Blue Sox. Was that- 

Lois Youngen: Yes ... 

Mark Corbett: she there when you 

Lois Youngen: were there? Before her. No, she was before I arrived, but I did know her name and I did hear her name. I didn't know she was from Florida at the time. I can't tell you too much about her. I thought at one time that she, she was married, I'm not sure, maybe not, to a serviceman.

I know she was a very little girl, you know, petite, dark hair. I've seen pictures of her in, in, uh, team, on a, you know, team pictures of the South Bend team. I think she played shortstop or second base. She was an infielder Yeah, I, [00:44:00] I remember 

Mark Corbett: seeing 

Lois Youngen: shortstop- I just didn't know any more about her ... 

Mark Corbett: yeah. No, that's fine.

I was just curious, 'cause I knew she'd been with the South Bend Blue Sox. I couldn't remember which year she was with them. But it goes to thinking also the, the breadth and width of where everybody came from. I mean, Sue, you're from Massachusetts, and you've got somebody all the way down here from Florida as well.

Uh, and b- yourself, Lois, you're from Ohio. So- 

Lois Youngen: Yes, we, we had Canadians, a lot of Canadians, and we had some Cubans. How about that? 

Mark Corbett: Now, tell me if I'm wrong, but I understand on the, like if Cuba, not only did you have, uh, teams that were interracial, but you had men and women playing together on those teams as well.

So it wasn't just, you know, one where n- it wasn't women just playing baseball by themselves in Cuba, they were also playing with the men. 

Sue Zipay: I don't 

Lois Youngen: know. I know nothing about that- Okay ... but if you look at the history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and say that fast 20 times- ... Wrigley was stupid.

[00:45:00] Hup. Anyway, uh, in 1948 for spring training, either '47 or '48, the league, every player, every team was, took the train to Florida, and then they were flown over to Cuba. 

Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. 

Sue Zipay: For spring training. 

Lois Youngen: All of them. And they had spring training there. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Lois Youngen: At, at the same time, at least it's p- ha, it's probably grown into a myth, but anyway, the Dodgers were there at the same time.

Well, the Cubans evidently had never seen blonde women baseball players, because I guess the 20,000 people that normally would've seen the Dodgers play all decided the women were much more interesting. So the Dodgers got left in the dust. Them bums got to, had to fend for themselves. I love it. And, um, I talked to a couple of the gals that, they're not with us anymore, but they said, [00:46:00] uh, if you weren't careful, you got pinched four or five times every day.

Sue Zipay: Mm. 

Lois Youngen: So the Cubans were pretty, I guess, um, aggressive to say the least. And I know the gal that pitched the perfect game, Jean Fout, does not like fish, and she was there, and she said she lost I don't know how many pounds because all they had to eat was fish or- Oh ... that was the majority of the meat that they had.

So, but they were very popular, and that's the connection then to get some of the women, the young women from Cuba back to play in our league. And there were four or five or six of them over the, from '48 to '54. I played with one, Isabelle Alvarez, who was a left-handed pitcher. 

Sue Zipay: Yeah, it's all pitches. I think I played with Mickey Perez- Yes

who was, whose dad had a tire that he hung up in the tree in the backyard, and he used to make her throw through the, through the tire just to- 

Lois Youngen: Right ... 

Sue Zipay: well, [00:47:00] she never could throw hard, but she, she could have control like you wouldn't believe. Little bitty thing. And somebody told me that she got killed in the Bay of Pigs, but then I found out later that wasn't true.

Because, Lois, I don't know if you know this, it's only like three or four years ago, she was over in Miami and, and she died over there, and I never knew that. 

Lois Youngen: I, all I know, the, the, another pitcher we had, um, lived in Florida by, got married and, and lived in, uh, the Miami area. Mm-hmm. Um, but we only had her address and a phone number and so on, so she never came to a reunion.

We never got to, you know, reacquainted, so to speak, with her. 

Sue Zipay: Okay. Well, one question I, I wanna ask you. You mentioned a bat girl that was living in Florida, and I found out she lived up at The Villages. I was telling Mark this, but I cannot remember what her name was. She was the daughter of one of the coaches or something.

Can you- 

Lois Youngen: Oh, uh, Jimmy Fox's daughter was- Yeah ... the bat [00:48:00] girl for the Fort Wayne team that summer that sh- that he, he was our manager. But- 

Sue Zipay: And I understand she lives up at The Villages, Mark. Oh, 

Mark Corbett: wow. That's what I heard. We gotta reach out to those folks. I know th- I know there's some other retired Major League Baseball players up there, too.

I think that's where a lot of them go. Wow. I wanna remind everybody, you're listening to BaseballBiz On Deck, and we're talking with Lois Youngin and Sue Zipay from the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, getting a little bit of the history of what's going on with the game and insight that I never had before.

So, I, I wanna thank you ladies. W- well, what, I certainly have a few more questions for you, but wanna let, remind people, you know, all that you've brought to sports. And that's something t- t- to, uh, one more thing I wanna make sure with Lois we talk about is being part of that battery, being that catcher and pitcher, and Gene Fout was the person that, one of the pitchers you, you had.

What was the communication with you guys like? How was it either calling the signs? Did you have a, a, just a good synergy, or was it something you had to really work at? [00:49:00] 

Lois Youngen: Well, uh, uh, Jean was, as far as I'm concerned, the GOAT Um, the overhand pitchers in our league, and from the n- mid-1940s on, she pitched her perfect game in the end of the 1943 season at Kalamazoo, and it was, I think, September 3rd, and we won that game four to zero.

I had been traded to South Bend in 1953. Yes, I said traded, so that- ... what happened, and so I had had the opportunity to catch her more than once. And so when we got to the end of the season, and we got to Kalamazoo, I had a pretty good idea of what, what she could throw and where she could throw it and, uh, at what speeds.

So, you know, in those days things were pretty simple. One was a fastball, two was a curve, three was a change, [00:50:00] and a fist was a pitch out. How about that? So she could put her f- first of all, I would like to have known how fast she really was, because we had no way of knowing. Right. There were no guns, you know, speed guns or whatever.

Um, I did ask her once when she was retired and we were at a reunion how fast she thought sh- you know, "How fast are- did you- do you think you were in your heyday?" And she said she didn't know, but she thought between 85 and 90, but she wasn't sure if she could hit 90. Now remember, until 1954 our pitching distance was 57, between 56 and 57.

It wasn't 60. We were three, three feet short. Um, and we were using a 10-inch baseball, not a nine-inch. But it was being thrown overhand, which means you could make it do what you [00:51:00] wanted it to do if you were good at doing that kind of thing. Right. So, um, I'd say she had the f- she was the fastest in our league, and secondly, she could put the ball anywhere, her fastball, anywhere she wanted it.

So she had really good control most of the time, and she could throw a curveball, depending on the night, you know we're not always great every time out, it would, uh, how did somebody explain it? Dropped off like a country road. 

Sue Zipay: Mm-hmm. 

Lois Youngen: So, uh, and obviously we used the change-up probably not as much as we should have.

But her fastball was so good, uh, she could put it where she wanted, as I said, and then every third or fourth pitch we could throw in a curveball depending on how good it was that particular evening. Obviously it was good when we pitched, when she pitched her perfect game. So she had eight put-outs that day.

Eight [00:52:00] strikeouts 

Mark Corbett: Gotcha, gotcha. Hey, Sue, I wanna ask you too, when you were playing, what, who, what is... When you were playing, who was the best pitcher on... Excuse me, let me rephrase it. Batting action, who's the best batter you saw in the league? 

Sue Zipay: Oh, gosh. I, I used to think it was the Weavers, right? Right, Lois?

Lois Youngen: Yes. Joe Weaver probably. 

Sue Zipay: They could hit it over the count- over a country fence. They were so big and strong. They were, yeah. 

Mark Corbett: So was it two sisters? 

Lois Youngen: Yes. There, Jean and, and, uh, Joe, Joanne, called Joe Weaver, and Jean, and then her other sister was Betty Foss. Oh. There were three of them, and they were, they were all- Well, the t- two of the sisters were over six feet, so they had nice long levers-

which means that what's happening at [00:53:00] the end when you make contact is a little faster than some of we short folks like Sue and I. I'm 5'3". I was, I think I'm 5 and- 5'1" now I think. But I, I was all of 5'3", maybe a little more than that. I don't know. But Sue's about my size, and we're, we're pretty much weighed the same, I think, what, 115 maybe when we were playing?

Sue Zipay: That's about, well, I was about 120. Yeah. 

Lois Youngen: Yeah. Gi- give or... I'll take 120. That's okay. 

Sue Zipay: I had a lot of muscle then. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Well, you know, you're, you're enjoying this league. You have all these great people around you, you got the community, but then one day the word comes down there's not gonna be a league anymore.

How, how was that delivered, and how, how did people deal with it? 

Sue Zipay: Oh, God, you really wanna know? 

Lois Youngen: I don't, I don't remember how it was- If you- Well, we had, we'd heard rumors all year in 1954. We, uh, I had anyway. I was [00:54:00] back with Fort Wayne then. I don't know how I got back to Fort Wayne, to be honest with you. In '54, I started with Fort Wayne, and my manager said, "I'm gonna make an outfielder out of you because you're this, this, and this, and we have a catcher."

So I played left field a lot, uh, 1954. I don't know how I got back to Fort Wayne, uh, but I did, and there were rumors that people, you know, whisper campaign, I guess, I don't know, that, uh, there wouldn't be possibly a league the following year. But I don't know how. I don't think they ever told us face to face.

I think it's something that just sort of happened, and it hit the newspapers probably. 

Sue Zipay: Ah. I, we had, I, I got notified at home after we went home, and I had no inkling that that was gonna happen because being a rookie, I didn't hear some of the, the local gossip in Rockford as to what was happening. But, uh, it was really sad because as I said, two years, [00:55:00] my first year was a learning experience getting my feet wet, um, and my second year I started to feel good and, you know, I could hit the ball a country mile, but when I'd get up to bat I was so damn nervous I, I- It was, y- y- because y- women never had that experience.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Sue Zipay: We never had s- fans like the boys will have the football fans there, and, uh, you, they get used to it. And, uh, I, I just, uh, it took me a while. But anyhow, it was very sad. I think every one of us have said the same thing. It was one of the saddest days of our lives because at that age and playing the baseball, the game we loved, and then to have them say, "It's no more," and, and it was like, what do I do?

So of course most of us got, most of us just got married, and I married the groundskeep- the groundskeeper from Rockford Bier Stadium. Oh, my. Who we had been, we had been dating for a year, and he didn't wanna lose me, and yeah, you know, he went to Pensacola for pre-flight and went, and then went in the service, and as soon as he got his wings, we got married and, and started a family, so that was it.

Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: That's [00:56:00] sweet. But it's ... I've, I've heard so many stories, though, abo- above and beyond being the athletes that you were, that, you know, many of you have gone ... I hear whether somebody would be a professional tennis player or a bowler- Tennis ... or- 

Lois Youngen: Yes, that happened. A lot of peo- a lot of the gals went on, a lot of them went on to play other sports, maybe not professionally, but they certainly got involved.

Jean Fout, for example, was a, a, a- Bowler ... bowler. Became a very, very outstanding bowler. 

Sue Zipay: You do know that my second sport was tennis, Mark. I don't know if you know this. And I was playing in 40 and over at that age that I was playing. I was 50, but I was playing 40 and over. And I got ranked up in New England in doubles, and then moved to Florida and bought a small tennis club down here, which I still own.

I can see it looking out my window. I live right next door to it. My son runs it now. But I got up to a pretty high level with tennis. Was playing tournaments down here until they made the [00:57:00] mo- A League of Their Own movie in which I- Was told to hit a, a line drive over second and run to second by Penny Marshall, and I did that for one whole day over and over, and I hadn't played baseball for 40 years.

I'd been playing tennis, and that hap- happened to, uh, wreck my left knee. When I came back, had an operation, and then- Ooh ... that was the end of my tennis career. 

Mark Corbett: Dang. Dang. You know, 

Sue Zipay: bla- League, League of Their Own on that one. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Wow. My gosh. But you know, the thing of it was, looking at, at all this came to conclusion that there's really wasn't an evolution of, of seeing public teams playing women's baseball, you know?

The, the next thing I saw as far as women's baseball, it was long before that movie came out, League of Their Own, was Bad News Bears, and oh, this is just- ... you know, monumental. This, this, this has never happened before. Is it Jodie Foster or somebody, you know? Yeah. And she's on there with Walter Matthau, "We g- we've got a girl on the team."

But- ... a- as you're talking, I mean, the women have been playing [00:58:00] baseball everywhere else. Canada, they've been playing it for a long time. Cuba, they're setting up, they were playing it in the- Japan 

Sue Zipay: is number one right now. 

Mark Corbett: J- there you go. Yeah. And it's, so now I know, I'm looking right now, Sue, the, you're, you're making, taking special efforts and to make sure that is reinvigorated here in the United States.

Could you tell us a little bit about that? 

Sue Zipay: Uh, that's funny. Uh, we had a meeting the other day, and I, I got in touch with a gal who's been in baseball for a long time. She had a brain concussion, and she spent many years trying to overcome it. Don't know if you know, Tina Nichols her name is. And, uh, she, it was interesting, she brought a little flag, homemade flag that she made, and it had listed, oh, I would say maybe 10 of the top women's baseball teams in the world.

Yeah. And, uh, and here at the top is, uh, Japan, and then I can't remember the other two, and, and USA is number four. And I said, "You know, we should, we should make this into a banner for, uh, my tournament in, uh, November," and just put a little arrow there saying, "Okay, this is where we wanna [00:59:00] be, up at the top.

Number one, where Japan is." Well, Japan, you know, they're funded by the government. They play all year round. They have a professional league, so the women are playing and practicing. Our women play when they can. On a weekend, they get together once in a while. They're gonna come down here and play in this tournament, and most of them hardly ever play with each other.

They know each other. I mean, it's, it, you can call it a ragtag group of women ballplayers, but they're all so good. You know, they just mesh right in there, so it, it works. So that's my thing is I, I think I've mentioned before that I, one of the things that got me going, one of our former players who's since passed away, at a players meeting had said to me about our board of directors, "They don't do anything, Sue."

And, and I was on the board way back, back when it was, uh, first put together in the '80s. I forget when you... I don't remember dates like Lois does, but- And, and I thought to myself, "All these years I've been into tennis," and, and then I jumped back into the scene, [01:00:00] the, the All-Americans because I couldn't play tennis anymore.

And I said, "She's right." I, you know, I don't know what happened, but from all these years, from 1954 to t- 2023, there's no baseball? That's absurd. We were the first team of professional women in the country. Okay, then the movie came out, and we sparked all the women to become athletes, and they have, and they all have pro leagues, and we have nothing.

So why is that? Because nobody ever took the time to get out and do what needed to be done, which I'm doing, you know. To show the public these women can play, to present a pro- program, and, uh, on and on it goes. I could spend s- a lot of time here going into this, but, you 

Mark Corbett: know. Well, the, the good news is, is, you know, you're s- putting a spark plug back into this.

I mean, the whole thing that you've got going with this tournament coming up in Sarasota, and I wonder by the listeners, mark this down, I'll put it at the end of the notes, too. It's coming up in November. Let's see, the 17th, 18th, and 19th? 

Sue Zipay: I, yes. By [01:01:00] the way, there was a, a, a big, nice article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune today by Doug Fernandes.

Um, it was nice. He sent me the link, and I kind of sent it out to everybody I could think of. And, and that's the thing, we get, we need to get the word out because last year we had an excellent tournament. Everybody said it was just great, but there were no people in the stands. So this year the whole thing is, how do we get people in the stands?

Well, luckily some guy called me up, and his name was Mark Corbett. And I said, "Oh God, thank you, God, you sent me somebody that can help us." 

Mark Corbett: Well, I tell you what, it, it's a pleasure and, to work with you guys and to try to make something like this happen and, and make it bigger and better because to me, to, to give any person, and I've, I've told you before, Sue, with our, you know, Karen and our, our two young girls, and I think them have chances to do different things.

And baseball, baseball has been denied. I mean, I know several young women who've come up playing softball and never really even had the opportunity to [01:02:00] think about baseball. Right. So I, I think this is a great opportunity with the tournament, and I don't have the full list in front of me of all the players that you have coming, but we're talking about some superior players.

This, you, you used the word ragtag, but I'm thinking, "Uh-uh." This- No, 

Lois Youngen: these are USA team members, USA World Cup team members. That's it. I mean- 

Sue Zipay: Yeah, they're the na- USA national team ... that's great ... uh, and we have, we have more than half of the national team coming to play And, uh, and plus the ones we had last year, which were probably just as good, but, you know, maybe they have full-time jobs instead 

Mark Corbett: People need to stand up and take notice and because, and attend this tournament because you're not gonna get to see these people all the time.

And, you know, the, I think the great hope is, Sue, and you correct me if I'm wrong, is to build enough interest and excitement that there will be a league o- a league of professional, uh, women baseball players. 

Sue Zipay: That's exactly, that's, that's exactly what I'm trying to do, is I want the public to see how well these women play, and then somebody is gonna come along that has, uh, deep pockets and some [01:03:00] money and says, "This can be a viable business, and it can be profitable."

Because my whole vision is not just to have this tournament. My whole vision is to have a, a pro league right here in these stadiums. We've got the, the Okay, the Orioles up here in Sarasota and the Pirates, and then they got the, um, Braves over here in Ni- North Port, half hour away. Then we got the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte, and the Red Sox down here in, in Fort Myers.

We can have four teams. That's what our league started with, four professional teams like the ones I've, I've got listed with their new uniforms that say Rockford and South Bend and the Comets and the Bells. And, and we can do it right here in the wintertime, September, October, November, and December, Mark.

Okay? What's going on in those stadiums? They're looking for revenue during that time. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Sue Zipay: We've got the snowbirds down here. We've got grandpas that wanna have their grandkids come down for Christmas and take them to a women's pro league game, and it won't cost that much. We can keep the price down, make it reasonable, instead of spending [01:04:00] $500 to take your family to a Major League Baseball game.

I mean, it, it all makes sense. And- Oh, yeah ... everybody I've talked to has said, "That's a great idea. Why don't we have women's baseball?" That's the comment that comes back to me, so it's there. 

Lois Youngen: And there are... May I interject? Mm-hmm. And there are women out there that do play baseball. 

Sue Zipay: Yes. It's, 

Lois Youngen: it's not as if we don't have some players floating around this country.

Sue Zipay: And it's- And the young ones that are- Right ... coming up are even... They're so good, the young ones, you know? They've been playing with the Little League. And that's the other thing, the, the little girls that are playing and sitting in the bench with all the boys, they don't like that. When I ran a camp for girls over here at the Braves, uh, stadium, and when the girls came in and they looked out on the field and they said, "Oh my God, it's all girls," they were amazed.

They were thrilled. They made friends. All of a sudden there was camaraderie. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Sue Zipay: And they, they don't have that in the dugout with the boys, and that's wrong. Yeah. The whole thing is not right. 

Mark Corbett: Well, I think a lot of people maybe will get the right idea if they're smart enough, come down [01:05:00] here and watch some of the games.

Yeah, we can 

Sue Zipay: get them in their seat. 

Mark Corbett: That's right. 

Sue Zipay: Get them in the seat. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: And wow. Well, ladies, I can't thank you all enough for being here today on Baseball Biz On Deck. We've been talking with Sue Zipay and Lois Juggan. Uh, both you ladies are fantastic. I appreciate you sharing the, the history of the game that you've enjoyed, and looking forward to do some rejuvenation of what's happening with baseball and women for the future as well.

So thank you very much, and look forward to talking both, both of y'all again real soon. 

Sue Zipay: Thank you, Mark. Thank you very much for having us. 

Lois Youngen: You've been listening to a very special show of Baseball 

Mark Corbett: Biz On Deck, with two of the players from the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, Sue Zipay and Lois Juggan.

I hope you enjoyed their stories as much as I did, and take the time to visit them in Sarasota for the All American Women's Professional Baseball Tournament. Again, that is November 17th through 19th in [01:06:00] Sarasota, Florida. Hope to see you there. 

Sue Zipay: Thanks again for joining us here on BaseballBiz On Deck, and we look forward to talking with you guys again real soon.

Special thanks to X Take RUX for the music Rocking Forward

Mark Corbett: Again, I wanna thank, uh, Lois Young and then the late Sue Zipay for that wonderful interview and sharing delightful moments from their time with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. So I'm just gonna continue to tell you guys, go out, enjoy baseball, find it wherever you can, whether it's a high school, whether it's collegiate, professional, semi-pro, or just going ahead and putting a game together with a few friends.

Enjoy the game. So until next week when Mat returns, look forward to seeing you guys again real soon