In the early 1940s, many women stepped up to the plate to become professional baseball players after most men were drafted to serve in the military in World War II. They became players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Heewone Lim brings us the story of the players on the Racine Belles and specifically their uniform — which was a dress. It was made famous in the 1992 film, “A League of Their Own.” One of the movie’s costumes is a part of the Wisconsin 101 collection, which tells the history of the state through objects.
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In 1943, Philip Wrigley, a gum manufacturer and owner of the Chicago Cubs, came up with an idea. Professional baseball players had to turn their attention to WWII, but that didn’t mean baseball had to go away. So, he formed the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, or the AAGPBL. At the time, women took on roles men traditionally filled during WWII, such as working in factories — or playing baseball.
Wrigley recruited players from across the country, but the first four teams were established in the Midwest. Two were based in Wisconsin: the Kenosha Comets and the Racine Belles.
The Belles were featured in the movie “A League of Their Own.” Although the film came out more than three decades ago, the iconic costumes have stood the test of time. The film’s costume designer Cynthia Flynt said she consulted former players and clothing catalogs from that time period.
“I was in touch with a number of the players themselves because they were — a lot of them — still alive at the time,” said Flynt. “I received the whole uniform, socks, belt, those little undershorts. Really, I just copied it.”
Flynt said the uniforms are pretty true to history, but some Hollywood magic still made its way on screen.
“I saw the colors of the (real) uniforms, and they were actually very intense. The Racine yellow was more like a canary yellow. They were all very saturated colors,” said Flynt. “My director of photography said, ‘We can’t do that. We have to mute them down a bit. We have to take them down because there’s so much color that it’s going to be sort of too much.’”
Cynthia Flynt is a costume designer who created the uniforms used in the movie, “A League of Their Own.” (Courtesy of Cynthia Flynt)
The uniforms worn by the female ballplayers, in the movie and in real life, consisted of a belted, short-sleeved tunic dress with a flared skirt. Flynt said the lack of protection from the skirts led to injuries.
“I guess the thing that was always so striking was that they had to wear these skirts and the injuries that they got from sliding in … the bruises and the scrapes. I mean, their thighs were a mess,” Flynt said.
Former Racine Belles player Sophie Kurys talked about this in an interview with Grand Valley State University in 2009. She said the red abrasions from sliding into dirt base-running were called “strawberries.”
“I had strawberry upon strawberry. Even today, sometimes in the morning, I get up and this bothers me a little bit, but not bad,” said Kurys. “When it’s sore, it leaks, but our chaperone was pretty sharp. She made a donut affair and put it across the strawberry so it wouldn’t leak on my clothes because if it did it would stick to you and you would have to pull that off and you’d be in agony.”
Details of patches from Racine Belles uniform costume used in the 1992 film “A League of Their Own.” (Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society)
Rules said skirts were to be worn no more than 6 inches above the knee, but the regulation was often ignored so players could run and field. Former Racine Belles player Jane Jacobs Badini, who talked with Grand Valley State University in 2010, said players pinned back their uniforms out of the way.
“They (the skirts) were so full here they got in out way as we pitched, so it shows the uniform where we had to pin it down. So when we came through with the ball, we weren’t in touch with the material,” said Badini.
The players also attended a charm school to ensure that they displayed “ladylike” behavior. Baldini said they had to follow strict rules, such as wearing lipstick and skirts at all times They could never smoke, drink or swear in public. They also had “to dress, act, and carry themselves as benefits the feminine sex.”
Front cover of the 1947 Racine Belles baseball team year book featuring a drawing of a woman in catcher’s gear. (Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society)
“We had to walk a certain way. You couldn’t be tomboyish or anything like that because you had to be a young lady,” said Badini. “I thought it was terrible.”
Kurys said players always had a skirt or a dress on hand in case they needed to go in public.
“When we had a pit stop, the girls — if we had shorts on — we had to put dresses or skirts on because we never could be seen in public in shorts or slacks. Never,” she said.
When taking the characters’ background into consideration for the costume designs, Flynt said the players’ reactions to playing baseball in skirts makes sense.
“I mean, those women were farmers and wore pants and overalls. And I think there was a genuine like, ‘Really? We have to wear dresses? This is insane.’”
The final scene in “A League of Their Own” shows former Rockford Peaches players reuniting at the Baseball Hall of Fame. And it features the real Peaches.
“It was so moving. When they’re singing inside the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was really, really something,” said Cynthia Flynt.
The Racine Belles played for eight seasons in Wisconsin from 1943 until 1950, when they moved to Michigan. Former Racine Belles batboy Mike Corona, who talked with Grand Valley State University in 2010, said the Belles rebranded following the move.
“They only played in Racine until 1950, (that) was the last year they played in Racine. The Belles became the Grand Rapids Belles, but they only played until 1950 and you could see in 1948 and 1947, that they were dying down because [of] the crowds,” he said.
The team relocated to Battle Creek and then to Muskegon, playing three more seasons. The Belles eventually folded in 1953. The rest of the league went out of business in 1954. The AAGPBL was quietly forgotten until the release of “A League of Their Own” 40 years later, which grossed more than $132 million at the box office.
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