Episode 145: A New League of Their Own

Pass the crackerjacks! It's the inaugural season of the Women’s Pro Baseball League. This is the first women’s professional league in the US since the women of the All-American Girls Baseball League got their chance on the field while the men were off fighting in World War II. In this episode, we take in a WPBL game and hear from league Commissioner Justine Siegal about her Jewish upbringing, her love of baseball, and why she sees women’s and girls’ participation in the sport as a social justice issue. Play ball!

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Released September 15, 2026
  • New York Heights pitcher, Aug 2026

    New York Heights starting pitcher Emi Saiki at the opening day game, August 1, 2026. Courtesy of the Women's Pro Baseball League. 

  • New York Heights players on WPBL Opening Day, August 2026

    New York Heights players on the opening day of the Women's Pro Baseball League's inaugural season in Springfield, IL, August 1, 2026. Courtesy of the WPBL. 

  • NY Heights player on WPBL Opening Day

    Opening day of the Women's Pro Baseball League's inaugural season, New York Heights vs LA Queens, August 1, 2026. Courtesy of the WPBL. 

  • LA Queens players at WPBL Opening Day Game, August 2026

    Players for the Los Angeles Queens at the Women's Pro Baseball League opening day game in Springfield, IL on August 1, 2026.

  • Jen Richler at WPBL game, August 2026

    Jen Richler at a Boston Hunters vs. New York Heights game in Springfield, IL, August 16 2026. Courtesy of Jen Richler. 

  • Justine Siegal

    Women's Pro Baseball League Commissioner Justine Siegal. Credit: WPBL. 

  • 'She's On First' Springfield Beer Co. Can
  • Rows of young women in baseball uniforms with hands on hips

    Members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League do calisthenics in Opa-Locka Florida, 1948. Credit: State Archives of Florida (via Wikimedia Commons). 

  • Maybelle, WPBL Mascot

    WPBL mascot Maybelle, modelled after 99-year-old baseball pioneer and former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher Maybelle Blair. 

  • Thelma Eisen swinging a bat, wearing a skirted baseball uniform and a hat reading "GR"

    1945 photograph of baseball player Thelma Eisen, from the American Jewish Historical Society Photography Collection.

  • New York Heights pitcher, Aug 2026
  • New York Heights players on WPBL Opening Day, August 2026
  • NY Heights player on WPBL Opening Day
  • LA Queens players at WPBL Opening Day Game, August 2026
  • Jen Richler at WPBL game, August 2026
  • Justine Siegal
  • 'She's On First' Springfield Beer Co. Can
  • Rows of young women in baseball uniforms with hands on hips
  • Maybelle, WPBL Mascot
  • Thelma Eisen swinging a bat, wearing a skirted baseball uniform and a hat reading "GR"

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Episode 145: A New League of Their Own." (Viewed on October 9, 2026) <https://jwa.org/podcasts/canwetalk/new-league-their-own>.