A League of Their Own

Jimmy Dugan: Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying! THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!

In the new Ballpark Village that now adjoins Busch Stadium, the Saint Louis Cardinals have a nice little museum. While most of the museum is devoted to the history of the Red Birds, many other facets of baseball are also represented. The Saint Louis Browns, the other Saint Louis MLB team is well covered. The Negro League Saint Louis Stars is also covered. Hidden in a drawer is the above tableau dedicated to the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. This league was formed during World War II, after many male baseball players were inducted into the US armed forces. The league continued into the 1950s and was most famously immortalized by the 1992 movie, “A League of Their Own” that starred Tom Hanks as manager Jimmy Dugan. The movie featured the sibling rivalry of two sisters, one played for the Rockford Peaches while the other played for Racine Belles. This drawer tableau nicely captures this aspect of both the movie and the league.

VICTORY SONG

Batter up! Hear that call!
The time has come for one and all
To play ball.

We are the members of the All-American League
We come from cities near and far
We’ve got Canadians, Irishmen and Swedes,
We’re all for one, we’re one for all
We’re all Americans!!

Each girl stands, her head so proudly high,
Her motto ‘Do or Die’
She’s not the one to use or need an alibi.

Our chaperones are not too soft,
They’re not too tough,
Our managers are on the ball.
We’ve got a president who really knows his stuff,
We’re all for one, we’re one for all,
We’re All-Americans!