45. There's No Crying in Baseball, But There Are Lesbians! Queer History of the AAGPBL

An episode Leigh has been dreaming of since the start of the pod
is finally here! In this ep, Leigh is joined by guest host
Frankie de la Cretaz, sports journalist, queer history buff, and
certified Gaylor Swiftie, to discuss the queer history of women’s
baseball & softball, in particular the story of the
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, aka the
inspiration behind A League of Their Own! We discuss all the
extreme “no-homo”ing that was happening in the League’s rules and
regulations, and all the YES HOMO-ing that happened in spite of
it, making the sport into an important site of queer community.
We also introduce you to the wonderful world of AAGBPL’s rival
for women’s baseball at the time, the National Girls’ Baseball
League, and the contrasts between the two leagues.

Thank you to Averie Severs for editing this episode. 


Our guest host for this episode, Frankie de la Cretaz, can be
found online @thefrankiedlc on Twitter and Instagram. You can
check out their Linktree for links to purchase their book, Hail
Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League
and see more of their writing.


Support filmmaker Adam Chu’s efforts to create Their Turn at Bat:
The Story of the National Girls Baseball League, a documentary
film about Chicago’s forgotten women’s baseball league at
www.nationalgirlsbaseballleague.com!


Also, don’t forget to check out our bonus episode discussing A
League of their Own, with co-creator Will Graham!


Outline


0:00 Introduction
5:26 Socio-Historic Context
12:12 The Leagues: AAGPBL
27:42 Why Do We Think They’re Gay?: Queerness and Women’s
Sports
31:48-34:44 Word of the Week: Muscle Moll
34:44 Back to why do we think they’re gay
47:07 The Leagues: NGBL
53:19 Who Were They? Queer ball players of note
1:24:00 -1:24:53 Content Warning: Homophobic violence
1:27:50 Pop Culture Tie In
1:34:15 How Gay Were They?
1:39:50 Closing and Where to Find Us Online


Want to help us continue to make the show? Support us on Patreon
and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special
minisodes, and more! We have a Discord server for everyone to
hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, Pop-Culture
Tie-In movie watches, and some really fun extras coming your way!
You can also get merch in our store! Shirts, hoodies, totes,
mugs, magnets, and other neat things!


If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and
hard-of-hearing fans, please head on over to
www.historyisgaypodcast.com/transcribe to join the team of
volunteers!


Find our full list of sources and bonus content
at www.historyisgaypodcast.com. Find us on Twitter,
Instagram, and Tumblr, and subscribe wherever you get your
podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see
the show!