Women's Pro Baseball League Has Its First Draft
Buckle Up, Womens Pro Baseball is Close to Being Real!
Baseball is my jam, sure, but it does feel like the bigger sports populace is coming (back) around to the diamond. Whether it’s MLB’s increasing attendance or the start of the first full season of Baseball United, there’s stuff going on for everybody.
The nascent Women’s Pro Baseball League (not to be confused with the already-debuted AUSL - Athletes Unlimited Softball League) had its first draft this week, putting itself in position to start its first full season. Though four teams “hail” from New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, the first season will be held in the cosmopolitan metropolis of Springfield, Illinois. Though the start will be small, the draft news has been huge.
The above video shows Mo’ne Davis, a superstar who had the world in a chokehold during her 2014 World Series run. And while everyone predicted that Davis would be playing pro ball at the time, she FINALLY has the opportunity to do so, being selected 10th in the first round of the draft.
Having a legit Women’s Pro Baseball League is really awesome, but the “hub method” of having an entire league play out of one city has had mixed results. Everyone loved the “club vibes” when Unrivaled set up shop in Miami. But remember when the 2022 USFL Season played all of its games in Birmingham, Alabama?
I do think it’s the right time for WPBL’s launch. Firstly, more and more sports packages are getting splintered on more streaming networks, and those networks are looking for supplemental content to fill their schedules. Secondly, if expansion is done right, it could be a strategic way to get more cities and communities in love with the sport. (Of course, this means money, but what I really mean is getting kids to find the sport cool again). And thirdly, as the PWHL (hockey league) has proven, women’s sports are simply cool:
It’s great too because women’s professional baseball has had a long and storied history in North America, but there are literally generations alive today that have no idea. I would say younger generations have no idea about anything, but I don’t even have a lawn for you all to get off of. And we’re living in the era of Kelsie Whitmore, who has all the tools to be the next crossover, household name star.
No relation to Stargirl, however.
But you can tell she’s a big deal because everyone in that above video is TRYING HARD to look cool and informed by asking rather obtuse questions. It’s a DREAM of mine to be on the other end of an interview like that. Some day.. Some day. Here’s the draft in full:
I’ll wait on logo reveals, but I’m leaning on supporting my hometown New York squad.