“It’s the greatest thing that ever happened” – WooSox Host Inaugural Women’s Baseball Festival at Polar Park

Jill Chelton sat down on the warning track just outside the home dugout prior to a Saturday afternoon baseball game at Polar Park.

It was all so familiar––34 days had passed since the WooSox set foot on their home diamond for the final time in 2024. Chelton, who is currently earning her master’s degree in Sports Leadership at Northeastern University, had just finished her first season as a WooSox clubhouse attendant. She is the first female to hold the position for the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate.

Since classes began, Chelton did not anticipate returning to Polar Park this year to fill her positional duties. Yet, here she was, back on the field for a Saturday afternoon baseball game in October.

But she wasn't watching the WooSox.

Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees Women’s Fantasy Campers were joined by the Pawtucket Slaterettes––America’s oldest women’s baseball league––in the inaugural Women’s Baseball Festival at Polar Park on October 19. Dubbed as “Come One, Come All, If You Want to Play Ball,” the event featured 30 female baseball players in a seven-inning exhibition of America’s pastime.

Maybelle Blair, who inspired Madonna’s “All the Way” Mae Mordabito in the classic baseball film A League of Their Own, was in attendance for the game. At 97 years young, Blair fired a strike for the game’s Ceremonial First Pitch.

Born in Inglewood, California in 1927, Blair has always lived and breathed baseball. Growing up, she played the game with her brothers and girls from local schools before catching the eye of a scout with the Chicago Cardinals softball team. Not too long after, she earned a contract with the Peoria Redwings of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) for the 1948 season.

Though Blair only played one year in AAGPBL, her love for baseball remained. Throughout her life, she has been a ferocious proponent of women’s baseball and has supported young girls on their path towards a career in the sport she loves.

Blair is also a close friend of Justine Siegal, the first woman to coach professional baseball. Among her many accomplishments, Siegal is the founder of Baseball for All, a nonprofit organization that provides young women with the opportunity to play, coach, and lead baseball activities through annual tournaments and clinics. Blair is a frequent contributor and guest at Baseball for All events.

“What we want to do is have a league of our own again,” Blair said. “...[Girls] are playing little league, they’re having fantasy camps, they’re playing all over. Baseball for All just had 600 girls down in Kentucky playing ball––all ages. It was the most wonderful thing.

“Next year, Baseball for All will have [their Nationals tournament] in Nevada and we’re expecting maybe 700 girls to show up to be able to play. Girls love baseball as well as the men, so why can’t we have a chance to play the game we love?”

The inaugural Women’s Baseball Festival provided that opportunity for Red Sox and Yankees Fantasy Campers and the Pawtucket Slaterettes. Women of all ages and backgrounds came out to play ball on a pleasantly warm autumn day––a perfect day for baseball.

During the game, the women ballplayers racked up plenty of hits, made impressive plays in the field, and enjoyed some friendly banter with their coaches: WooSox Hall of Famer and hitting coach Rich Gedman and World Series champions Lenny DiNardo and Manny Delcarmen.

Chelton and Blair took in the scenes sitting next to one another just outside the home dugout. A former Division II softball player at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Chelton tried to learn as much as she could from Blair, who she sees as an inspiration for girls like her.

“I came into the day not knowing what to expect here, and I ended up sitting with her for the entire game,” Chelton said. “She is such an inspiration.”

For all seven innings, the two marveled at the women on the field and discussed a future where they can have a league of their own, once again.

“We talked a lot about how people on the field are doctors, lawyers, and engineers, and they come together for their love of baseball––paving the way for future women in sports who want to play baseball,” Chelton said.

Not only are Red Sox and Yankees Fantasy Camps, the Slaterettes, and Baseball for All providing the opportunity for women to play baseball, but women are making an impact in MLB front offices and professional coaching staffs.

In 2015, Siegal became the first woman to coach for an MLB team as an Oakland Athletics assistant in the Instructional League. In 2019, Rachel Balkovec and Rachel Folden were hired by the Yankees and Chicago White Sox, respectively, on minor league affiliate coaching staffs. Three years later, Balkovec was named the first female manager in minor league baseball, taking the reins of the Yankees’ Single-A affiliate, the Tampa Tarpons.

In 2020, Alyssa Nakken cracked the San Francisco Giants Major League coaching staff, becoming the first woman to do so. That same year, Kim Ng was named as MLB’s first female general manager, taking the position for the Miami Marlins. In March of 2024, Brooke Cooper earned the WooSox’ general manager title, becoming the first in the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate’s history.

“As someone who played softball growing up and never thought of having a career in it...to seeing now how much opportunity there is for young women these days, it’s so incredible,” Chelton said. “All these women are inspirations.”

Blair echoed Chelton, saying, “Finally, the doors have opened up for the girls, like Jill, to be able to get jobs in Major League Baseball. I think it’s the most wonderful thing.”

As women continue to open doors in the baseball industry, the WooSox will provide the opportunity for them to play ball with the Women’s Baseball Festival at Polar Park. Following the inaugural game, WooSox usher Jody Whyte was handed the first “All the Way Mae” Cup, given to the most valuable player of the contest. She finished the game with two hits and four RBIs.

After closing remarks from WooSox President Dr. Charles Steinberg, Blair, and DiNardo’s Kangaroo Court, most of the women stayed late to take batting practice under Polar Park’s lights––clamoring for another opportunity to play ball.

In the words of the remarkable Maybelle Blair: “This is the very beginning.”