Michigan Collector Keeps Women’s Baseball History Alive in New Exhibit

A Michigan collector is helping to keep the legacy of the All-American Professional Girls Baseball League alive.

These are the very real women who inspired the 1992 film A League of Their Own starring Geena Davis and Tom Hanks. Here's how you can catch a glimpse of this rare and historic collection in West Michigan:

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Originally founded by chewing gum magnate Phillip K. Wrigley as a way to keep professional baseball in the public eye while the men were overseas fighting in World War II, the AAGPBL was active from 1943to 1954.

While the quotable Geena Davis and Tom Hanks classic depicted a fictionalized account of the Illinois-based Rockford Peaches there were plenty of AAGPBL teams throughout the Midwest including the Kalamazoo Lassies, the Springfield Sallies, and the Fort Wayne Daisies.

Michigan man and Vietnam veteran Leigh Fitzgerald began collecting AAGPBL artifacts and memorabilia twenty years ago as a way to distract from a devastating cancer diagnosis. Fitzgerald tells MLive,

I had seen the movie ‘A League of Their Own,’ years before...I loved it. I loved baseball and everything to do with it...I decided I would do a tribute to these ladies because of what they did for the history of baseball.

From that moment on Leigh dedicated his time to finding former players throughout the Midwest and capturing their story. What Leigh found was that sadly, many former players and their families felt pressured into donating their items to museums such as the National Baseball Hall of Fame in New York.

Only with the purest of intentions did Leigh Fitzgerald contact former players who shared more than just their experience with Leigh, but their precious keepsakes too. Everything from baseball bats to three-fingered gloves to lineup cards are currently on display at the Vicksburg District Library through May 31, 2025. The collection also features hundreds of hand-written letters from former players.

MLive reports today less than 20 players remain for Fitzgerald what's most important is that their stories don't go with them,

The whole goal all these years has been getting it out for the public to see it.