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Leader of the League
Judy Scarafile's work with the Cape Cod League led her to be recognized in the Hall of Fame's Diamond Dreams exhibit. (Milo Stewart Jr./NBHOF)

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – She's already represented in Cooperstown, but Judy Scarafile's place in baseball history is still being written. As President of the Cape Cod Baseball League since 1991, she's worked with the summer wooden bat collegiate league for more than 40 years.

Owning It
Linda Alvarado is an owner of the Colorado Rockies. (Courtesy Alvarado Construction)

Linda Alvarado had a simple goal: Think big.

This is the philosophy of life which Linda Alvarado learned from her parents. Growing up in Albuquerque, N.M. in a family with five brothers, living in an adobe home with no running water, she applied this ethic vigorously, rising to become the head of a major construction company and the first Hispanic owner of a major league baseball team.

Jane of All Trades

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – When asked by a newspaper reporter in the early 1930s if there was any thing she doesn't play, Babe Didrikson Zaharias replied, "Yeah, dolls."

Among the sports that Zaharias did play were track and field, golf, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, swimming, boxing and diving. She was also good at billiards, cycling, polo, shooting, roller skating, bowling, riding horses and even the harmonica.

"My goal was to be the greatest athlete who ever lived," she said.

Landmark Ruling

By ANNA WADE

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was born in the South Bronx, just a few miles from Yankee Stadium.

And en route to judicial history, Sotomayor had an impact on baseball history.

Sotomayor grew up valuing education, hard work, and family. She excelled in high school, graduating at the top of her class and earning a scholarship to Princeton University. After graduating summa cum laude from Princeton, Sotomayor went to Yale Law School and earned top honors. After law school, Sotomayor became the Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan.

Cookies for Cleveland
Sister Mary Assumpta has demonstrated her passion for the Cleveland Indians for decades. (NBHOF Library)

By JULIE WILSON

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – The role of fans in the game of baseball cannot be overstated.

Fans drive the game with their spirit, dedication and support (both emotional and financial) of their favorite teams and players. While we are so often reminded of the great players and personalities that have shaped the game on the field, in the front office and from the broadcast booth, it is the faithful fans who support their teams through the ups and downs that have established baseball as our nation's pastime.

Girl Babe Ruth
Ball given to Margaret Gisolo by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. The ball is part of the Hall of Fame's collection. (Milo Stewart Jr./NBHOF Library)

By EMILY VOSS

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Margaret Gisolo was an athlete. And in 1928, most athletes wanted to play baseball – no matter what their gender.

Born Oct. 21, 1914, Gisolo grew up in the small mining town of Blanford, Ind., The youngest of six children born to Italian immigrants, she learned to play baseball with her brothers on the sandlot near her father's grocery store.

View from the Pit
Brita Meng Outzen has broken barriers for women in sports photography. (Courtesy Brita Meng Outzen)

By JENNY AMBROSE

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Brita Meng Outzen views the world from a pit.

From the photographers’ box or “pit” at Fenway Park, she watches MLB players through her camera lens, capturing the action in the Boston Red Sox home games every season. She engages in a profession that was “once as about as welcoming to gender diversity as trucking.”

Building a Legacy
Janet Marie Smith's designs have influenced a generation of ballparks. (Courtesy of Boston Red Sox)

By ANNA WADE

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Baseball stadiums are iconic for the fans who call them home. Others who work in baseball spend hours in the front office helping to ensure that the experience of those attending a baseball game is the best it can be for each fan.

Stepping Up
Janet MacFarlane served as director of the Baseball Hall of Fame from 1943-46. (Courtesy of NYSHA)

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – During World War II, many women took jobs previously held by men who left to serve in the war effort. The work of these women, though crucial to keeping the country running, was often erased from memory soon after the war ended.

One such woman was Janet R. MacFarlane, who ran the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum from 1943 to 1946.

An Award for a Star
Helen Dauvray commissioned the first baseball championship cup. (NBHOF Library)

By FREDDY BEROWSKI

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Referred to as "Baseball's Lost Chalice" by Major League Baseball's Official historian John Thorn, the Dauvray Cup was the precursor to the modern World Series.

The woman behind that Cup made her fortune on the stage, but her baseball legacy remains intact thanks to one of the game's earliest stars and an award that was ahead of its time.

Commissioned by 19th century stage star Helen Dauvray in 1887, the Dauvray Cup has more in common with the National Hockey Leagues' Stanley Cup than with modern World Series trophy.

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