- Hall of Famers
- The Members
- Hall of Fame Weekend
- Rules for Election
- Membership Spokesman
- Museum
- Experience
- Exhibits
- Library
- Artifacts
- Awards
- Activities
- Plan Your Visit
- Entering the Hall
- Cooperstown
- Events
- Special Experiences
- Offers
- News & Media
- Headlines
- Features
- Hall Directory
- Connections
- Education
- Public Programs
- School Programs
- Internship Program
Personality News
Suzyn Waldman has spent most of her broadcasting career overcoming obstacles. Now, after more than two decades of work, she is recognized as a leader in her profession.
Since 2005, Waldman has been joined by John Sterling in the New York Yankees’ WCBS-AM radio booth. In her role as a color commentator, she became the first woman to hold a full-time position as a big league broadcaster.
Helene Hathaway Robison Britton grew up in a baseball family. Her father and uncle, Frank and Stanley Robison, owned the Cleveland Spiders and later purchased the St. Louis Brown Stockings – later changing the team’s name to Cardinals.
Upon the death of Stanley Robison in March 1911, Britton inherited a controlling interest in the Cardinals. At a time when American women did not yet have the right to vote in most places, the 32-year-old mother of two became the first woman to own and operate a team in Major League Baseball history.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Making the big leagues is a dream held by millions of young boys on baseball diamonds all over the world.
But lesser-known perhaps, it is also held by little girls.
The latest example is knuckleball pitcher Eri Yoshida, the Japanese pitching
sensation who debuted in pro ball in the United
States for the Golden Baseball League’s
Chico Outlaws. The first female to pitch professionally in two countries,
Yoshida donated her game-worn uniform and game-used bat from her May 29, 2010 debut to the Baseball
Hall of Fame.
Claire Smith has served as a pioneer journalist on two fronts, first as a woman who helped break down the barriers of access to her story subjects, and second as an African-American who continues the struggle for civil rights for all Americans.
Originally hailing from Philadelphia, Smith graduated from Temple University and soon began her writing career with the local newspapers.
Toni Stone's passion for baseball led her to embrace the game through her whole life, while skill and competitiveness made her a pioneer in the Negro leagues. Battling to prove herself to opponents, fans and coaches and teammates, Stone blazed a trail for all women in men's pro baseball.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Nobody’s perfect, right?
Tell that to Chelsea Baker and her knuckleball.
Baker pitched her second perfect game in less than a year on April 9, 2010 at the age of 12 for her Little League team in Plant City, Fla. Baker then donated her jersey from that game to the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is currently on display in the Museum’s Diamond Dreams exhibit.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – In 1988, Julie Croteau filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against her high school for not allowing her to play on the baseball team.
She lost. But Croteau didn’t let the lawsuit stop her from playing the game.
She went on to be the first female to play men’s Division III college baseball at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, played the inaugural season of the Colorado Silver Bullets women’s professional baseball team that existed for four seasons in the 1990s and was the first of two women to play in the professional Hawaiian Winter League in 1994.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – In an era where women were often not allowed even to play baseball, Amanda Clement proved that umpiring the game was not a job exclusive to one gender.
Amanda Clement was baseball’s first female professional umpire. And her contribution to the game is still being felt today.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – “We would rather play ball than eat,” insisted catcher Lavonne “Pepper” Paire. “We put our hearts and souls into the league. We thought it was our job to do our best, because we were the All-American girls. We felt like we were keeping up our country’s morale.”
The history of women playing the game of baseball dates back to at least the 1860s, when Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. fielded a team. Some 80 years later, arguably the first formal women’s professional baseball league, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, first took the field.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Edith Grace Houghton was a baseball prodigy, playing professional baseball from the age of 10 in 1922.
After her playing days were done, she worked as a scout for a major league ballclub, one of the few women to hold that job.
Connect
Hall of Famer Search
This Day in Baseball History
On May 26, 1993, a fly ball by Cleveland’s Carlos Martinez caroms off the head of Texas Rangers outfielder Jose Canseco and bounces into the stands for a home run. The unusual home run helps the Indians defeat the Rangers, 7-6…