Womens Baseball Heritage Trail with Ryan Woodward of IWBC

BaseballBiz On Deck

Ryan Woodward - Project Coordinator with The International Women's Baseball Center (IWBC)

IWBC sharing worldwide history of women in baseball

Past Events include Baseball For All Nationals tournament, SABR, USA Women’s National Team visits, Baseball Clinics, Guest speakers on women in baseball

Womens Baseball Heritage Trail map began in 2017

Planning a vacation trip use the map to locate interesting stops that spotlight women in baseball

Along the trail - discover museums roadside markers, historic ballparks, murals, libraries, gravesites, archives & more at https://www.wbht.org/

Ryan’s love of the preservation of history led him to create the Women In Baseball Week program to celebrate the stories of women in the game. - https://womeninbaseballweek.org/

Conversations with Dr. Leslie Heaphy on building lists on the historic locations sparked the beginning of the Trail to develop wbht.org

Florida northbound trip would find Mary Wisham Park, Rachel Robinson marker, Archives in Tallahassee

A League of Their Own, Movie & TV Series, #ALOTO - inspirations for Ryan. The movie was filmed near his home in Kentucky & Southern Indiana

In the early 90’s there were only a few books covering women in baseball gave Ryan the fire to learn & develop more resources for all to enjoy

Evolving technology & the internet gave Ryan the tools to begin building the Trails website. https://wbht.org/

Historic locations of trail include grave markers of past players as well as online archives are listed on the Trail

7 or 8 Trail sites in Kentucky

Toni Stone, an American Treasure & Hero has multiple listings on the trail

Nellie Twardzik Thompson – first girl to play varsity baseball in 1935 – ballpark named after her in Massachusetts

Twardzik inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Only 6% of monuments & statues are of women in the US

Recent statues erected for Toni Stoni, Mo'ne Davis, Mamie (Peanut) Johnson, Gertrude Dunn, celebrate women in baseball

See It, Be It, - See Her, Be Her - Mo'ne Davis – strength of character

Early inspiration in Kentucky was AAGPBL, Anna May Hutchison

Anna played from 44 through 49, mostly with Racine Belles. Hutchinson was an All-Star player in AAGPBL

As AAGPBL transitioned from underhand pitching to overhand pitching - Hutchinson developed unique side-armed pitching

Ryan worked to have Anna May Hutchinson inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame

Lois Youngens & Sue Zipay to of the AAGPBL veterans have places on the Trail

Shirley Burkovich, nicknamed “Hustle” - “stop talking about it, do it”

Ryan Burkovich , Shirley & Maybelle Blair & #ALOTO TV filming

The Shirley Burkovich “Hustle” awarded to USAWNT Baseball catcher, Beth Greenwood

Isla Borders, “Making My Pitch” broad reach and appeal

Barbara Gregorich's "Women at Play" has become a good friend

Tanith Harley - a great contributor in finding new places & information

Women in Baseball Graphic Novels

Martha Ackmann’s book on Toni Stone, "Curveball," is both upsetting & inspiring of a black woman playing baseball in the South

Kat Willaims new book on Maybelle Blair, All the Way: The Life of Baseball Trailblazer Maybelle Blair - https://bit.ly/4kUlGeC

Louisville SABR conference in August

Invitation to visit Rockford Illinois to discover home of Beyer Stadium, IWBC, Rockford Peaches

Ryan Woodward's Womens Baseball Heritage Trail at wbht.org

You can find Mark on Blue Sky at https://bsky.app/profile/baseballbizondeck.bsky.social
Special thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music “Rocking Forward