All-American Girls Professional Baseball League plate, closer even than in regulation softball and much closer than the baseball distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. Pitchers threw underhand windmill, like in softball, and the distance between bases was 65 feet, five feet longer than in softball but 25 feet shorter than in baseball. Major similarities between the AAGPBL and baseball included nine player teams and the use of a pitcher's mound (softball pitchers throw from flat ground). By 1948 the ball had shrunk to 10 3/8 inches, overhand pitching was allowed, and the mound was moved back to 50 feet. Over the history of the league,
Little League Baseball Series and defeats a league from St. Petersburg, Florida. The first corporate sponsor, U.S. Rubber, is announced, who donate Pro-Keds shoes to teams at the Little League World Series. 1949: Little League is featured in the "Saturday Evening Post" and on newsreels. Carl Stotz gets hundreds of requests for information on how to form leagues at the local level from all over the United States. Little League incorporates in New York. 1950 or 1951 (sources contradict) Kathryn 'Kay' Johnston -Massar became the first girl to play Little League baseball. Her mother cut her braids and she dressed like a boy.