All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rules of play All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rules of play The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a circuit that began to operate in 1943. Since the only organized ball for women in the United States was softball, the league officials created a hybrid game which included features of both fast-pitch softball and baseball. Compared to softball, the crucial differences were that nine (not ten) players were used, and runners could lead off, slide and steal bases. In its twelve years of history the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League evolved through many stages. These differences varied from the beginning of the league,
Timeline of women's sports in the United States , with a 303 lb (137.5 kg) clean and jerk. 1985 - The United States national soccer team was formed. 1986 - Ann Bancroft was the first woman to reach the North Pole by foot and dogsled, "...she became the first known woman to cross the ice to the North Pole." 1986 - Nancy Lieberman joined the United States Basketball League (USBL), thus becoming the first woman to play in a men's professional basketball league. 1987 - Tania Aebi completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 26-foot sailboat between the ages of 18 and 21, making her the