Justine Siegal will go on a bat for women in baseball for baseball

Being a pioneer in baseball is nothing new for Justine Siegal. In fact, it’s her mo.

Maybe it’s because of her toughness. When she hears “no”, her reaction to her knees is a “full pair forward”-as it was when she was 16 and her coach told her she was wasting time for the same career.

“He just laughed at me and said,” No man will ever listen to a woman on the baseball pitch, “Siegal said, now 50.” I started thinking, “Who is to decide what to do?” So I went to this great persecution. ”

This “great persecution” now considers Siegal to be a female female for the Baseball League, whose opening was announced last October. In the history of women’s history, she spoke with ESPN about WPBL, her pioneering heritage in baseball and her passion for sport.

“She plays something special about the girls with other girls,” Siegal said about the women’s baseball. “One, they’re no longer The Girl, they’re just ball players. Second, there’s a lot of friendship. And three, there is a pipe that can be created. And this is one thing WPBL provides: the end of this pipe. ”

SC introduced on ESPN+: I just want to play baseball

MLB canceled its ban on women participating in the main league teams or their associated companies in 1992. Siegal became the first female coach for a professional team in 2009 and also the first to be hired in Majors six years later. Not only did she prove that her old coach was bad, but also opened floods: historically high 43 women trained MLB teams in 2023.

“I felt like I got my place, but I also knew it was amazing to be there at the same time,” she said.

Play the ball, style wpbl

Siegal is currently focusing on its energy on the opening of WPBL 2026 and working closely with the co -founder League Keith Stein, a legal and entrepreneur who saw value in his legacy. She said she welcomed the challenge to build a league from scratch and is grateful that there are examples that need to be followed.

“It is very cordial to be on the occasion to build a way for others,” she said

Siegal said that WPBL is “building the momentum of female professional leagues that are ahead of us” and “deserved moment” that female sports enjoy.

The first WPBL season is scheduled at the end of May to the end of August 2026. Leag officials are planning a regular season of about 40 games per team, followed by playoffs to determine the champion.

The league is in the process of selection of owners for six inauguration franchises, found mainly on the northeast American goal, said Siegal, it is to identify potential owners who worked in female professional sports and understand the success of franchise such as Angel City NWSL, which city NWWS, NWSL which city of NWSL, which city of NWSL, which NWSL learned Last July he became the most valuable female sports team in the world.

WPBL will fill their lists with salaries “more comparable to baseball smaller league”, through Scout camps this spring and at the end of this year. Nearly 700 players registered to participate through WPBL player portal in the first week after the announcement of the start of the league.

“I think there is an element to know who the best players are, and there is also the excitement that you want to find the diamond in the rough you didn’t know about,” Siegal said.

Via WPBL sponsorship provided and recently Spike Investments In women’s sports – especially in basketball and football – it is once an initial challenge for Siegal, as the relatively new female baseball is in the landscape.

“Softball is a larger sport in Mexico and Latin America,” she said. “There is still an idea that boys play baseball and girls play softball.”

Another challenge is to find national broadcasts and streaming shops that are involved in fans around the world.

“The next step (is) really understanding that sources are such a key part of not only the development of professional sports, but also the fact that girls play, they get girls who are led by coaching,” she said.

Building

Former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Maybelle Blair, who turned 98 in January, is the honorary chairman of the WPBL Advisory Board. She helped inspire the film “League” with participation in AAGPBL, which took place from 1943 to 1954.

“There is certainly a great respect, as well as the duty or desire to make (former AAGPBL players) to this league and start it before everyone goes through and let them know that it is still possible,” Siegal said. “We’ll continue that.”

The rest of the Board of Directors includes Japan jug and six -time World Championship winner Ayami Sato, former Arizona Diamondbacks Executive and Chief Legal Director Non Lee, former ESPN CMO and ESPNW founder Laura Gentile, Kate Childs Communication Strategist Graham, founder/CEO/Director of Women’s Baseball Center for Women and Agency for UNited Women, and owner of United Women.

35 -year -old Sato is widely considered the best female baseball pitcher in the world. This year, the right -hander will become the first woman to play in the male professional baseball team in Canada when he fits Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto Leafs, which owns Stein.

“It’s one of those people who have enlarged the game in their country,” Siegal said. “I remember when she first started and now she is at the age of 30. She has teammates who watched her when she was young when they were young and now they’re in the same team as her.”

In addition, WPBL has two special advisors on hand. The star for the baseball star of the US team Alex Hugo will be in charge of the development and recruitment of the players and the former Toronto Blue Jays Manager Cito Gaston, the first black manager in MLB to win the world series with titles in 1992 and 1993, lends his expertise.

Siegal believes that real baseball fans have space in their hearts.

“It’s not just because women play,” she said. “It’s a good competition. It’s fun. It eats croissant dogs. We want them to go (to the park) for our games.”

Go on a bat for your own capital

Siegal began to build her vision of a girl’s and women’s baseball two decades ago when she created the baseball team All-Girls in 2003, competing against the boys. It was the only girl team who regularly participated in one of the biggest boys’ baseball tournaments in the country, playing in Cooperstown Dreams Park near the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Six years later, when she worked as an assistant to Springfield College, she created history as the first woman to train a professional male baseball team with the position of first coach Brockton Rox the independent Can-AM league. Rox won the franchise records of 56 games this season, the best in the league before he lost with the Champion Quebec Capitales in the first round of the playoffs.

He founded Siegal in 2010 Baseball for allA national non -profit organization that provides girls with opportunities and sources for coaching, playing and leading in baseball.

The following year, Siegal became the first woman to throw Backing for the MLB team – and for anyone other than his beloved Indians Cleveland during the spring training.

“My dream was to play now Cleveland guards“She said.

Her breakthrough hiring MLB came four years later when she became a guest instructor Oakland Athletics in their instructional league in 2015.

Siegal’s first list is not limited to the US. She is also the first woman to professionally train in leagues in Japan and Mexico.

“I definitely felt like I did a history because I worked so hard to get to this point … but it was also gratifying,” she said.

Meanwhile, Siegal said he was accepting the “humiliating” role of cleaning the way for girls and women she had no available to her.

“I dreamed of being an eagle Hershiser, Nolan Ryan. But now you can dream of being a Sato or (a female baseball star) Gabby or Keelsie Whitmore,” Siegal said. “Now there are patterns to find out and that is so important.”