mens fastpitch tournament batting champion for softball with a .615 batting average. Betty Chapman, in 1951, became the first African American professional softball player (Macy 123). She played outfield on the Admiral Music Maids of the National Girls Baseball League of Chicago. Although it was called Baseball League the women actually played softball. In 1975 the International Womens Professional Softball League was formed. Player contracts ranged from $1,000-$3,000 per year. In 1980 the League folds due to financial problems.The women who played Professional baseball during the war were placed with many rules upon them. These women had to go to Charm school to learn how to walk sit and speak with poise and class. The stronger and better women became at baseball, the more men would be concerned about their femininity. Even the media put focus on the women being soft and vulnerable. When men played baseball they did not have to go to masculine school to learn how to be more masculine. Putting these restrictions on women was not fair and just showed how unequal women were from men.After researching and writing this paper on the Pioneers of Softball, I have learned about many issues that women faced in trying to become professional. I found it hard to focus just on the pioneers of softball because so many of the softball players also played baseball, especially when the men went to war. Also, many of the women who played baseball changed over to softball after the war. I learned a lot about the struggles and accomplishments of women in Softball and even Baseball. The Silver Bullets are just one Professional womens baseball team. It would be nice to once again see another professional womens League either in softball or baseball....
