The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Orrock, Anika (Author)
ISBN: 1452173648
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Binding: Hardcover; 160 pages
Pub Date: March 10, 2020
This fully illustrated history tells the story of women's first "league of their own," the All-American Girl's Professional Baseball League (1943-1954), as told through the engaging voices of the people who knew it best: the players! Author Anika Orrock has collected a range of funny, charming, wince-worthy and heart-warming vignettes as told by the players themselves from their various experiences playing in the AAGBPL, from the very first tryouts to barnstorming around the country and sliding into home base in League-mandated skirts and lipstick. Beginning with a brief history of the founding of the league, the players' stories are woven together with press coverage of the league, player statistics, and historical beats to form a single narrative of their experiences, struggles, and impressions of a time when being a woman in a professional sports league was revolutionary. With an introduction by New York Yankees assistant general manager Jean Afterman, THE INCREDIBLE WOMEN OF THE AAGBPL is an inspirational story for anyone looking to carve out their own place in the world"--
Biographical Note:
Anika Orrock is an illustrator, writer, designer, cartoonist, humorist, and baseball devotee from the Bay Area, California. She currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Orrock, Anika (Author)
ISBN: 1452173648
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Binding: Hardcover; 160 pages
Pub Date: March 10, 2020
This fully illustrated history tells the story of women's first "league of their own," the All-American Girl's Professional Baseball League (1943-1954), as told through the engaging voices of the people who knew it best: the players! Author Anika Orrock has collected a range of funny, charming, wince-worthy and heart-warming vignettes as told by the players themselves from their various experiences playing in the AAGBPL, from the very first tryouts to barnstorming around the country and sliding into home base in League-mandated skirts and lipstick. Beginning with a brief history of the founding of the league, the players' stories are woven together with press coverage of the league, player statistics, and historical beats to form a single narrative of their experiences, struggles, and impressions of a time when being a woman in a professional sports league was revolutionary. With an introduction by New York Yankees assistant general manager Jean Afterman, THE INCREDIBLE WOMEN OF THE AAGBPL is an inspirational story for anyone looking to carve out their own place in the world"--
Biographical Note:
Anika Orrock is an illustrator, writer, designer, cartoonist, humorist, and baseball devotee from the Bay Area, California. She currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Orrock, Anika (Author)
ISBN: 1452173648
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Binding: Hardcover; 160 pages
Pub Date: March 10, 2020
This fully illustrated history tells the story of women's first "league of their own," the All-American Girl's Professional Baseball League (1943-1954), as told through the engaging voices of the people who knew it best: the players! Author Anika Orrock has collected a range of funny, charming, wince-worthy and heart-warming vignettes as told by the players themselves from their various experiences playing in the AAGBPL, from the very first tryouts to barnstorming around the country and sliding into home base in League-mandated skirts and lipstick. Beginning with a brief history of the founding of the league, the players' stories are woven together with press coverage of the league, player statistics, and historical beats to form a single narrative of their experiences, struggles, and impressions of a time when being a woman in a professional sports league was revolutionary. With an introduction by New York Yankees assistant general manager Jean Afterman, THE INCREDIBLE WOMEN OF THE AAGBPL is an inspirational story for anyone looking to carve out their own place in the world"--
Biographical Note:
Anika Orrock is an illustrator, writer, designer, cartoonist, humorist, and baseball devotee from the Bay Area, California. She currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Review Quotes:
"This book does a tremendous job of providing a mosaic of perspectives from those who knew the league best: the players themselves...Fans who love the game's history and appreciate deftly drawn artwork will certainly appreciate Orrock's contribution to the legacy of the AAGPBL." -NINE: A Journal of Baseball History Culture
"Lovingly written and delightfully illustrated - Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle
"With energy, sophistication and validation, this proves again there's crying in baseball, if just tears of joy for generations of young girls who have a new entry point to this history now that 28 years have passed since the movie 'A League of Their Own.'" -Sports Business Daily
Best Baseball Books of 2020 selection: "The best of several books about the wartime league is a coffee-table keepsake because the author is also an accomplished illustrator." -Sports Collectors Digest
A 2020 Books of the Year selection: "In this gorgeously illustrated history of the AAGPBL, author Anika Orrock shares stories from the first women to play professional baseball in their own words, from the day they stepped up to the plate to the moment the league closed. Exuberant and inspiring, this charming look at a key moment in women's sports history will delight young baseball fans." - A Mighty Girl
"Orrock's Incredible Women blends funny, charming, yet powerful vignettes told by the players themselves, with a whimsically stylized graphic design that delivers a remarkably detailed (and all-ages-accessible) oral history of the pioneering league's 12-year run - and unique place in baseball history." - Good Seats Available podcast
"But with all [Orrock's] talents, she figures out a way to piece together vignettes about the league with style and grace to reflect the sense of importance, excitement, competition and fun that was going on by those who were there.What makes this history come alive is Orrock's mid-century retro drawings and colors. - Farther Off the Wall
"Orrock's stories and illustrations are funny, charming, and most importantly, visually engaging, but the best is always in the testimonies, as they go through headlines, rivalries, stats, and important moments of the league's short but memorable trajectory... It's meant to inspire and empower, and it fully delivers." -Fansided
"A most welcome addition to the genre of books about the women's pro baseball league that sprang up during World War II. Employing an energetic style...the author hypnotizes the reader into effortlessly absorbing the historical and highly anecdotal text, bolstered by player memories and quotations from period publications...This is a passionate and inspiring re-telling of the AAGPB story." -Spitball Magazine
"The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League details the history of the league and tells the stories of the first women to play professional baseball in a league of their own. Illustrator and author Anika Orrock collects a variety of charming and powerful (and sometimes cringe-inducing, given the gender barrier these women were forced to overcome) vignettes told by the players themselves about their time participating in America's pastime, along with hard-to-find player statistics, historical beats, and headlines, fully illustrated in Orrock's vibrant style." - Forbes.com
"If you only know the AAGPBL from the movie A League of Their Own.you've barely scratched the surface. Through some fantastic illustrations (and, yes, fantastic is an understatement), Anika book tells the story of the league from the perspective of the women who actually played in it." - Hall of Very Good