“Baseball is not only for the guys. Women are nearly half of the fanbase of MLB,” said Kevin King, founder and coach at Anytime Baseball Supply in Los Angeles. He’s a die-hard baseball fan who has spent his life playing, coaching, and sharing the game with others. “Baseball is special because of its speed; you can take it all in—the stories, the rivalries, and the history. It is not all about power and speed, like in other sports; it is about skill. It is about heart, and it’s about that moment that sticks with you forever. And let’s be real about it: Nothing matches the summer night at the ballpark like a hot dog in hand and cheering for your team. This kind of magic does not discriminate.” Women love baseball and not just women’s baseball.

The First Pitch: A Love Affair with Baseball

And if you’re of a certain age, your first baseball memory was likely walking through a dark stadium tunnel until you reached the exit. There, you were visually assaulted by a vast expanse of bright green field and blue skies like the sepia/color change at minute 22 of The Wizard of Oz. The sights, sounds, and aromas of popcorn and people are indelibly marked in your brain.

Families that took late winter Florida vacations may have caught a game at Plant City where a whiff from one direction brought the fragrance of ripe strawberries and the other direction was a strong manure odor. Or when Frank Howard, the Yankees’ first base coach, heard you yell out, “Hey Hondo!” after batting practice and was so thrilled that you remembered him that he came over and talked with you and signed autographs.

I recall my younger sister’s first game when, at the end of the sixth inning, our dad told her, “I’m getting stiff. I think I’ll stand up and stretch after the next three outs. Maybe I can get everyone else to do it, too.” Yes, our eyes opened up in awe, and we pulled the same corny stunt when we took our young children to their first game. Of course, with televised games and renditions of “Thank God, I’m a Country Boy” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” children seem to be on to our old-time ways.

Why Women Love Baseball: More Than Just a Game

Jay Smith, president of Sports Travel and Tours, a company that has offered trips to baseball parks for decades, said his groups “are usually 60/40 men to women. Women are the decision-makers most often in families. The game is easy to understand. There are rules but not as many as in football, hockey, etc. It’s slow and soothing. We also have more women who travel as a single than men. I think women are just more comfortable now being out on their own. Being part of a group setting is a perfect fit.” Smith also noted that, “Generational travel is awesome—grandma, son/daughter, and grandkids.”

Mamta Saini, a San Francisco Bay area real estate executive, says, “Unlike contact sports, baseball’s strategies and tempo make it a more pleasant and feasible choice for women.”

“I’ve been a die-hard Mets fan since I was five,” said Janice Costa, a life-long lover of the game. “I still remember making posters to hold up when I was a kid, sitting in the cheap seats and waving them like crazy. I’d collect baseball cards to use on the posters. And back then, you could sneak up to the front before the game and the players would sign them for you!

“I still love going to games—the live energy is fun, and it’s fun to root for your home team and watch great athletes do their thing,” she added. “It also brings back so many wonderful memories. My parents (85 and 88) still watch all the Mets games from home, and I sometimes go there to watch playoff games with them. Baseball is part of our family history!”

“Growing up in Boston means (generally) that you’re a sports fan, so I follow all Boston teams—the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, Red Sox. But it’s true that I’m particularly fond of the Red Sox, underdogs that they often are,” said Patty Smith. “I probably went to my first game when I was nine or 10. We used to go to ‘Family Day’ at Fenway. When I was in high school, I went to nearly every home game. I bought a $5 bleacher seat and used to know all the players and their batting averages. I used to keep score during the games, too—who got a hit, who got on base by an error, etc. I now live in Virginia and try to make a yearly trip to Fenway.”

Women’s Baseball Careers: The Changing Face of the Game

Caitlin Moyer spent 18 years working in Major League Baseball (MLB) and now runs her own sports-focused communications and marketing business. She said one reason for baseball’s appeal among women is youth participation. ”In 2023, nearly 16.7 million individuals in the U.S. participated in women’s baseball, marking the highest recorded level since 2008,” she said. “This surge is partly attributed to MLB’s ‘Play Ball’ initiative, launched in 2015, which has introduced millions of children to the sport. As more children engage in baseball, families—especially mothers—are more inclined to attend games, fostering a new generation of fans.”

Female involvement in professional roles is also increasing within the MLB, with women accepting increasingly challenging and rewarding careers in everything from front office positions and coaching roles to broadcasting.

For example:

● In 2022, Eve Rosenbaum, who joined the Baltimore Orioles in 2019, was named an assistant general manager for the team.

● Alyssa Nakken is the first female full-time American professional baseball coach for the Cleveland Guardians of MLB and was the first to coach on the field during a major league game.

● In 2023, Ronnie Gajownik was hired to manage the Hillsboro Hops, a Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2024, she was the bench coach for the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles, where she had spent the 2022 season as a first-base coach.

● In 2024, Jenny Cavnar became the lead play-by-play announcer for Oakland Athletics telecasts, making her the first woman to be a primary play-by-play announcer for a team in MLB history.

● Jennifer Pawol is an American baseball umpire who currently works in Minor League Baseball (MiLB), and is on the call-up list for MLB. She’s just the seventh woman to work as a professional baseball umpire.

For the Love of the Game: A Timeless Tradition

As most women were probably introduced to sports through a game of catch when they were barely older than a toddler and then progressed to organized teams, there’s bound to be a soft spot for the sport in their memory bank. From the stands to the field and front offices, it’s tough replacing the sights, sounds, and smells of baseball.

“The game itself is about infinite hope because it can go right down to the last out,” Smith perfectly summarized. “What’s more American than that? Holding out hope until the last minute.”