If It Wasn’t Hard, Everyone Would Do It: Sapphic Baseball Romances

This year marked the first time in 70 years where women had a professional baseball league in the United States. The Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) launched its inaugural season in Springfield, Illinois–neutral ground for the four teams, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York–and fans flocked from across the nation to see their favorite women play ball. I made the pilgrimage this summer, turning my 5-year-old into the most enthusiastic San Francisco Firebells fan imaginable. It was an incredible experience, and without question, one of the queerest spaces I’ve had the pleasure of being in (and yes, that includes Pride!). The players were phenomenal and incredibly diverse, representing the best of ball playing globally. That got me thinking about books. What was the field looking like in the sport of sapphic baseball romances? Despite the history of women’s baseball and the popularity of A League of Their Own–both the 1992 original and the 2022 Netflix series–there is a noticeable lack of f/f baseball romances. (And no, softball isn’t baseball). ⚾ Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan–This YA novel follows star baseball player June, who is on her way to a rich c...