The Case for Bringing Back Ladies’ Day

Last June, I assembled a crew of women–some old baseball fans, some new–to watch the Cubs play the Diamondbacks at Wrigley. Settling into the bleachers, we received a number of curious looks and comments from strangers fascinated by the sight of 18 women of various ethnicities decked in Cubbie Blue. Some of the women in my group were even keeping score. Why are you surprised that we’re here? What makes you think that women who grew up with baseball as part of their culture wouldn’t enjoy watching it or playing it?

Well, it could be that the average baseball fan is white, male and over 50. You can see this by simply turning on your TV and catching a game. Any team, any city. Nearly 50 percent of baseball fans are women, but almost no attempt is made to include women in the sport. The few efforts that exist tend to cater to the idea that women don’t know anything about the sport, and need to be taught enough to be good companions for the “real” fans. Men.

The exclusion of women in baseball, and professional sports leagues in general, is so glaring that it appears, dare I say, intentional. According to Dr. Richard Lapchik’s findings in the “2016 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Baseball,” women make up 28.9 percent of all front office employees. MLB has yet to introduce female umpires, while only seven women have officiated in the affiliated leagues. The mask of Ria Cortesio, who was the sixth female umpire, hangs at Cooperstown. Women should be included in all facets of baseball: officiating, commentating, writing and front office decision-making. And that is why I’d like Major League Baseball to bring back Ladies’ Day.

On Tuesday, June 16, 1883, the New York Gothams (later known as the Giants) introduced the idea of offering women free admission to their game against the Cleveland Spiders. It is unclear who actually came up with the idea of Ladies’ Day, though some credit player/owner/manager Charles Abner Powell.

Powell implemented the idea in New Orleans to increase revenue for his struggling team. Ladies’ Day was always on a weekday, and women were usually admitted free with ticketed male escorts. With this promotion, Powell hoped the presence of women in the stands would discourage rowdy behavior from men. Eventually, it helped bring fervent female fans to the mainstream. Other professional baseball teams began experimenting with the idea, specifically advertising games as Ladies’ Day.

The National League would abruptly end the promotion in 1909; some believed it was partly due to a near-riot in 1897 caused by female George Mercer fans, upset over his ejection from a Washington Senators game. The practice would still thrive in the American League, where teams took quickly to the gimmick.

As thinking progressed with the times, women were free to attend games without men in 1917, and, in some places, had separate entrances. The Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro League team, even attempted to woo female fans with half-price tickets. In 1929, the Chicago Cubs advertised a Ladies’ Day and 30,000 women showed up to get tickets. As many as 20,000 were admitted to the game, while the others were given tickets to the next Ladies’ Day.

Despite its popularity, and its role in helping professional ball clubs recognize women as fans, Ladies’ Day essentially ended in 1970 when a man claimed discrimination. According to Jean Hastings Ardell in her book Breaking into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime, a New York man argued that discounted tickets on Ladies’ Day was reverse discrimination because it economically favored women.  So in 1973, the New York Human Rights Commission ruled in his favor, and ended free and discounted ticket sales for women at New York baseball stadiums. Some feminists at the time agreed. After all, baseball teams were demeaning women with Hot Pants (Washington Senators and Kansas City Royals) and Halter (Cleveland Indians) nights, using them to draw male fans to the games. Others believe the end of this marketing tool lost young fans to other sports.

Throughout the years, teams have had events for mothers and sons, fathers and sons, teachers, nurses, police and firefighters and colleges. A quick Google search turned up nine major league ball clubs with advertised “Girls’ Night Out” promotions: the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks.

However, every single one of those teams gets it wrong. They attempt to draw female fans out with things like massages, makeovers, team handbags, wine, and, the always cringe-worthy “Baseball 101.” Ladies’ Day (and Girls’ Night) as we know it, is overwhelmed with patronizing sexism. This isn’t to say massages and makeovers and pink jerseys aren’t perfectly okay things to like, but, when inviting women to a baseball game, why not make baseball the actual draw? Why not assume that women are coming to baseball games because they already like baseball?

Regardless of sport, women are rarely, if ever, treated equally as fans. They’re constantly quizzed on their knowledge of the game, its players and its rules. Our presence is even questioned. Can there be some sort of compromise that draws women who aren’t typically interested in baseball, but also empowers women and girls who are already fans of the sport? A way to incorporate Baseball 101 for those who might need it with fantasy leagues for those who don’t? Maybe even some baseball gear that isn’t pink?

There are so many ways that MLB and its clubs can remix this idea. Teams can make an honest and deliberate effort to attract female fans by simply treating them like sports fans. (Hold the condescension, please.) It should be celebratory. It should honor women of the past in baseball whose stories are mostly unheard. Women such as Edith Houghton, Gayle Gardner, Helene Hathaway Britton, Mamie Johnson and Olivia Taylor.

There’s more to women’s baseball than A League of Their Own. Young girls should be encouraged to take an interest in and play the sport. Girl Scouts and girls’ little league teams should be invited to attend. We can still have the wine and the glittery merchandise, too, but let women of all backgrounds know that they are welcome in the ballpark. Create a new culture and foster an environment that makes women and girls comfortable and a part of the baseball experience, one that acknowledges their contribution to the sport in any way possible.

We’ve been left out for far too long. I know plenty of women, myself included, who would enjoy and appreciate the opportunity to have the same camaraderie that men are afforded without so much as a second thought. Shows like Pitch are a good start, but there is so much historical perception to overcome that clubs really need to work twice as hard to convince women that they are not only wanted, but needed as an essential part of creating baseball.

Celebrate women outside of breast cancer awareness and Mother’s Day. Hire women. Bring back Ladies’ Day.

References & Resources

• Jonathan Fraser Light, The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball (2nd edition), pg. 522
• Murry R. Nelson, American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas, pg. 684
• Jean Hastings Ardell, Breaking Into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime, pg. 41
• Dr. Richard Lapchick, Tides, “The 2016 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Baseball”