Womens Baseball Heritage Trail with Ryan Woodward of IWBC

Ryan Woodward - Project Coordinator with The International Women's Baseball Center (IWBC)IWBC sharing worldwide history of women in baseballPast Events include Baseball For All Nationals tournament, SABR, USA Women’s National Team visits, Baseball Clinics, Guest speakers on women in baseballWomens Baseball Heritage Trail map began in 2017Planning a vacation trip use the map to locate interesting stops that spotlight women in baseballAlong the trail - discover museums roadside markers, historic ballparks, murals, libraries, gravesites, archives  & more at https://www.wbht.org/Ryan’s love of the preservation of history led him to create the Women In Baseball Week program to celebrate the stories of women in the game. - https://womeninbaseballweek.org/ Conversations with Dr. Leslie Heaphy on building lists on the historic locations sparked the beginning of the Trail to develop wbht.orgFlorida northbound trip would find Mary Wisham Park, Rachel Robinson marker, Archives in TallahasseeA League of Their Own, Movie & TV Series, #ALOTO - inspirations for Ryan. The movie was filmed near his home in Kentucky & Southern IndianaIn the early 90’s there were only a few books covering women in baseball gave Ryan the fire to learn & develop more resources for all to enjoyEvolving technology & the internet gave Ryan the tools to begin building the Trails website. https://wbht.org/Historic locations of trail include grave markers of past players as well as online archives are listed on the Trail7 or 8 Trail sites in KentuckyToni Stone, an American Treasure & Hero has multiple listings on the trailNellie Twardzik Thompson – first girl to play varsity baseball in 1935 – ballpark named after her in MassachusettsTwardzik inducted into the Baseball Hall of FameOnly 6% of monuments & statues are of women in the USRecent statues erected for Toni Stoni, Mo'ne Davis, Mamie (Peanut) Johnson, Gertrude Dunn, celebrate women in baseball See It, Be It,  - See Her, Be Her - Mo'ne Davis – strength of characterEarly inspiration in Kentucky was AAGPBL, Anna May HutchisonAnna played from 44 through 49, mostly with Racine Belles. Hutchinson was an All-Star player in AAGPBLAs AAGPBL transitioned from underhand pitching to overhand pitching - Hutchinson developed unique side-armed pitching Ryan worked to have Anna May Hutchinson inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of FameLois Youngens & Sue Zipay to of the AAGPBL veterans have places on the TrailShirley Burkovich, nicknamed “Hustle”  - “stop talking about it, do it”Ryan Burkovich , Shirley & Maybelle Blair & #ALOTO TV filmingThe Shirley Burkovich “Hustle” awarded to USAWNT Baseball catcher, Beth GreenwoodIsla Borders, “Making My Pitch” broad reach and appealBarbara Gregorich's "Women at Play" has become a good friendTanith Harley - a great contributor in finding new places & informationWomen in Baseball Graphic Novels Martha Ackmann’s book on Toni Stone, "Curveball," is both upsetting & inspiring of a black woman playing baseball in the SouthKat Willaims new book on Maybelle Blair, All the Way: The Life of Baseball Trailblazer Maybelle Blair - https://bit.ly/4kUlGeC Louisville SABR conference in AugustInvitation to visit Rockford Illinois to discover home of Beyer Stadium, IWBC, Rockford Peaches Ryan Woodward's Womens Baseball Heritage Trail at  wbht.org You can find Mark on Blue Sky at https://bsky.app/profile/baseballbizondeck.bsky.socialSpecial thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music “Rocking Forward