# Do the rules of major league baseball prohibit women from playing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2001, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080 "2001-01-15T03:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/1 "2001-01-15T03:42:24Z")
So far, there have been no female major league baseball players. But suppose a woman came along who was physically able to “play with the big boys”. Is there something in the rules which would exclude her on the basis of her gender? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/2 "2001-01-15T03:48:59Z")
You would need to find a copy of the Basic Agreement between the owners and the Players Association to find out the answer for sure. Most likely, there is no rule because having one would just leave MLB open to a lot of lawsuits. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/3 "2001-01-15T04:13:31Z")
There is no rule preventing it. At least, nothing written into the rulebooks. If a woman wanted to play pro baseball, she’d have to convince a team to sign her. (Where is Bill Veeck now that we need him? 🙂 ). She would then presumably have to show herself able to play at the major league level. Of course, it’s quite likely prejudice would prevent this. But she could have a hard time proving that. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/4 "2001-01-15T04:59:38Z")
There is no rule against women playing. In fact Ilya Borders was drafted a few years ago by the White Sox (but didn’t sign). As far as I know, the only group of people who are ineligible to play are midgets, and that only applies to the American League. After the Eddie Gaedel game, the American League president prohibited the use of midgets in a game. To my knowledge, that rule has never been rescinded. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/5 "2001-01-15T07:17:21Z")
After the Gaedel incident, midgets weren’t banned per se. What happened was that all new player contracts had to receive approval from the League Office before a player could participate in a game. Presumably, if someone tried to slip in a midget again, he would be caught this way. This practice also prevented the White Sox from signing Minnie Minoso at some ridiculously old age, so he could play a game in the 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/6 "2001-01-15T14:42:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*You would need to find a copy of the Basic Agreement between the owners and the Players Association to find out the answer for sure. Most likely, there is no rule because having one would just leave MLB open to a lot of lawsuits. \*\* I don’t know about that. Baseball’s Congressionally-granted antitrust exemption probably protects them from many such suits. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/7 "2001-01-15T14:58:16Z")
Antitrust protection only protects baseball from claims of (roughly) monopolization–e.g., Microsoft. It has nothing to do with anti-discrimination laws. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/8 "2001-01-15T15:54:27Z")
I recall a satirical series that appeared, IIRC, in the _Washington Post_ maybe 12 years ago, about a mythical season played by a new Senators team. The star pitcher was female. She had an affair during the season and became pregnant. She was disqualified at a critical moment because the team had more than 9 people on the field . . . ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/9 "2001-01-15T16:12:05Z")
Didn’t the semi-pro Coors Silver Bullets have a woman pitcher in an exhibition against some major league (or maybe AAA)team? IIRC she was hit all over the ballpark, which quieted down calls for a woman player for several years after. Although, even the purists grant that Babe Diedrickson probably could have held her own on any major league roster. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/10 "2001-01-15T19:01:22Z")
Slipping in a midget? To what end? Was it because he would have such a small strike zone that he would be virtually guaranteed a walk if he didn’t swing? ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/11 "2001-01-15T19:08:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kunilou \* > Although, even the purists grant that Babe Diedrickson probably could have held her own on any major league roster. I don’t believe that this is true. Could you cite any purists who are granting this (and what evidence they had to believe in it)? ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/12 "2001-01-15T19:20:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by malden \* > \*\*Slipping in a midget? To what end? Was it because he would have such a small strike zone that he would be virtually guaranteed a walk if he didn’t swing? > \*\* Eddie Gaedel was a 3’7" midget hired by Bill Veeck (owner of the St. Louis Browns) as a stunt. There was a double header that day. After the first game, he popped out of a cake wearing a little uniform with the number “1/8” on it. During the second game he was sent up to bat. Of course, the opposing manager protested. However, the Browns manager trotted out with a valid American League contract for Gaedel. Since the contract was valid and he was on the roster, the umpires had no choice but to let him bat. Bob Swift (the Tigers pitcher) and Bob Cain (the Tigers catcher) conferred for about 15 minutes on how to pitch to Gaedel. Eventually, they walked him on four pitches, all high (no surprise). Gaedel trotted down to first and was replaced by a pinch runner. The next day the American League president voided Gaedel’s contract and instructed that no more midgets were to play. The reasoning being that it is bad practice to allow a player who will guarantee a walk every time up. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/13 "2001-01-15T23:55:47Z")
If I’m remembering right, the last time I was in Duluth, Minnesota, their minor league team (the Duluth Dukes, I think) had a female pitcher. That was in May, 1998. The newspaper article said there was another female player in the same league, but I don’t remember what team. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/14 "2001-01-16T00:09:36Z")
Her name is Ila Borders, and she won at least one game while with the Dukes. See [http://www.wfcomics.com/tony/backissues/b081098.vs](http://www.wfcomics.com/tony/backissues/b081098.vs) In addition, three women played in the Negro leagues in 1954. They were Toni Stone, Connie Morgan, and Mamie Johnson. See [http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com/u/baseball/mlbcom/nbl/stone.htm](http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com/u/baseball/mlbcom/nbl/stone.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/15 "2001-01-16T00:11:50Z")
**kunilou:** From what I remember, the independent Colorado Silver Bullets were _exclusively_ female. [Here’s](http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~j-yen/SilverBullets/history.html) an old article about them. Does anyone know if they’re still around? [This](http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/WoSport/stage/SPORTS/html/silverbullets.html) is another interesting link. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/16 "2001-01-16T01:26:45Z")
Though there’s no chance that more than a handful of women could ever play major league baseball, it’s not utterly out of the question. I mean, take a hypothetical example: Jackie Joyner-Kersee was a gold medal sprinter (which makes her faster than 90 plus per cent of the men in baseball, and she was also a javelin champion, which means she has a stronger throwing arm than a huge percentage of major leaguers. So… IF she’d turned her attention and talents to baseball, COULD she have been good enough to compete in the big leagues? Seems plausible enough to me. (Though, of course, there are plenty of fast, strong-armed MEN who never made it out of Double A ball.) ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/17 "2001-01-16T06:55:47Z")
The Silver Bullets have gone out of business. The league Ila Borders pitched, the Northern League I believe, was not a member of the National Association, the organization that certifies minor leagues as “official” in the eyes of Major League Baseball. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rules-of-major-league-baseball-prohibit-women-from-playing/50080/18 "2001-01-16T13:47:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > she was also a javelin champion, which means she has a stronger throwing arm than a huge percentage of major leaguers. How do you know this? (There may be a significant differential between the men’s and women’s javelin records. Throwing is one area in which there tends to be a large difference. I’ve been told that this is due to differences in the structure of men’s and women’s arms).