In 1972, an 11 year old girl from Hoboken, New Jersey, walked up to a tryout and told the coach her name was Maria and she could play ball. She made the team, played three games, and was removed. What followed was a legal battle that forced Little League to open its doors to girls across the country.
More than 50 years later, Maria Pepe is enshrined in the Little League Hall of Excellence, hosts the Maria Pepe Little League Baseball Legacy Series, and has written her first book, The Girl Who Changed Little League, with co author Jean L.S. Patrick and illustrated by Sarah Green.
What made you fall in love with baseball as a kid in Hoboken, and why did you try out for Little League even though girls weren’t allowed?…