The outstanding pitcher and outfielder Kelsie Whitmore returns to a familiar environment after being chosen by San Francisco with the first selection in the inaugural draft of the Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Mo’ne Davis had to wait until the tenth selection to be chosen by Los Angeles. Davis, 24 years old and originally from Philadelphia, competed in the 2014 Little League World Series at age 13 and became the first girl to win a game and pitch a shutout.
Whitmore, originally from San Diego, made her professional debut in the Bay Area with a co-ed team, the Sonoma Stompers, in 2016. The 27-year-old player has won two silver medals representing the United States in the Women’s Baseball World Cup and won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
If you asked my 6-year-old self about this opportunity that’s happening right now, she probably wouldn’t believe you, but, she would be very, very, very excited about it.
Kelsie Whitmore
In 2022, Whitmore signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks, becoming the first woman to compete in the Atlantic League of professional baseball. This season she played for the Savannah Bananas.Kelsie Whitmore ha ganado dos medallas de plata representando a Estados Unidos en la Copa Mundial de Béisbol Femenino y oro en los Juegos Panamericanos de 2015. También fue la primera mujer en competir en la Liga del Atlántico de béisbol profesional, con los Staten Island FerryHawks. Foto AP/Bebeto MatthewsWhitmore was one of the 120 players selected in the six-round draft that also included teams representing New York and Boston.
The Major League Baseball commissioner, Rob Manfred, inaugurated the draft by congratulating the WPBL on its launch. The league is scheduled to start playing on August 1st.
Each team made five selections per round, with the selection order determined by a random draw. Teams will reduce their rosters from 30 players to 15 for the start of the season.
The Japanese Ayami Sato was number 2 for Los Angeles. The 35-year-old right-handed pitcher is a five-time World Cup winner and the only player to obtain three MVP awards of the tournament.
New York selected American infielder Kylee Lahners with the third pick. Boston chose South Korean catcher Hyeonah Kim at number 4.
The newly created league held a four-day tryout camp this summer in Washington with more than 600 applicants.
The league plans to play all its games at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springville, Illinois. The teams will be based there for a seven-week season, divided into a four-week regular season, a week for all-star activities, and two weeks of playoffs.
The WPBL was co-founded by Justine Siegal, who became the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015. It will be the first professional baseball league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, immortalized in the film “A League of Their Own”, disbanded in 1954.
