Women’s Pro Baseball League Makes History With Inaugural Player Draft

Featured image: Kelsie Whitmore (photo credit: Women’s Pro Baseball League)

It will go down in women’s baseball chronicles as one of the most exciting nights since 280 women competed for 60 spots on the All-American Girls league at Chicago’s Wrigley Field in 1943:

Last night, the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) draft marked a historic first, when the league’s four founding teams – Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco – selected the stars that would light up their rosters. Fans of the sport tuned in to WPBL’s Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels, as the teams followed a snake-style format, and the first name shocked no one: Kelsie Whitmore.

Known to many as a pitcher and outfielder for the Savannah Bananas, Whitmore will be wearing a jersey for San Francisco. A long-time member of Team USA, she has represented the U.S. in multiple Women’s Baseball World Cups and international tournaments, earning silver in the World Cup in 2014 and Gold at the PanAm games in 2015. The San Diego native was also the first woman to play in the Atlantic League, a professional partner league of MLB.

Related: Women’s Pro Baseball League Announces Its Four Inaugural Teams

“Kelsie worked her whole life for this moment,” WPBL co-founder Justine Siegal said. “She is the first draft pick this century for a women’s pro baseball league, and the WPBL is honored to give her this opportunity. Kelsie represents all the girls and women out there who dream of playing professional baseball.”

“We are honored and excited that one of the greatest athletes on the planet will forever be enshrined in baseball history as the first overall pick in the Women’s Pro Baseball League’s inaugural draft,” said co-founder Keith Stein. “As a role model for young girls around the world, Whitmore has continued to break barriers throughout her career, inspiring the next generation of players.”

The WPBL is the first American pro women’s league since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s and ’50s, when minor leagues thinned out as young men were drafted for war. It was no secret that a girls’ softball league was the perfect solution to ensure that stadiums could still get filled (and yes, those ladies were required to attend evening charm school classes after practice).

The launch of the WPBL comes amid record-setting ratings on the professional women’s basketball front. And as if we need further evidence as to the ever-growing draw to women’s sports: a happy trend in the rise of women’s sports bars.

Related: Score! Two New Women’s Sports Bars To Open In NYC

Last night’s draft hit completion at six rounds, each team having selected five players per round, until 120 players were spoken for. Following Whitmore, three-time Women’s Baseball World Cup MVP, Japan’s Ayami Sato (RHP), was selected no. 2 overall to join Los Angeles. Sato secured her status as a powerhouse when she became the only player in history to be named MVP of the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup three times.

Ayami Sato. Photo courtesy of Women’s Pro Baseball League.

The WPBL is set to begin play with four teams representing Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill., next August, following the Women’s Baseball World Cup in Rockford from July 22-26.

We hope all the little girls out there are watching and keeping their mitts oiled.

“I am grateful. Thank you to God for this opportunity. Honestly, it was all worth it in the end. I am thankful for my family and friends who supported me throughout my journey, the highs and lows,” said Kelsie Whitmore, thrilled at the news. “It is a testimony to every little girl out there if you never give up on your dreams, anything is possible. You belong in baseball.”

Check out the full list of WPBL’s inaugural 2025 draft lists for New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and San Francisco.