FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Over on Field 6 at the Fenway South complex for a couple of days this week, there were the unmistakable sounds of baseball you hear throughout Spring Training.
The crack of the bat. The pop of the baseball hitting the catcher’s mitt. Communication on cutoffs and relays. Encouragement and critiques from coaches.
But there was actually something quite unique and historic going on within the daily rhythms of the game.
The players inhabiting the field for a practice on Wednesday and an intersquad scrimmage on Thursday were professional women’s baseball players getting ready for the start of the Women’s Professional Baseball League in August.
The inaugural league is the first opportunity for women to play pro baseball in the United States since the dissolution of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) in 1954. You are likely aware of that league from the hit movie, “A League of Their Own.”
But contrary to what Tom Hanks said in his portrayal of cranky manager Jimmy Dugan in the 1992 film, there will be crying in baseball when this league starts. It means too much to too many.
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“It is a dream,” said Kelsie Whitmore, a two-way player who was taken first in the league’s inaugural Draft by the San Francisco franchise in November. “It’s a blessing, and it's something that I've been wanting for a very long time. And the 6-year-old version of me had been wanting this, but never thought it would happen, so it’s something that is so surreal.”
Whitmore uttered those words the day before she got to face Ayami Sato, the Japanese legend who is considered by many to be the best female pitcher of all time. Sato traveled 24 hours to Fort Myers to take part in this event.
“With this league, I want to be the one who can inspire other girls,” Sato said through an interpreter. “And also, I want to contribute to help the team win with my pitching.”
And how long would the 36-year-old like to pitch?
“As long as I live,” she said.
A right-hander, Sato has a seven-pitch mix, which includes what she calls a “big curveball.” She threw one that Whitmore swung straight through. But Whitmore would get enough bat on the ball later in the at-bat to beat out an infield hit.
These are the kind of showdowns you will see starting on Aug. 1, when the four-team league opens its first season.
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The fact that this was all happening at an MLB team’s Spring Training facility was a story unto itself, and one that the Red Sox were pleased to help make possible.
The Sox have held a women’s fantasy camp at their Spring Training facility for a decade. Donna Cohen, one of the advisors of that camp, also happens to be part of the WPBL’s advisory board.
She connected with Shawn Smith, the general manager of the Spring Training facility for the Red Sox, and partnership ideas started to form.
“When I had reached out to the league and wanted to find out what it was they were doing in advance of the season, and they said, ‘Well, we'd like to be able to introduce the product around the country,’ I said, ‘Why not start here?’ So we put this together for them,” said Smith.
Though Smith, the father of three daughters, felt it was the least the Red Sox could do, it was no small gesture to the players who got to soak in the two days at Fenway South.
“That support means so much,” said Whitmore. “It's needed. And I'm glad that they see value in us to be able to feel that we are worth even being on this field. But it's crazy for me to even say that, because this should be happening.
“Don't get me wrong. I'm very grateful that the Red Sox are giving us this opportunity. But we deserve to be on a field like this. We deserve to be in an environment like this, and I'm very thankful that we are. Of all the teams that there are out there, they're the one that's willing to take the chance and give it to us. So I'm thankful for it.”
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Keith Foulke, who threw one of the most famous pitches in Red Sox history to end the curse-busting, 2004 World Series, took part as an instructor for the practice and the scrimmage. So, too, did another member of that ‘04 Sox team, first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz. Jemile Weeks, who played over 200 games in the Majors, was another enthusiastic coach.
Foulke threw pitches to the catchers, surveyed side sessions and ran one of the teams during the scrimmages. He has been active with the Red Sox women’s fantasy camp for years.
“They can all play ball. There's no doubt about that. There's a couple ladies out here that throw the ball like I wish I could,” Foulke said. “This has taught me that women and men approach the game differently. The women don't gripe and complain as much as the men do. It's something historic in this country, and I'm definitely proud to be part of it.”
In February, the Red Sox hosted representatives of the league at Fenway Park. While it was too cold to take aim at the Green Monster, several players took swings in the team’s high-tech batting cages beneath the dugout. The same place where the likes of Roman Anthony, Trevor Story and others will be getting their reps in for the next many months.
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Another standout player for the new league is Mo’ne Davis, the pitcher who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2014 after becoming the first female to throw a shutout in the Little League World Series.
Though she is a position player these days, Davis got back on the mound on Thursday when she threw the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Red Sox-Twins game at JetBlue Park.
“Now, little girls can dream,” said Davis. “Little girls had this dream growing up, but it wasn’t reality. So now these girls get to have that dream that they can do anything that they want. This is really a big eye-opener for everyone to know that no dream is too big.”
As Red Sox manager Alex Cora was standing between the fields during a drill on Thursday, his eyes peeled over to the scrimmage.
“It’s actually good baseball, really good baseball,” said Cora. “Back home [in Puerto Rico], we have one league, I think it's like 10 teams, and they play 20 games. I know a few of the girls that play and it’s good baseball. And I'm glad that it's all over the place, and in big cities, too. So it should be fun.”
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The four original franchise cities for the WPBL are Boston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In Year One, all games will be played at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill., with the goal of transitioning each team to its host city as the league grows.
The co-founder and recently named commissioner of the league -- Justine Siegal -- is a pioneer in her own right. Siegal spent the prime years of baseball life playing in adult men’s leagues because there were no other avenues open to her. She eventually became the first female coach in pro baseball in the Instructional League with the Athletics in 2015.
She proudly oversaw all the events in Fort Myers earlier this week.
“It's phenomenal,” said Siegal. “These women are playing where the men have been playing for decades. All of these women have grown up wishing they could be a Major Leaguer. Now we have a league of our own. This is not a first, but this is the first major pro baseball league for women in over 70 years. We stand on the shoulders of the All-Americans. And here we are.”