1 draft pick, guides veteran baseball player Maybelle Blair, 99, off the field after the first pitch ceremony on the WPBL's opening day. Jaclyn Licht for NPR Maybelle Blair, a veteran of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, a professional women's baseball league that was founded in 1943 and ran for 12 seasons, grips a baseball prior to throwing out the first pitch at the WPBL's inaugural game in Springfield, Ill., on Saturday, Aug. 1. The WPBL is the fifth professional women's baseball league in U.S. history, but Queens' third baseman Ashton Lansdell says, "We hope it's the fifth and the last." Many compete in annual competitions, including the Women's Baseball World Cup, and have had stints in regional and seasonal men's leagues. Jaclyn Licht for NPR The first game of the Women's Professional Baseball League, hosted at Springfield's Robin Roberts Stadium.