A new chapter in baseball history is set to begin. The Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) announced Tuesday that New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will represent the four teams competing in its inaugural 2026 season.
Co-founded by trailblazing coach Justine Siegal, the first woman to coach for an MLB organization when she joined the Oakland Athletics in 2015, the WPBL marks the first professional women’s baseball league in the United States since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) folded in 1954. The AAGPBL’s legacy was immortalized in the classic film A League of Their Own, and the WPBL now looks to carry that torch into a new era of opportunity and equality.
Originally envisioned as a six-team league, the WPBL will begin play with four clubs, each featuring 15 players. The top 100 athletes identified through the league’s summer tryouts have advanced to the inaugural draft next month, which will include several high-profile talents — among them former Little League phenom Mo’ne Davis, USA Baseball standout Kelsie Whitmore, and Japanese ace Ayami Sato.
All games during the league’s debut season will be played at a neutral venue, to be announced in the coming months. League organizers cited market size, fan engagement, and cultural influence as key factors in selecting the four host cities.
“Each of these cities are storied sports cities,” Siegal said in a statement. “We can’t wait to connect with the fans who live there and with baseball fans across the country. This is more than just a league — it’s a movement.”
Siegal, along with WPBL co-founder and attorney Keith Stein, has assembled a team of respected advisors, including World Series-winning manager Cito Gaston. Together, they aim to create an environment that celebrates athleticism, diversity, and the shared passion for the game that transcends gender.
“You’re going to see passion,” Siegal said in an earlier interview. “These women love the game so much. It’s been an obstacle to get to play professionally, but now we’re living out our dreams. It’s going to be fantastic.”
Women’s baseball has been steadily gaining momentum globally. The U.S. women’s national team has won two Women’s Baseball World Cups and recently finished as the runner-up in the 2024 event. Players like Whitmore, who has competed in several independent leagues, including the Atlantic League and the Pioneer League, have been instrumental in breaking barriers and expanding the visibility of women in professional baseball.
As the countdown to 2026 begins, the WPBL stands poised to redefine what the professional baseball landscape looks like, proving once again that there is crying in baseball, but this time, it’s tears of joy for a long-overdue return.