Maybelle Blair

Maybelle Blair

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 150 lb.

• Born January 16, 1927 in Inglewood, CA USA

Biographical Information

Maybelle Blair played one season with the Peoria Redwings of the AAGPBL in 1948. After her short time there, she decided to join a softball team in Chicago, IL. She was said to have been a prestigious softball player even before playing baseball. She grew up in Texas and California.

In 2022 Blair came out as a lesbian at age 95. Despite her waiting so long to come out, she stated that of all the players in the AAGPBL "out of 650, I bet you 400 was gay." She received a lot of media attention around that time because she was one of the few remaining survivors from the league, and was still in good enough health to be an active participant in events staged to commemorate it.

She is said to have been an inspiration for the character Mae Mordabito in the 1992 film A League of Their Own while other sources argue it was Faye Dancer.

Further reading

• Michael Clair: "Former pro is 97 and living life like only she knows how", mlb.com, March 3, 2024. [1]
• Elizabeth Muratore: "Mets honor women's baseball trailblazer Maybelle Blair: AAGPBL veteran receives inaugural Amazin’ Mets Foundation Legacy Award", mlb.com, September 14, 2023. [2]
• Dylan Svoboda: "Women's baseball icon talks effort to expand, celebrate game for girls: 95-year-old Blair, inspiration for 'A League of Their Own,' joins booth in LA", mlb.com, August 21, 2022. [3]