As the Phillies go for their second World Series title beginning tonight against Tampa Bay, let’s take a look back when this ball club gave Edith Houghton, a chance to become the first woman hired as a first major-league baseball scout.
In 1866, Vassar College created the first women’s baseball team . In 1875, the first public game was held between two women’s teams. This first game was a form of entertainment organized by men. “The Blonds” played “The Brunettes.”
Still, baseball for women caught on. Early players took to the field in high-button shoes, high necklines, long skirts and long sleeves. Later, Amelia Bloomer would create loose trousers that carried her name.
The “Bloomer Girls” were born.The Bloomer Girls era lasted from the 1890s until 1934. Hundreds of teams; All Star Ranger Girls, Philadelphia Bobbies, New York Bloomer Girls, Baltimore Black Sox Colored Girls, offered employment, travel, and adventure for young women who could hit, field, slide, or catch.
Edith Houghton was only ten years old when she joined the Philadelphia Bobbies, a factory team made up of women, all of whom bobbed their hair. After the war, Edith wrote to Bob Carpenter, owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, asking for a job as a scout.Carpenter decided to give her a chance and the rest is HISTORY!!!!!
