--- title: Women in Baseball History: See the New York Female Giants description: The 1913 all-female team was perhaps a novelty to some, but—as these photos show—the players took the game seriously canonical: https://time.com/4539351/new-york-female-giants-baseball/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-25T16:00:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:25.051Z article:section: History og:title: Women in Baseball History: See the New York Female Giants og:description: The 1913 all-female team was perhaps a novelty to some, but—as these photos show—the players took the game seriously og:url: https://time.com/4539351/new-york-female-giants-baseball/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8df7c8ac341d0a9a/6988aaeccf40a8e455c4540d/161020-ny-female-giants-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: New York Female Giants og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Women in Baseball History: See the New York Female Giants twitter:description: The 1913 all-female team was perhaps a novelty to some, but—as these photos show—the players took the game seriously twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8df7c8ac341d0a9a/6988aaeccf40a8e455c4540d/161020-ny-female-giants-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See How the New York Female Giants Made Baseball History by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Oct 25, 2016 4:00 PM UTC  The New York Female Giants, circa 1913. The New York Female Giants, circa 1913.Library of Congress by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Oct 25, 2016 4:00 PM UTC When the first game of the 2016 World Series begins on Tuesday night, every player on the field will be, as has always been the case with Major League Baseball, a man. But female ballplayers [aren’t ](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-york-giants-once-had-girls-team-180955519/?no-ist)just the stuff of [fiction](time.com/4505358/pitch-fox-inclusivity-paris-barclay) or even [wartime necessity](http://time.com/3760024/women-professional-baseball/). Case in point: the New York Female Giants, who [came together in 1913](http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92053934/1913-05-05/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1789&index=3&rows=20&words=Female+FEMALE+Giants+GIANTS+NEW+New+York+YORK&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1922&proxtext=%22new+york+female+giants%22&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1). A New York _Times_ article from that year [explained](http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/05/27/100624067.html?pageNumber=8) that the Female Giants comprised 32 players who competed against one another on two teams, the Reds and Blues. Historian Michael Carlebach notes in his book [_Bain’s New York_](https://books.google.com/books?id=3Rr2lvoFsAQC&pg=PA145&dq=%22new+york+female+giants%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RVtwVdKcH4y0yASrqoLwBQ&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22new%20york%20female%20giants%22&f=false) that it seems likely that the Giants were created by John McGraw, manager of the MLB’s Giants, then a New York team. The young women of the team, mostly high school students, were a curiosity and perhaps seen by many as [a mere stunt](https://books.google.com/books?id=laVVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT435&lpg=PT435&dq=%22new+york+female+giants%22&source=bl&ots=LdLjNNCZHB&sig=42e5EWLs-JEViZYkDOpMvfYrEW0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPosmF-ezPAhVFrD4KHUIJBg84FBDoAQg9MAc#v=onepage&q=%22female%20giants%22&f=false)—but the athletes played for real.  Ida Schnall, America's champion athlete. She was a swimmer, Olympic diver, baseball player, and fitness instructor. The tall trophy was awarded in San Francisco in 1915 for being America's most beautifully formed woman. Adam Glickman/Underwood Archives—Getty Images It was an important time for women in sports; for example, the [1912 Olympics](https://books.google.com/books?id=EyZsohz8DmsC&pg=PA125&dq=Ida+Schnall&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXzKqX7-zPAhVEGz4KHUfNArIQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=Ida%20Schnall&f=false) saw women competing in more strenuous activities (swimming, notably) than they had before. Team captain Ida Schnall—who was also a competitive diver who had hoped to compete at those Olympic Games—expressed her thoughts on the subject in a [letter](http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/07/19/100636428.html?pageNumber=5) to the _Times_: --- > “” --- Schnall later moved to California to be in the movies, and [organized](http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1916-01-06/ed-2/seq-9/#date1=1789&index=0&rows=20&words=Female+Giants+New+York&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1922&proxtext=%22new+york+female+giants%22&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1) another women’s baseball club there.  The New York Female Giants, circa 1913. Library of Congress  The New York Female Giants, circa 1913. Library of Congress  The New York Female Giants, circa 1913. Library of Congress  Miss Schnall sliding to first. Miss Morgan on bag. The New York Female Giants, circa 1913. Library of Congress  The New York Female Giants, circa 1913. Library of Congress  New York female "Giants" - Miss McCullum catcher and Miss Ryan at bat. Circa 1913. Library of Congress  The New York Female Giants, circa 1913. 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