When the Second World War started, Americans were regulated to ration necessities like gasoline, tires, butter, elastic, and just about anything you can think of – all in the name of patriotism.
They also lost the men. Young, strong men.
The kind of men who played professional baseball.
Which also meant that they lost baseball.
That was, of course, until the formation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, or AAGPBL – the league fictionally depicted in the 1992 film, A League of Their Own.