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A Museum Of Their Own? Women's Baseball Group Looking At Rockford

Susan Stephens
/
WNIJ

The Rockford area has a long history of women’s baseball, from the Rockford Peaches in the '40s and '50s to today’s Starfires. Now it’s trying to capitalize on that history by wooing the International Women’s Baseball Center to build a museum there.

Representatives from the IWBC are in Rockford to check out potential sites. Winnebago County Board Chair Scott Christiansen says initial talks have gone well. He says the next step is for the group to “put together what they want, we will look at costs and all potential avenues for funding.”

Christiansen met with the group and sees Rockford’s storied baseball history as a big advantage: especially after the hard work Friends of Beyer Stadium volunteers put in restoring the home of the Rockford Peaches. They’re looking at a factory site across from Beyer Field: that’s where the Peaches played and were immortalized in the film “A League of Their Own.” 

Susan is an award-winning reporter/writer at her favorite radio station. She's also WNIJ's Perspectives editor, Under Rocks contributor, and local host of All Things Considered.
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