Almost 24 years ago, A League of their Own was released to great success at the box office. Directed by Penny Marshall, it included an all-star cast including Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Jon Lovitz, Rosie O’Donnell, Madonna, and Lori Petty.
This past Mother’s Day, some of the cast reunited to play softball at the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas. Davis is a co-founder of the Bentonville Film Festival, which is in its second year. A member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the war, Gina Casey, did the honors and threw out the first pitch.
“This event was so popular last year that we decided to do it again,” Davis stated on the festival’s official website. “I’m so thrilled to have six of my Rockford Peaches cast mates attending the game this year.”
The movie stars included Geena Davis, Tracy Reiner, Anne Ramsay, Freddie Simpson, Megan Cavanaugh, and Patti Pelton. Other cast members including Tom Hanks, Rosie O’Donnell, Madonna, Jon Lovitz, and director Penny Marshall could not attend the event.
Although fictitious, A League of their Own looked at the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was assembled during World War II. Many athletes and aspiring players were drafted to serve in the war, leaving an opening for women to play sports while entertaining Americans at home.
Walter Harvey, a candy maker at the time, funded the league in a publicity stunt, requiring women to play in short skirts in hopes of drawing a crowd. In little to no time, these players showed the world they were as athletic as the men.
The film was essentially a “dramedy,” touching on the struggles and losses the players went through as many of their husbands were serving their country.