April 2: TODAY'S INSPIRING WOMEN

Jackie Mitchell

In 1931, 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell, the second woman to play baseball in the all-male minor leagues, pitched an exhibition game against the N.Y. Yankees and struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The next day, the Baseball Commissioner voided her contract, claiming baseball was too strenuous for women. The ban was not overturned until 1992.