International Women’s Professional Softball Association
Tombstone
Born: 1975 – IWPSA founding franchise
Folded: December 1976
First Game: May 29, 1976 (W 4-0 vs. Chicago Ravens)
Last Game: September 5, 1976 (W 1-0, W 3-0 vs. Buffalo Breskis)
IWPSA Championships: None
Stadium
Branding
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: Diane Reed
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Background
The Reading-based Pennsylvania Liberties were one of ten original franchises in the International Women’s Professional Softball Association (WPS), founded in 1976. The league was the brainchild of softball legend Joan Joyce, women’s tennis superstar Billie Jean King and sports promoter Dennis Murphy. The Liberties lasted only for the league’s first season before going out of business.
The Liberties shared Municipal Stadium with the Reading Phillies minor league baseball team during the summer of 1976. The Phillies took most of the prime dates, leaving the Liberties with only four out of fifteen Saturday night home games during the summer. The baseball team also kept the concessions sales from Liberties’ home games.
The WPS schedule called for a 120-game slate, consisting of 60 double-headers. The Liberties travelled by air to play teams as far away as Arizona and California, but the league’s mom-and-pop financing and tepid support hardly supported such ambitions. The Liberties were owned by a local realtor named Diane Reed. The Philadelphia Inquirer estimated that fewer than 500 fans showed up for the team’s debut home game on Municipal Stadium on May 29, 1976 despite a promised promotional appearance by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio.1Livingston, Bill. “Pat Whitman wins pro debut, 4-0”. The Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA). May 30, 1976 Liberties pitching ace Pat Whitman shutout the visiting Chicago Ravens in a rain-curtailed 6-inning contest.
Whitman and Pat Willis anchored the Liberties’ pitching staff. Toni Swartout (3B) was Pennsylvania’s lone representative at the 1976 WPS All-Star Game in San Jose, California. The Liberties finished the season with a 46-71 record.
Demise
Club owner Diane Reed explored a move to Pawtucket, Rhode Island after the season, but nothing came of it. The Pennsylvania Liberties folded in December 1976. In all, five of the ten original WPS clubs went out of business after the league’s debut season. The International Women’s Professional Softball Association trudged along for three more years before ceasing operations in 1980.
Links
International Women’s Professional Softball Association Programs
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