The next time you watch "A League of Their Own," remember Michigan had two teams playing in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.
    The Grand Rapids Chicks, Muskegon Lasses and Battle Creek Belles were part of on-going League expansions that added to the original core: Rockford Peaches and Racine Belles, featured in the movie; as well as teams from South Bend, Indiana and Kenosha, Wisconsin.
    Founded by Chicago Cubs owner Phillip K. Wrigley in the early 1940s, the AAGPBL was created when the World War II draft decimated minor and major league baseball teams.
    In addition to filling up empty baseball stadiums, the league served the war effort, as team members put on USO show games, visited hospitals and helped develop youth programs. While many were consummate ball players, the girls were also expected to be perfect ladies, attending charm school and following specific instructions for beauty and hygiene regimens.
     Formed in 1945, the Chicks made their mark in history, winning a division pennant in 1947 and the League championship in 1953. They and all remaining teams disbanded when the league dissolved a year later.