Boston Garden Celtics, Bruins, & Olympets?

02/27/2012

By Cara Jordan

In a time before “A League of Their Own” there were the Boston Olympets. The

Olympets, or “Pets” as they were known, were a professional women’s softball team

who played ball inside the Boston Garden.

Boston Garden c.1930 Photo courtesy of museumofthecity.org

The Olympets were created by Boston Garden owner, Walter Brown, to draw crowds to

the Garden during the summer “off season.” Starting in the late 1930’s until 1943 the

Olympets did just that. As team member Mary Pratt recalls about playing ball inside

Boston Garden, “They took the diamond and put it on a diagonal and they put a post

down by first base and as a lefty you could quite readily hit into the stands, but that

would only go for a single, but to hit it to left field was a long, long distance at the

Garden.”

Boston Olympets outfield brigade at the Boston Garden, photo courtesy of the Boston

Public Library

Olympets uniform top. MTS study collection.

The Olympets uniform consisted of red satin shorts, a white and blue uniform top with

red, white, and blue lettering. The team name "Olympets" was spelled out across the

front of the uniform top and the player’s number was positioned on the back. The letter

“B” was also positioned on one of the sleeves. Players footwear consisted of leather

laced sneakers. The team also had yellow satin jackets that they wore for away games.

The jackets had blue ribbing at the waist and cuffs and the team nickname “PETS” was

spelled out in blue lettering across the back.

Olympets away jacket. MTS study collection.

Many of the women from the Olympets went on to play in the AAGPBL, the All

American Girls Professional Baseball League, formed in 1943. Some of the teams that

became part of the AAGPBL, such as the Racine Belles and Rockford Peaches, were

portrayed in the film “A League of Their Own.” Several of the women featured in this

film got their start as Boston Olympets.

Uniform shorts with no number. MTS study collection.

Camille Breeze was fortunate enough to obtain four pieces of an Olympets uniform to

add to the MTS study collection. We are now in possession of an away jacket with the

number 6, a pair of red shorts with the number 6, a pair of red shorts with no number,

and a jersey with the number 14. According to the seller, Martha Stickney, the uniform

belonged to Virginia MacCarthy of Wakefield, Massachusetts. A photograph of Virginia

is known to exist. Martha, who graduated from Wakefield High School in 1981, had

made some baseball history of her own by being the first girl to play on the boys’

baseball team.

Hopefully, further research will shed light on who Virginia McCarthy was and when she

played for the Boston Olympets.