The Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) is the latest iteration to vault professional women’s baseball into the center of baseball fandom.
It’s far from the first attempt at a formal league, but is the first since the Ladies League Baseball (LLB) collapsed a year after its 1997 launch.
The WPBL incorporated with four inaugural teams: the Los Angeles Queens, New York Heights, Boston Hunters, and San Francisco Firebells.
Each team name is an homage to four highly influential women: the “Queens” a testament to Lizzie Murphy, the “Queen of Baseball,” and the first woman to play against major league players in 1922; the Firebells in honor of “Firebell Lil” Lillie Hitchcock Colt who heroically battled a Telegraph Hill fire as a teenager; the Heights for civil rights activist Dorothy Height, and the Hunters for trailblazing physician Harriot Hunt.
While the WPBL has had an incredible first season, it’s worth digging into how it actually works as the playoffs approach.
How Long Is a WPBL Game?
Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
This first season, which has consisted of 15 games per team, has begun with a seven-inning length in accordance with World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) rules.
How Is the WPBL Different from the MLB?
While several key similarities exist between the WPBL and MLB, such as the identical 60-foot mound and 90-foot base-paths, there are a few key differences, too.
The first main difference is that while the MLB requires wood bats, the WPBL allows players to take their pick between wood or composite/metal bats, making it more similar to NCAA college baseball rules.
Another crucial difference is that while MLB teams carry 26 players on their active roster, WPBL teams have just 15 players on their active roster.
One other difference is that WPBL games, which have all occurred at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, have a distance to the outfield wall of about 290 feet down the lines and 360 feet to dead center, which is just a fraction smaller than MLB ballparks.
How Does the WPBL Postseason Work?
In this inaugural four-team format, all four teams will make the playoffs and advance to a best-of-three semifinal to determine who advances to the WPBL Championship. The seeding will be the No. 4 seed versus the No. 1 seed, and the No. 3 seed versus the No. 2 seed.
From there, the winners of each semifinal will advance to the best-of-five WPBL Championship.
When Is the WPBL Postseason?
Ron Johnson-Imagn images
The semifinal round runs from at least Sept. 9-12, but will extend to Sept. 13 and/or Sept. 14 if a winner-take-all Game 3 is needed in each series. The schedule, with times, is listed below:
- Series A, Semis Game 1: Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ET
- Series B, Semis Game 1: Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. ET
- Series A, Semis Game 2: Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. ET
- Series B, Semis Game 2: Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. ET
- Series A, Semis Game 3*: Sept. 13 at 3 p.m. ET
- Series B, Semis Game 3*: Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. ET
From there, the stage will be set for the WPBL to crown its first champion. The schedule is listed below:
- WPBL Championship Game 1: Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. ET
- WPBL Championship Game 2: Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. ET
- WPBL Championship Game 3: Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. ET
- WPBL Championship Game 4*: Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. ET
- WPBL Championship Game 5*: Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. ET
*=if necessary
Where Can I Watch the WPBL Postseason?
To catch the action in person, tickets for Robin Roberts Stadium can be purchased directly on the WPBL website, with prices ranging from general admission priced at $20 to front row seats priced at $52 for each semifinal or WPBL Championship Game.
If you can’t make it out, the WPBL postseason will be televised live on ESPN or the ESPN App, as well as the WPBL streaming hub, or YouTube if you live outside of the United States.
