Having played Little League Baseball myself, I am especially supportive of letting girls play, not only baseball, but all sports in general. There are some phenomenal women athletes in the world. In December 1974, Title IX of the 1972 Education Act was signed, granting equal opportunity in sports for girls as well as boys, and thus allowing more of them to shine through. This poem, written by J. Patrick Lewis, was published in A Burst of Firsts: Doers, Shakers, and Record Breakers (The Dial Press, 2001).
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The year was 1974
When Little Leaguers learned the score.
President Ford took out his pen,
And signed a law that said from then
On women too would have the chance
To wear the stripes and wear the pants.
Now what you hear, as flags unfurl,
Is “Atta boy!” and “Atta girl!”
