Author Description

Ella Black was the elusive and enigmatic Pittsburgh baseball correspondent for The Sporting Life newspaper from March to November of 1890. Ella remains a mysterious figure beyond the 37 articles in this volume of the Sports She Wrote series. After her final article she disappeared from journalism and her life story is unknown. The Sporting Life, with over 40,000 subscribers, featured weekly reports from correspondents nationwide who often engaged in rivalry and mockery akin to modern social media posts. Many of these comments directed at Ella are included in this volume. As the newspaper's sole female correspondent, Ella faced condescension and criticism, even questioning her gender and competence. However, she fearlessly sparred with them, sharing insights into players' lives and fans' sentiments, shattering stereotypes about women's knowledge of sports. Ella chose a pivotal season in which to write, as many disaffected players abandoned the established major leagues and formed their own league in 1890, upsetting the status quo. The National League (the same one that exists today) and the American Association (which folded in 1891), were challenged by the upstart Players' League, also known as the Brotherhood League, formed by the players themselves who banded together to fight the authoritarian dictates of the moguls who ran the other two leagues. The Brotherhood only lasted one year, during which Ella provided insightful coverage of its rise and fall. Ella reported on the two teams in Pittsburgh: The National League Alleghenies and the Players' League Burghers. Both teams had losing records, with the Alleghenies posting one of the worst records of all time, winning only 23 games and losing 113. Despite initial skepticism about her gender, Ella met with players and executives, and the renowned Hall of Fame sportswriter Henry Chadwick vouched for her authenticity as a woman who knew baseball. Ella's writing reflects her love for baseball, he