Making her pitch

Ila Borders with St. Paul

Forty-five years after Major League Baseball rejects a bid by infielder Eleanor Engle to become the first woman to play in the minor leagues for the Class B Harrisburg Senators in 1952, Ila Borders makes history 27 years ago today as the 22-year-old lefty pitches for the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League.

Borders ends up allowing three runs without recording an out in her 1997 debut, but she comes back the next day to strike out three batters.

The 5-foot-10, 150-pound Borders goes on to pitch four seasons in the independent leagues, going 2-4 with a 6.75 earned-run average.

She eventually becomes a firefighter in the Pacific Northwest.

“I had always wanted baseball my entire life, but after that ended, I needed to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Borders later tells writer Dan Zeiger.

“I figured that I like people, like helping people, and want something that is different and challenging every single day.”

Ila Borders today