The opener of the inaugural Womenโs Pro Baseball League season on Aug. 1 had no shortage of memorable moments.
The New York Heights and the Los Angeles Queens kicked off the historic season at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. The game itself, which ended in a 10-8 come-from-behind victory by the Queens, was filled with plenty of action. It also marked the debut of the first womenโs professional baseball league in the U.S. in almost three decades.
But two particular parts of the night drew a flurry of internet chatter: a rather creative rendition of the National Anthem and a moving first pitch that deserves a spot in history books.
The National Anthem, led by Motown legend Martha Reeves, drew criticisms and a whole lot of shock from social media users.
โAbsolutely nothing could have prepared me for the national anthem at the first Womenโs Pro Baseball League tonight,โ wrote one X user.
During the performance, several players were caught on camera, attempting to keep straight faces. The shaky notes were also met with smiles and stifled laughter from those in the crowd.
Some even joked that the singer may actually have dethroned Fergie for the most, uh, interesting rendition of the song. Fergie went viral in 2018 for her slower, jazzier version of the โStar Spangled Bannerโ at the NBA All-Star Game.
Reeves did not immediately respond to TODAY.comโs request for comment.
The performance doesnโt necessarily reflect Reevesโ legendary career. The 85-year-old has long been known as the lead singer of 1960s popular Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. With hits like โDancing in the Street,โ โNowhere to Runโ and โ(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave,โ the groupโs popularity and impact on music landed them a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They were inducted in 1995 by members of the B-52s.
The day of baseball, however, picked up with a moving moment from 99-year-old Maybelle Blair, who threw out the first ceremonial pitch.
Blair played in 1948 for the Peoria Redwings of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the original professional womenโs baseball league in the U.S. The AAGPBL โ which kicked off in 1943, flourishing during wartime, and inspiring the 1992 film โA League of Their Ownโ โ dissolved in 1954. Blair spent decades, advocating for womenโs sports.
Seated in a wheelchair, Blair threw out the pitch to Kelsie Whitmore, captain of the San Francisco Firebells.
The moment was an emotional one for many fans, whoโve waited quite some time to see women take the baseball diamond professionally.
โtears in my eyes at maybelle blair at the age of 99 getting to see another professional womenโs baseball league start after so many years, the woman is a trailblazer and an icon,โ one social media user said.
Another fan wrote that โseeing da new players interact w maybelle blair makes me want to cry.โ
Blair was also honored with a mascot in her likeness.
The league was first announced in 2024 by WPBL co-founder Justine Siegal. By October 2025, the league unveiled Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston as the first cities to have teams.
The first game, between the Queens and the Heights, ended up being action-packed. Queens outfielder Moโne Davis โ who in 2014 became the first girl to pitch a winning game, throwing a shutout in the Little League World Series โ made history once again by scoring the first run in the WPBL. She was driven in by Maggie Foxx, a pitcher-outfielder.
The first home run of the league was also scored during the opener. Heights catcher Denae Benites went long, cranking one to center.