Maybelle Blair, ALOTO Inspiration, Throws 1st Pitch at Dodgers Game

Maybelle Blair, the former professional baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game at Dodger Stadium on Sunday as part of the team's Women's Day celebration.

The 95-year-old Blair, whose character was one of the inspirations for the 1992 movie and new Amazon series entitled A League of Their Own, later joined broadcasters Joe Davis and legendary Hall of Fame Dodger pitcher Oral Hershiser in the broadcasting booth to reminisce about the game.

"I grew up loving baseball and I'll die loving baseball," Blair told Hershiser and Davis. She also revealed she became a fan of the Dodgers while growing up in her nearby Inglewood, Calif., even though the team played in Brooklyn, New York, at the time.

Blair, who was known as "All the Way Mae" during her career, played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League as a pitcher for the Peoria Redwings. She had primarily played second base until then. An injury prevented her from reaching her full potential with the Redwings, though, and she was eventually released. She later played for the National Women's Softball League in Chicago during the 1950s.

Despite her age, Blair only recently came out publicly.

"I hid for 95 years, trying to hide my gayness," Blair said in a panel discussion at the Tribeca Film Festival last June, adding the world is a different place than when she played the game.

"I think it's a great opportunity for these young girl ball players to come [to] realize that they're not alone, and you don't have to hide," Blair continued. "I hid for 75, 85 years, and this is actually basically the first time I've ever come out."

In recent years, Blair has stayed active in baseball. She served as a consultant for the new A League of Their Own series. She's also been a strong advocate of women's baseball, telling Hershiser and Davis she is "so thrilled that baseball is coming back for girls."

She used her platform Sunday to encourage fans to donate to the International Women's Baseball Center in Rockford, Ill. Fans of the movie and television show A League of Their Own will recognize the town as the home of the Rockford Peaches team. She hopes to raise $1 million dollars to establish a museum, a Hall of Fame for women baseball players, and to host a Little League World Series for girls.

"It would be such a wonderful thing for women's baseball," she told Hershiser and Davis, adding, "We need our own Hall of Fame."