13. The actresses truly had to play hardball, training some eight hours a day, six days a week for seven-and-a-half months. “That bruise on Renee Coleman [backup catcher Alice Gaspers] from [sliding into base]—that was real,” said Reiner. “That was not one pinch of makeup. She had that bruise for, like, 10 years.”
14. Meanwhile Anne Ramsay (first baseman Helen Haley), broke her nose about two weeks before filming started. “It was the first day that we switched from modern-day mitts to authentic, vintage mitts from the ’40s. The mitts were restored a little bit, but they were the original deals. We were in Chicago, the coach throws me the ball…and maybe the fourth time he threw it, it just slips and hits me,” Ramsay shared. “They took me to the hospital, and we had to reset it, and my nose has never been the same. But who cares!”
15. There were a few soft balls, though, for the sake of the crew. “You’re actually hitting in the direction of the camera crew,” Davis told USA Today. “For close-ups, those balls were squishy. They looked like real baseballs, but they were all spongy inside so we wouldn’t clock anyone.”