More than a year has passed since Addie Frank tried out for the Women’s Pro Baseball League — a decision that got her drafted onto the Los Angeles Queens for the league’s inaugural season. The Call spoke to Frank in December regarding her sixth-round draft pick; now, the Oakville High School alum is several games into her first professional season.
“I’m ready to hit,” Frank said. “Anything I can do to help the team makes me happy.”
The LA Queens team consists of players from across the United States and abroad, boasting athletes from Canada, Mexico, Japan and Australia. Not only does the team hail from different places, but they make up a wide age range: the youngest players being 18 and the oldest players being 38. At 18, Frank is one of the youngest players on the team.
“We honestly are all there for each other,” Frank said. “(Being the youngest) has been fine — everyone is treated the same.”
According to Frank, the team didn’t get to practice together before the season started. Frank practiced with her trainer four days a week leading up to the start of the season, not even knowing if she’d be called up to play in the starting lineup until shortly before the first game. She says that 28 people were drafted to the team, but only 15 would be on the starting roster.
“We didn’t really know what was going to happen,” Frank said. “I didn’t know if I was going to get called up. It happened last minute. I just continued to train so I’d be ready if I did get called up.”
When she did get called up to play, Frank said, “I was really excited. It caught me by surprise, but I’m really grateful to be here.”
As of The Call’s press time, the LA Queens were ranked second in the league with a record of 5-4. The Women’s Pro Baseball League consists of four teams — Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston — though all four play in Springfield, Illinois for now.
As of press time, LA has played the San Francisco Firebells in five of their nine games: losing three times and winning twice. LA’s most recent matchup with their fellow California team on Aug. 21 ended with an 8-6 win for the Queens.
LA has snagged two wins against the Boston Hunters prior to press time; they played Boston again on Aug. 26.
The LA Queens banked one win and one loss against the New York Heights. LA’s 10-8 win on Aug. 1 was how they kicked off the season for opening day.
“Opening day was pretty wild. It was a full house,” Frank said. “(The games) are a good experience. My family comes to every game since we live in St. Louis, so they drive down. I think it’s pretty cool.”
Frank is a first baseman, but this season, she has been called in as a designated hitter and has even pitched. She says her first time stepping onto the field as a professional baseball player came with its own wave of nerves.
“It was a little nerve-wracking, but it ended up being fine,” Frank said. “I got kind of emotional, because it was scary, but I felt really honored. It went well, and now when I step on the field I think I’ll be more ready and confident.”
Frank has worked on hitting the ball “oppo,” meaning to the opposite field based on which hand you swing with.
“My hitting was a little off at first, when I first got here,” Frank said. “When I was training, I was working on taking it oppo, because sometimes I hold my head off the ball. When I have the approach of going oppo, I normally hit the ball up the middle, so I’ve actually been hitting decent in games when I’m playing.”