Women's baseball CdV

[GaryPassamonte]

Bryan- Unfortunately, this is the best I can do with a scan. I am deficient in this area!
I don't know if we can be sure if this image depicts women or boys. A player holding a bouquet is indeed strange. The pants are also very baggy, almost like pantaloons. The player's lower legs also appear not as muscular as a man's would be. Since there are no images of women and baseball prior to about 1880, it is not impossible that early women players wore trousers similar to those of their male counterparts. We do know that in the 1860s baseball was deemed too "rough" for women and became dormant until about 1880. Maybe the wearing of more "womenlike" clothing allowed for greater acceptance of the sport after 1880.