Heritage Minute visits Ogema to remember local baseball star

There’s no crying in baseball, but in this league, there’s lipstick.

A new Heritage Minute was filmed in Ogema to tell the story of Mary (Bonnie) Baker, a professional baseball player from Regina.

Baker was a catcher and utility infielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) which was formed in 1943. The league was the subject of the film “A League of Their Own,” starring Geena Davis and Tom Hanks.

The Heritage Minute has been in the works since November. Director Anita Ayres was ecstatic to finally begin filming to tell Baker’s story.

“She’s a hero,” Ayres said Thursday in Ogema. “She’s a woman who came out and created a space that didn’t exist before her.”

Heritage Minutes are 60-second short films that depict a significant person, event or story in Canadian history. Ayres was honoured to be a part of that “legacy.”

“I imagine that all of us will be looking back at this for the next 20 or 30 years,” said Ayres. “To all of us, this is a very important moment in all of our careers.”

The Ogema ball diamond — named after another AAGPBL player, Arleene Johnson — was completely transformed for the shoot.

Two American flags with 48 stars were raised on either side of bleachers. Red, white and blue decor draped the dugout and surrounding fences.

The players wore historically accurate blue uniforms with logos that said “City of South Bend, Indiana.” The dugout was lined with pre-stained fence boards to look like rough, aged wood and was filled with sanded wooden bats and vintage ball gear.

(Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Anything to be seen on camera was approved or created by production designer Les Fraser. He said one of the biggest challenges was accuracy, and noted researching and fact-checking alone could take days.

“We have lots of references to show that that’s a legitimate look for that year,” said Fraser. “We make sure that we have a historical reference for it.”

“Letterkenny” actress Michelle Mylett plays the iconic heroine. She said reading the script hooked her into the story.

“It means a lot,” said Mylett. “She was such a trailblazer, an incredible athlete and an advocate for women, which is really cool especially in the ’40s when times were a lot different.”

According to Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport Laura Ross, Creative Saskatchewan provided $80,000 for the project and the film created 52 jobs.

“This is what Saskatchewan is all about,” said Ross. “People all come together, they roll up their sleeves and they get the job done.”

The AAGPBL was formed to help baseball parks across the United States that were empty because teams had disbanded due to the Second World War. The league gave more than 600 female athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball.