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The inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League season begins tomorrow, August 1. Below, answers to some of the most commonly asked questions I’ve seen on my social media. And before you get there, I have two stories about players that published this week.

The WPBL is a professional women’s baseball league based in the United States. It is the first pro women’s baseball league since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that started during World War II (yes, of A League of Their Own fame, and yes, this will be the last time we mention that damn movie).

There are four teams for the inaugural season: the Boston Hunters, the New York Heights, the San Francisco Firebells, and the Los Angeles Queens. For more on how the team names were chosen, here is a breakdown.

Each team will have 15 players on the roster.

Games will be played in a centralized location—Robin Roberts Field in Springfield, Illinois. This is being done to keep costs down during the inaugural season.

It is an eight-week season, with six weeks for the regular season and two weeks for the playoffs. Each team plays two (occasionally three) games per week. The regular season begins August 1 and ends September 6. The playoffs start September 9 with participation and standings being determined by the regular season records, and “will consist of three-game series, with the winners moving on to the five-game series WPBL Championship to determine the overall champion,” according to Togethxr. 

In the U.S., games will be broadcast on ESPN and Scripps. If you are outside the U.S., you can watch games on YouTube.

The game is being played with MLB rules, with a few key differences.

Let’s talk about the two rule differences I’ve seen asked most about: the seven inning games, and the option for metal and composite bats. I’ll also address the smaller roster sizes here.

Regarding the seven inning games, that’s already the standard in international play. The World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) made the change after the 2020 Olympics but before the last Women’s Baseball World Cup, citing length/audience interest and athlete quotas.

The “athlete quotas” piece is where I think the shorter games and smaller rosters become relevant. Although drafting internationally expands the talent pool, there are way fewer elite women’s baseball players to choose from than men’s. On top of that, you had to add in roster construction (making sure you have someone who can play each position). It’s possible there isn’t a deep enough pool to field the number of players an MLB team does (nor can the league afford to pay that many players for their first season). Players are also only playing two games per week for eight weeks as opposed to 162 games that MLB players have, so you don’t need as much rest or downtime, like MLB players might. And they also aren’t used to having the schedule of a pro athlete, so longer games could be harder on their bodies in ways they haven’t had the time to train for yet.

As for the bats? It’s often about money—aluminum bats are more durable than wood and tend to last longer. College baseball also uses them (though it’s worth noting that the Women’s Baseball World Cup uses wood bats).

There will definitely be some surprises from players I haven’t gotten to watch before and I’m most excited about that. But some big names to pay attention to include: Firebells pitcher Kelsie Whitmore, who has played pro ball with the men and has been playing in Banana Ball this season. Also coming off Banana Ball seasons and USWNT domination are Queens third baseman Ashton Lansdell and Heights catcher Denae Benites. Pitching for the Queens will be Ayami Sato from Japan, considered to be the best women’s baseball player in the world, and Little League World Series star Mo’ne Davis.

That’s a very small list, but there will be way more players that will impress.