Character page for A League of Their Own (2022).
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The Rockford Peaches
Carson Shaw
Carson Shaw
- Played by: Abbi Jacobson
The team’s catcher, she joined the Peaches to get away from her husband who was recently discharged from the army.
- Armoured Closet Gay: Briefly in episode three, Carson asserts to [Greta] that she is "normal".
- Awful Wedded Life: Carson is not happy in her marriage with her husband Charlie, even though she does care for him and considers him her best friend. The reason she joins the Peaches in the first place is because she got news that Charlie was coming back home, and she instinctively wanted to run away. She later realizes that the reason her marriage with Charlie is so unhappy is because, even though she loves him as a friend, she was never actually in love with him.
- Badass Bookworm: Carson is first introduced as a lover of reading and books, bringing books to a sports tryout and even being teased for it. During tryouts it is revealed that she is very skilled at baseball hinting at hidden depths.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Carson Shaw is a deliberate inversion of Dottie Hinson's character from the original film. Dottie grew up and worked on her family's farm, while Carson repeatedly states that she isn't from a farm. Dottie was Happily Married and very nearly left the Peaches to reunite with her husband, while Carson joined the Peaches to get away from her husband. Dottie was The Ace who was regarded as both the best player in the entire league and also the public face of women's baseball, while Carson's arc is learning to believe in herself and growing into a position of leadership.
- Crazy-Prepared: She regularly makes cards of all the plays of the players on the teams the Peaches compete against, which ends up coming in handy when she starts acting as coach for the team.
- Endearingly Dorky: Carson is bookish, awkward, and very prone to rambling when she talks, but all of these traits make her even more endearing to Greta, who is charmed by her dorkiness.
- Grew a Spine: Carson's arc throughout the show is to find what her own wants and desires are and to find her own voice and style of leadership. She starts off as a pushover who lets other people walk over her and talk for her, and becomes a leader in her own right by the end of the show.
- Innocently Insensitive: Occasionally, towards both Max and Lupe. She's a 1940s white woman from small-town Idaho who's socially awkward to begin with and hyper-fixated on baseball, and, as a result, she can sometimes say or do things without realizing that her non-white friends/teammates would take offense. She clearly doesn't realize that she has the advantage after she and Lupe start a fight in the middle of a game. (Carson stops Lupe from walking away, and Lupe throws the first shove.)
- Late Coming Out: Carson is already a grown, married woman before she accepts that she is attracted to women and not to her husband.
- Missing Mom: Her mother left when Carson was ten. Carson's older sister Meg clearly resents the resulting Promotion to Parent.
- Runaway Fiancé: Carson and Charlie are already married, but Charlie is away serving in the war so they are not living together as husband and wife. When Carson learns that he is being discharged and sent home, she panics at the thought of actually being married together and flees to the league.
- Secret Relationship: With Greta. The relationship is kept a secret due to Carson's marriage and period-typical homophobia.
Greta Gill
Greta Gill
- Played by: D'Arcy Carden
A very feminine player, she joined the Peaches as final adventure before she moved to Hollywood to become a star with Jo.
- Closet Key: She functions as this for Carson.
- Lipstick Lesbian: She's very feminine, and she loves women.
- Lonely Among People: Greta is gregarious, flirty, and charming... but it's an act she puts on to protect herself and the people she cares for. Underneath her outer persona, she's lonely and doesn't have anyone other than Jo because she's terrified of letting herself be vulnerable by making serious connections with anyone else. Even her past romantic relationships after Dana were nothing more than flings, and the women she had these relationships with go right back to their husbands afterward.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Greta and Jo have grown up together, traveled together, came to grips with their sexuality together, and are now playing baseball together. However as the season progresses they grow apart and eventually realize that they each need to live their own lives, and cannot continue to live as a duo.
- Secret Relationship: With Carson. The relationship is kept a secret due to Carson's marriage and period-typical homophobia.
Lupe Garcia
Lupe “The Spanish Striker” Garcia
- Played by: Roberta Colindrez
Lupe is the team’s very talented pitcher.
- Butch Lesbian: She presents masculinely unless she's forced not to, such as during the charm school segment or when out in public, and she wears her hair short.
- Hiding Your Heritage: She is labelled as "The Spanish Striker" in order to make her seem Spanish instead of Mexican.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Lupe can be abrasive and surly, but she's kind to Jess and, though she's cold to Esti at first partially due to resentment from having to be her translator and partially because she reminds her of her own daughter who was taken away from her when she was a teenager, she eventually shows more care towards her. She even warms up to Carson after they got off to a rough start.
- The Lancer: Lupe becomes co-captain of the team with Carson. This started out rough but they eventually learned to work together, filling the gaps in each others' leadership methods.
- Spicy Latina: Discussed and Played for Drama. Lupe gets into trouble because of a fight she gets into with Carson on the field, but, as Lupe points out to Jess, she didn't even start that fight—Carson did—and yet she's the one shouldering the blame for it, even getting passed over for the title of coach in favor of Carson. She's treated like she's the one who instigated the fight largely because of this trope and its associated stereotypes: because she's Latina, she's assumed to be the "fiery troublemaker" who started the fight, rather than the white Carson.Lupe: (to Jess) [Carson] grabbed me. But I'm the "fiery troublemaker"? She started the fight, not me. She had secret practices behind my back. She drove Dove away. And now she gets to coach. She didn't even want that. Just had it handed to her. And you... never wondered why that is? Hermano.
- Trolling Translator: When Maybelle asks Lupe how to say, "I'm a happy lady," in Spanish, Lupe tells her to say, "Soy una mensa," which actually means, "I am an idiot."
Jess McCready
Jess McCready
- Played By: Kelly McCormack
A hyper-competitive member of the Peaches.
- Butch Lesbian: She presents masculinely and wears pants regularly even though she always accrues a fine for doing so, and she's attracted to women.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed because she's not that much of a jerk, but she is rather intense. Meanwhile she has a soft side that she shows to Lupe and Esti. She's the one who mainly looks out for Esti and even learns some Spanish to help communicate with her.
- The Lad-ette: She's a gruff shortstop who smokes, spits, dresses masculinely, and is otherwise rather unladylike. This almost gets her into trouble in charm school and she's almost kicked off the team for it until Greta and Carson step in to help her.
- Loon with a Heart of Gold: Similar to Jerk with a Heart of Gold, Jess is mentioned to be in a lot of insane situations (such as a sinking boat on several occasions) and is also seen as a very eccentric person by the other Rockford Peaches.
- Moose and Maple Syrup: Jess is from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She's a competent outdoorsman (implied to have survived several boat sinkings) and often shares characteristically rural aphorisms.
Esti González
Esti González
- Played By: Priscilla Delgado
A young Cuban player who doesn’t speak English.
- Fragile Speedster: She's the fastest stealer in the league, and while not physically fragile, she's emotionally vulnerable.
- Language Barrier: Because she can't speak English very well and, apart from Lupe, the rest of the Peaches can't speak or understand Spanish, Esti frequently gets left out of group activities outside of the field due to her inability to communicate with anyone else. It doesn't help that Lupe resents having to act as her translator. Jess does eventually try to learn some Spanish to try to more easily connect with her so that she doesn't feel so isolated.
Maybelle Fox
Maybelle Fox
- Played By: Molly Ephraim
A feisty and bubbly player for the Peaches.
- Big-Breast Pride: She's fairly buxom and has complimented her breasts on their size.Shirley: Maybelle, [Jo] could've seen my breasts!
Maybelle: Everyone on the team has seen your breasts. They've seen mine too. 'Cause they're great. - Farmer's Daughter: Judging from the speech she gives to rally the Peaches, Maybelle seems to hail from the country.Maybelle: Ladies, I don't mean to brag, but you are standing in the presence of the six-time winner of the Little Miss Corn Chowder competition... Do you think it matters that the Mayor's niece trots out there, younger than you, in a little gingham number with her artificially-fattened heifer? She doesn't know how to drive a pig, does she? No. Do you think it matters? No-siree-Bob's-my-uncle, it doesn't. 'Cause you still got the best tits in Heehaw Township and all you gotta do is get out there and let them taste your chowder!
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Maybelle has platinum blonde hair and is one of the sweetest members of the Peaches.
- Hidden Depths:
- She has two kids. Shirley is particularly shocked to find this out.
Maybelle: You know, it's like my oldest always says...
Shirley: Your oldest... Child? As in, as in a child? Is that... You're a mother? You have child— You have a child?
Maybelle: Why do you think I've been living it up so hard? This is my only time away. And who in the hell you think I've been knitting that (holds up a child-sized sweater) for?
Shirley: Oh, my God. Who are you? Who are you people?- Even though she's straight woman from a seemingly rural area, she has no problem with the fact that most of her teammates are queer.
- Proud Beauty: Downplayed because she doesn't take advantage of her looks, but she's aware people find her attractive and she's proud of that.
Jo Deluca
Jo Deluca
- Played By: Melanie Field
A fun-loving member of the Peaches and talented batter.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Jo is heavyset, but that doesn't stop her from being able to attract women at the local gay bar.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Her powerful batting skill and exuberant personality always help keep the team spirits up.
- Butch Lesbian: Jo presents masculinely and takes to wearing boxer shorts after Jess shows her how to get them. Her butch presentation is what causes Shirley to suspect she's queer.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Greta and Jo have grown up together, traveled together, came to grips with their sexuality together, and are now playing baseball together. However as the season progresses they grow apart and eventually realize that they each need to live their own lives, and cannot continue to live as a duo.
Shirley Cohen
Shirley Cohen
- Played By: Kate Berlant
A highly anxious player for the Peaches.
- The Finicky One: She uses multiple humidifiers, is Terrified of Germs, and can't even deal with perfumes worn by anyone rooming with her.
- Nervous Wreck: Shirley is extremely neurotic and constantly worries about everything from germs to dented cans (because she's worried they can cause botulism).
- Terrified of Germs
Rockford Townspeople
Max Chapman
Maxine “Max” Chapman
- Played By: Chanté Adams
A talented pitcher who continually gets turned down due to her race, gender, or both.
- Gender-Blender Name: Max is both a man and a woman's name. She decides to use this to her advantage and pretends to be a man.
- It's All About Me: Max has an unfortunate habit of taking Clance's emotional support and forgetting to return it when necessary. After losing her spot on the company baseball team she goes to Clance's house, only for Clance to point out that this is her and Guy's last night together before he is drafted into the army. Clance had hoped that Max was coming to offer her own support, and has to shut the door in her face when she realized that Max had come for Clance to comfort her.
- Jackie Robinson Story: While the entire league has to struggle with the institutional sexism of America in 1943, Max also has to struggle against the racism of the era as well. She is not even allowed to try out for the league, and spends the whole season trying to force her way onto a local team that blocks her for her sex, her race, or both.
- Platonic Life-Partners: She is best friends with Clance and they are each other's closest person.
Clance Morgan
Clance Morgan
- Played By: Gbemisola Ikumelo
A comic book artist and Max’s best friend.
- Black and Nerdy: Clance is very enthusiastic about comic books, knowing a lot of lore about Speed Jaxon and Wonder Woman, regularly writing in letters to the comic book editors (and getting frustrated when they publish the letters while editing them to make them look like they're praising the comic), getting into arguments with the neighborhood kids about comic book opinions, and even drawing her own comics for Guy, herself, and Max.
- Happily Married: She starts off the show already married to Guy, and she clearly loves him a lot. She is crushed when he is drafted to fight in the war.
- Intergenerational Rivalry: She has an ongoing feud with the children next door over their interpretation and critique of comic books.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Clance and Max are best friends, and Clance even considers her relationship with Max more important than her relationship with her own husband.Clance: (to Max) I love you more than anyone else in the entire world, you know that, right?
Guy: I'm right here.
Guy
Guy
- Played By: Aaron Jennings
Clance’s husband.
- Bespectacled Cutie: Guy is adored by his wife Clance and it is mentioned that she likes his glasses as it adds to his charm.
