During World War II when all the men are fighting the war, most of the jobs that were left vacant because of their absence were filled in by women. The owners of the baseball teams, not wanting baseball to be dormant indefinitely, decide to form teams with women, so scouts are sent all over the country to find female players. One of the scouts passes through Oregon and finds a woman named Dottie Hinson, who is incredible. He approaches her and asks her to try out but she's not interested, but her sister Kit has been wanting to get out of Oregon and offers to go with him; he agrees only if she can get her sister to come along. When they try out, they're chosen and are on the same team. Jimmy Dugan, a former player who's now a drunk, is the team manager. But he doesn't feel that it's a real job, so he drinks and is not exactly doing his job, so Dottie steps up. After a few months when it appears the girls are not garnering any attention, the league faces closure until Dottie does something that grabs attention. Before long, Dottie is the star of the team and Kit feels like she's living in her shadow.