Women's Pro Baseball League gets started with brutal national anthem rendition

A national anthem rendition ahead of a Women's Pro Baseball League game drew social media backlash.

The Women’s Pro Baseball League started Saturday with a game between the Los Angeles Queens and the New York Heights but sports fans were seemingly drawn to the festivities before the first pitch was thrown.

Martha Reeves, the lead singer of the Motown group Martha and the Vandellas who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and have one of their hits, "Dancing in the Street," listed in the United States Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, was among those who were tapped to sing the national anthem before the game.

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Singer Martha Reeves sings the national anthem before the Women's Pro Baseball League Opening Day game between the New York Heights and the Los Angeles Queens at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill., on Aug. 1, 2026. (Getty Images)

Reeves, 85, and two other women left a lot to be desired as their rendition of the "The Star-Spangled Banner" was panned on social media. The fans who packed Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, as well as some of the players were taken aback by the performance.

It was a sour tune to start an otherwise historic night for women’s baseball. It was the first women’s pro baseball game played in the U.S. in nearly three decades.

Mo’ne Davis may have been the most recognizable face on the field. Davis, who captured the hearts and minds of sports fans during the Little League World Series in 2014, started in center field for the Queens. She managed to cross the plate once in Los Angeles’ win.

Queens left fielder and pitcher Maggie Foxx, was 2-for-2 with two RBI.