The manager wrote back to Gwen to say this would never happen; "While we agree with you that girls are certainly as capable as boys and no doubt would be an attractive addition on the playing field, I'm sure you can understand that in a game dominated by men, a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout."
Gwen gave up on her dream but kept the letter; she later framed it and hung it on her living room wall. 60 years later her daughter Abbey wrote to the New York Yankees to tell them about the letter and as a surprise they invited Gwen to be a batsgirl for them at their next match.
Gwen was given a full Yankees uniform and walked out with the team where she threw the first pitch. She said, "It's been a thrill of a lifetime"
Gwen said to the current manager Brian Cashman that she never held the original rejection against the team and she kept the letter to show her love for the Yankees and, "hold on to a dream. It wasn't what I wanted to see but they wrote me a letter and I've always loved them... but I never in my wildest dreams ever thought that 60 years later Brian Cashman would make this become a reality."
In a letter to Gwen in June 2021, Brian Cashman wrote, "A woman belongs everywhere a man does, including the dugout ... it's not too late to reward and recognise the ambition you showed in writing that letter to us as a 10 year old girl. Some dreams take longer than others to be realised. But a goal attained should not dim with the passage of time."
There is a lovely short video abut this story in the link above
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