Penny Marshall - famous for directing A League of Their Own, the story of an all-female baseball league during WWII - is heading back to the baseball diamond, taking on the story of Effa Manely, the first-ever women to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Welcome to day one of our week-long series of films by female directors. Today: Mainstream movies. All hail Wayne's World.

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So don't squeal or squee at this picture of Tumblrer Ferdalump's little girl. Don't. This is baseball. These are some more pictures.

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You might recall we recently posted a photo of Geena Davis donning her old A League of Their Own costume while holding her professional archery gear. Well now we know the context. The actress and creator of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media teamed up with Funny or Die for a spectacular shoot (shoot being used here in two different contexts). I am now bumping Ms. Davis to the top of my list for women who should star in the female Expendables. And also, anything else. Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

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True Story: The last time I saw the tail end of A League of Their Own, I had to look away so that I didn't cry (becausethere'snocryinginbaseball). True details: I was running. On a treadmill. At the gym. And the television was on mute. One of the last times I was actually unable to not cry even by great force of will at a movie screening, it was a combination of watching The Muppets and knowing that Jim Henson's wife and daughter were in attendance. So, from this evidence, I postulate that if there was anything guaranteed to make me cry buckets of salt tears, it would have been watching A League of Their Own with Lavonne "Pepper" Paire-Davis, who died this weekend at the age of 88.

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Tonight at 8 p.m. on the MLB Network, Bob Costas interviews Penny Marshall about her 1992 baseball film, A League of Their Own. The film, a fictional representation of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, starred Geena Davis, Madonna, and more but as it turns out, there were a few actresses who didn't make the cut for a very specific reason - they couldn't play baseball. Listen to Marshall's stance on the casting process and find out which other famous actress didn't wind up with a part because of her husband. Catch the rest of the interview, including a chat with Davis, tonight on MLB. (via The Hollywood Reporter) Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

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Every year the Library of Congress picks 25 "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" films for inclusion in their National Film Registry. It's a way to highlight the importance of preserving the United States' film heritage. It's also pretty much the only time you'll see a short documentary about 38 streets, businesses, and cities named Augusta on the same list as The Matrix.

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Sigh. After being arrested in March 2012 for a guerilla performance in Moscow's main cathedral, in which the band said a "punk prayer" to the Virgin Mary to protect Russia from President Vladimir Putin, the punk band's members--Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29--have been convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" and sentenced to two years in prison. (The Hollywood Reporter) You can learn more about how to get involved here.

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There may be no crying in baseball, but maybe they'll make an exception for this case. Known as one of the best athletes of the women's baseball league of World War II, Doris "Sammye" Sams, also known as "Dauntless Doris," died in a nursing home in Tennessee on June 28th. 

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There may not be any crying in baseball but something tells me a few tears might be shed at Friday's screening of the 1992 Penny Marshall film A League of Their Own. Why? Because veterans of the actual All American Girls Professional Baseball League will be in attendance and let's face it, we cried during that movie and it wasn't even about us.

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