Pitcher and outfielder Kelsie Whitmore is returning to familiar surroundings after being selected by San Francisco with the first pick in the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League draft on Thursday night.
Mo'ne Davis, meantime, had to wait until the 10th pick before being selected by Los Angeles. The 24-year-old Davis, who's from Philadelphia, competed at the 2014 Little League World Series at age 13 and became the first girl to win a game and pitch a shutout.
Whitmore is from San Diego and made her professional debut in the Bay Area with a coed team, the Sonoma Stompers, in 2016. The 27-year-old has won two silver medals representing the United States at the Women’s Baseball World Cup and won gold at the 2015 Pan-Am Games in Toronto.
“You ask a 6-year-old version of me about this opportunity happening right now, she would, one, probably not believe you, but, two, just be so, so, so, so excited for it,” said Whitmore, who in 2022 signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks, becoming the first woman to compete in pro baseball’s Atlantic League. She played for the Savannah Bananas this season.
Whitmore was among 120 players selected in the six-round draft that also included teams representing New York and Boston.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred opened the draft by congratulating the WPBL for its launch. The league is scheduled to begin play on Aug. 1.
Each team made five picks per round, with the order of selection determined by a random draw. Teams will cut their 30-player rosters to 15 for the start of the season.
Japan’s Ayami Sato went No. 2 to Los Angeles. The 35-year-old right-hander is a five-time World Cup winner and the only player to earn three tournament MVP honors.
New York selected U.S. infielder Kylee Lahners with the third pick. Boston chose South Korean catcher Hyeonah Kim at No. 4.
The startup league had a four-day tryout camp in Washington this summer with more than 600 hopefuls on hand.
The league is scheduled to play all of its games at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. Teams will be based there over a seven-week season, split up into a four-week regular season, a week for all-star activities and a two-week playoff.
The WPBL was co-founded by Justine Siegal, who became the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015. It will be the first pro baseball league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — immortalized in the film “A League of Their Own” — dissolved in 1954.
This story was first published on Nov. 21, 2025. It was updated on Nov. 21, 2025 to correct that the league’s first season will take place in Springfield, Illinois.
FILE - Ayami Sato pitches during the second day of tryouts for the Women's Professional Baseball League, Aug. 23, 2025, at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Mo'ne Davis warms up during the fourth day of tryouts for the Women's Professional Baseball League, Aug. 25, 2025, at Nationals Park in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Player Kelsie Whitmore throws a ball during a training session with the Aguila de Veracruz professional baseball team in Veracruz, Mexico, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Victoria Razo, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered on Wall Street Friday to kick off the new year as early gains led by technology stocks failed to hold up.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% after shifting between small gains and losses throughout the morning. The benchmark index is coming off a gain of more than 16% in 2025.
The Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 289 points, or 0.6%, as of 2:32 p.m. Eastern.
Major indexes are closing a mostly tepid, shortened holiday week. Markets were closed Thursday for New Year’s Day.
Markets in Europe and Asia made strong gains. Indexes in Britain and South Korea hit records.
Technology stocks were steering the market, especially companies with a focus on artificial intelligence, continuing the trend that pushed the broader market to records in 2025.
Nvidia jumped 1.4% and was the biggest force trying to push the market higher. Broadcom rose 0.4%. But a 0.7% drop from Apple and a 2.4% fall for Microsoft helped to counter those gains.
Those technology companies are among the most valuable companies in the world and their outsized valuations give them more influence on the market's direction. That includes sometimes pushing the market up and down from hour to hour.
Technology companies have been a major focus because of advancements in artificial intelligence technology and the potential for growth within the sector. Wall Street has been betting that demand for computer chips and other items needed for data centers will help justify the big investments from technology companies and their pricey stock values.
Tesla fell 2.6% after reporting falling sales for a second year in a row.
Furniture gained ground following President Donald Trump's move to delay increased tariffs on upholstered furniture. RH rose 9.5% and Wayfair rose 6.3%.
E-commerce giant Alibaba climbed 4.3% and Baidu, maker of the Ernie chatbot, jumped 9.4% in Hong Kong after it said it plans to spin off its AI computer chip unit Kunlunxin, which would list shares in Hong Kong early in 2027. The plan is subject to regulatory approvals.
Crude oil prices were mostly stable. Prices for U.S. crude oil fell 0.1% to $57.38 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.1% to $60.77 per barrel.
The price of gold fell 0.2%.
Treasury yields held steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.19% from 4.17% late Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, held at 3.48% from late Wednesday.
Wall Street will move past the mostly quiet holiday season after Friday. The first full week of the new year will include several closely watched economic updates. They will also be some of the last big updates the Fed sees before its next meeting at the end of January.
Next week will feature private reports on the status of the services sector, which is the largest part of the U.S. economy, along with consumer sentiment. Government reports on the job market will also be released. They will all help paint a clearer picture of how various parts of the U.S. economy closed out 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.
The Fed has had a more difficult task because of the complex shifts within the economy. It cut interest rates three times toward the end of 2025, partly to help counter a weakening jobs market. But inflation remains above its target rate of 2% and cutting interest rates could add more fuel to rising prices. Consumers have already expressed more caution amid the squeeze from stubborn inflation and the U.S. trade war with much of the world has added more uncertainty.
The Fed has already signaled concern and caution. Wall Street is betting that the central bank will hold its benchmark interest rate steady at its January meeting.
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialists Patrick King, left, and Douglas Johnson work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Vincent Napolitano, foreground, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Fred Demarco works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Michael Capolino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) as participants applaud during the opening ceremony of the 2026 trading year at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Dancers in traditional costumes perform to celebrate the opening for the 2026 trading year outside of the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A worker walks near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) after the opening ceremony of the 2026 trading year at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korean financial officers celebrate the opening for the 2026 trading year outside of the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Dancers in a bull-shaped costume perform to celebrate the opening for the 2026 trading year outside of the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
