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All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Rules Of Play
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a circuit that began to operate in 1943. Since the only organized ball for women in the United States was softball, the league officials created a hybrid game which included features of both fast-pitch softball and baseball. Compared to softball, the crucial differences were that nine (not ten) players were used, and runners could lead off, slide and steal bases. In its twelve years of history the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League evolved through many stages. These differences varied from the beginning of the league, progressively extending the length of the base paths and pitching distance, while decreasing the size of the ball until the final year of play in 1954. For the first five years the circuit used a fastpitch underhand motion, shifted to sidearm in the 1947 season, and overhand pitching began in 1948. Rules of play Sources {{DEFAULTSORT:All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rules ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the United States. Over 600 women played in the league, which consisted of eventually 10 teams located in the American Midwest. In 1948, league attendance peaked at over 900,000 spectators. The most successful team, the Rockford Peaches, won a league-best four championships. The 1992 film ''A League of Their Own'' is a mostly fictionalized account of the early days of the league and its stars. Founding and play With the entry of the United States into World War II, several major league baseball executives started a new professional league with women players in order to maintain baseball in the public eye while the majority of able men were away. The founders included Philip K. Wrigley, Branch Rickey, and Paul V. Harper. They feared that Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closer. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League(and later the National League) and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over to the position of designated hitter, a cause of some controversy. The Japanese Central Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the eleventh season of the circuit. The teams Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kalamazoo Lassies, Muskegon Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 110-game schedule, while the Shaugnessy playoffs featured the top four teams. This time, the postseason was reduced to a best-of-three series for both rounds. The AAGPBL had six teams in 1953, the only change in its lineup being that the Battle Creek Belles had transferred and become the Muskegon Belles. The league was still using a 10 inches ball, but some changes were made to the game to make it more competitive and exciting. The base paths were lengthened from 72 feet to 75 feet and another foot was added to pitching distance, making it 56 feet. Nevertheless, the new changes had little impact on the game, as the high batting averages and low ERA's remained almost intact compared to the previous year. Joanne Weaver of Fort W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1952 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1952 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the tenth season of the circuit. The teams Battle Creek Belles, Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kalamazoo Lassies, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 110-game schedule, while the Shaugnessy playoffs featured the top four teams from each half of the regular season. In 1952 the league was left with six teams, as Kenosha and Peoria folded at the end of the previous season. No changes were made to the game, but attendance continued to decline. Joanne Weaver of Fort Wayne won the batting crown with a .344 average, while her older sister and teammate Betty Foss was honored with the Player of the Year Award. Foss registered the second best average (.331) and led the league in total bases (209), runs scored (81), runs batted in (74), doubles (24) and triples (17). South Bend's Jean Faut won the pitching Triple Crown, after leading the league in earned run average (0.93) and str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1951 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1951 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the ninth season of the circuit. The teams Battle Creek Belles, Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kalamazoo Lassies, Kenosha Comets, Peoria Redwings, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 112-game schedule, while the Shaugnessy playoffs featured the top four teams from each half of the regular season. In 1951, many things changed in relation to the previous season, when attendance began to decline dramatically. The Racine Belles franchise was moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, while the Chicago Colleens and Springfield Sallies traveling teams were disbanded. Betty Foss of Fort Wayne led all hitters for the second year in a row with a .368 batting average, breaking her own single-season record of .346 set in her rookie season. Foss also topped the league with 34 doubles, setting an all-time single-season record that would never be surpassed. Nine pitchers recorded an earned run aver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1950 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1950 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the eight season of the circuit. The teams Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kenosha Comets, Muskegon Lassies, Peoria Redwings, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 112-game schedule. In 1950 the league used a livelier 10 inches ball. Finally, the batting was able to take advantage of the pitching, when five hitters reached the .300 average mark for the year. Fort Wayne's rookie Betty Foss led the circuit with a .346 average, to set a new season mark. Nevertheless, three no-hitters were recorded in the season, two of them by Jean Cione of Kenosha during the month of August. Her first was a 12-inning gem against Grand Rapids, and the second came in a seven-inning shutout over Racine. Previously, Kenosha's Ruby Stephens had pitched a nine-inning no-no against the Lassies in July.''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' Grand Rapids' Alma Zie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1949 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1949 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the seventh season of the circuit. With the Chicago Colleens and Springfield Sallies turning into rookie development teams after the 1948 season, the AAGPBL was left with eight squads: the Kenosha Comets, Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Muskegon Lassies, Peoria Redwings, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox. The teams competed through a 112-game schedule. This time the league adopted a smaller ball during the midseason, from 10⅜ inches to 10 inches, while the pitching distance increased 50 feet to 55 feet. The transition toward traditional baseball increased significantly. As a result, some talented pitchers jumped up to the rival Chicago National League when they could not adapt to the overhand delivery adopted the previous season. Pitching still outweighed hitting in the league, as no hitter could top the .300 average mark for the year. Rockford's Lois Florreich collected a 0. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1946 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1946 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the fourth season of the circuit. The AAGPBL expansion brought two new franchises to the previous six-team format. At this point, the Muskegon Lassies and the Peoria Redwings joined the Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kenosha Comets, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox. The eight teams competed through a 112-game schedule, while the final Shaugnessy playoffs faced season winner Racine against defending champion Rockford in a Best of Seven Series. Other modifications occurred in the league during 1946. The ball was decreased in size from 11½ inches to 11 inches. In addition, the base paths were lengthened to 70 feet and the sidearm pitching was introduced, as the league was moving toward baseball. Several pitching records were set during the season. Racine's Anna Mae Hutchison recorded two marks that would never be broken: most innings pitched in a single game (19 against P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1945 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1945 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the third season of the circuit. The action began with six teams, like the previous season. But the Milwaukee Chicks and the Minneapolis Millerettes franchises were renamed the Grand Rapids Chicks and Fort Wayne Daisies respectively. The measure took effect for poor attendances in the cities of these teams the year before. At this point, the new clubs joined the Kenosha Comets, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox, all founding members of the league. The six teams competed through a 110-game schedule, while the split season was dropped in favor of a longer playoff format with the Shaugnessy format: the one seed facing the three seed and the two seed against the four seed. In addition, the pitching distance increased from 40 to 42 feet during the midseason. Nevertheless, the pitchers continued to dominate the league as an all-time record eight no-hitters were recorded in the season. Rockford ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1944 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1944 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the second season of the circuit. The AAGPBL expanded in its second year of existence by adding two franchises to the original four-team format. At this point, the Milwaukee Chicks and the Minneapolis Millerettes joined the Kenosha Comets, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox. The number of games in the schedule also increased to 118, while the final Scholarship Series faced first-half winner Kenosha against Milwaukee, second-half champ, in a Best of Seven Series. In that season the ball was decreased in size from 12 inches to 11½ inches. In addition, the base paths were lengthened to 68 feet. As a result, batting averages decreased to low .200 as pitching continued to dominate for second straight season. No batters surpassed the .300 mark, with South Bend's Betsy Jochum collecting the highest average at .296. Once again Kenosha's Helen Nicol led all pitchers in earned run average, turning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the sixth season of the circuit. The AAGPBL grew to an all-time peak of ten teams in that season, representing Eastern and Western zones, just in the first year the circuit shifted to strictly overhand pitching. Other modifications occurred during 1948. The ball was decreased in size from 11½ inches to 10⅜ inches, while the base paths were lengthened to 72 feet and the pitching distance increased to 50 feet. The Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies were added to the previous roster that included the Kenosha Comets, Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Muskegon Lassies, Peoria Redwings, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox. The Chicago, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Muskegon and South Bend teams were aligned in the East Division, while Kenosha, Peoria, Racine, Rockford and Springfield played in the Western Division. The number of games in the schedule increased from 112 to 126. Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1947 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Season
The 1947 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the fifth season of the circuit. The teams Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kenosha Comets, Muskegon Lassies, Peoria Redwings, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 112-game schedule. The final Shaugnessy playoffs faced second place Grand Rapids against third place Racine in a Best of Seven Series. By April 1947, all of the league's players were flown to Havana, Cuba for spring training. At the time, the Brooklyn Dodgers trained in the Cuban capital because Jackie Robinson, who would be the first Afro-American to play in the Major Leagues, was training with the Dodgers for the first time. By then, city ordinances in Vero Beach, Florida, where the Dodgers normally trained, prevented blacks and whites players from competing on the same field against each other. Notably, newspaper stories from Havana indicate that the All-American girls drew larger crowds for their exhi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
