|
Grand Rapids Chicks
The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winning championships in 1947 and 1953. History The franchise originated in 1944 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the Milwaukee Chicks. Although the Chicks won the 1944 AAGPBL championship, they could not compete with the minor league Milwaukee Brewers for ticket sales, and the franchise moved to Grand Rapids. They enjoyed continued success following the move, making the playoffs every year until the league folded following the 1954 season. Grand Rapids had its share of league stars including Players of the Year Connie Wisniewski in 1945 and Alma Ziegler in 1950. League pitching titles were won by Chicks pitchers in 1944 and 1945 by Wisniewski, Mildred Earp in 1947, Alice Haylett in 1948, and Ziegler in 1950. Additionally, several Chicks made All-Star teams from 1946 to 1954 including Wisniewski, Ziegl ... [...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] |
Eleanor Moore
Eleanor Moore ''Warner(November 1, 1933 – October 4, 2022) was an American baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , Moore batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Long Point, Illinois. Summary A hard-throwing hurler, Eleanor Moore played with four different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the final five years of its existence. It was during this time period that overhand pitching and smaller ball sizes were adopted, which benefited hitters but was detrimental to a pitcher's success. By the time her final season ended in 1954, Moore had fashioned a 49–46 pitching record (.516) with a 2.74 earned run average, including a no-hitter, an All-Star Team selection, and the lead for the most wins in a single-season. Moore started her career in 1950 with the Chicago Colleens, a touring player development team, since she was only 17 years old and needed more skill developm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louise Clapp
Louise Lucelia Clapp (May 12, 1934 – October 17, 1967) was a pitcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed. Little is known about this player who saw action in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1954 season. Clapp split the year between the Fort Wayne Daisies and South Bend Blue Sox teams. She hurled five innings of ball in three pitching appearances. The league folded at the end of the season. Clapp was not located after that. She is part of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ..., which was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thelma Childress
Thelma Childress (later Pedin and then Kinney, October 9, 1926 – October 18, 2019) was an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She was born in Richmond, Virginia.Thelma Pedin '' All-American Girls Professional Baseball League''. Retrieved 2019-04-12. Childress appeared as a member of the Grand Rapids Chicks
The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winni ...
[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Butcher (baseball)
Mary Butcher ''Marsh(October 12, 1927 – October 2018) was an American baseball player who was a pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 170 lb., Butch batted and threw right handed. She was nicknamed ''Butch''.All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Mary Marsh Retrieved 2019-03-27. Madden, W. C. (2005) ''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary'' (2005). Born in , Butcher began pitching softball at age 13. Follo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kay Blumetta
Catherine Kay Blumetta 'Swish''(May 1, 1923 – April 25, 1997) was a utility who played for six different clubs in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the and seasons. Listed at , 150 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Born in North Plainfield, New Jersey, Blumetta was a solid and dependable player who appeared in eleven out of twelve seasons of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She entered the league in 1944 with the expansion Minneapolis Millerettes, playing for them briefly before joining the Milwaukee Chicks during the midseason. She divided her playing time at first base and outfield, and was a member of the Milwaukee team that won the pennant that year. But she moved around for a while, as the AAGPBL shifted players as needed to help teams stay afloat. In 1945 Blumetta played for the Grand Rapids Chicks and then found herself on the move again, this time to the Peoria Redwings (1946–1947), and then the Fort Wayne D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaynne Bittner
Jaynne Berrier Bittner B(March 17, 1926 – April 23, 2017) was a starting pitcher who played from through for four teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 140 lb, she batted and threw right-handed. Biography Bittner was a top all-around athlete in high school. She won the tennis championship three years in a row, held the table tennis crown for two years and was the leading scorer on the basketball team. An AAGPBL scout signed her after seeing her basketball prowess, thinking that she had athletic abilities, endurance and fitness necessary to play baseball. She attended a league tryout in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and later was sent to the 1948 spring training held in Cuba. She had no baseball position, but the league was desperate for overhand pitchers, so she was a good pitching prospect. Bittner entered the league in 1947 with the South Bend Blue Sox, playing for them one year before joining the Muskegon Lassies (1948), Grand Rapi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Lou Beschorner
Mary Lou Beschorner (September 18, 1929 – November 8, 2008) was an outfielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 135 lb., she batted and threw right handed. Born in Sandwich, Illinois, Mary Lou was one of ten children born to William F. and Maria N. (née Loscher) Beschorner. Her interest in baseball began at an early age while playing throw and catch with her brother-in-law Marshall Shumaker, who raised her from age nine. In her teen years, she played organized softball with the Dekalb Hybrids team and graduated from Plano High School in 1947.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League She later heard about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League tryouts at Wrigley Field in Chicago and made the final cut. She attended the spring training held at West Baden Springs, Indiana, in 1949 and was assigned to the Grand Rapids Chicks, a team managed by former big leaguer Johnny Rawlings. Beschorne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Bays
Betty Bays (née Schuller; April 1, 1931 – April 12, 1992) was an outfielder and catcher who played from 1950 to 1951 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right handed. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Betty Schuller retrieved March 26, 2019. Bays was born in , where she graduated from Bisbee High School in 1949. After attending a tryout, she signed a contract with the AAGPBL and played on the |
Edith Barney
Edith Barney 'Little Red''(February 3, 1923 – March 23, 2010) was a female catcher who played for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season. Listed at 5' 6", 136 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Edith Barney attended Bassick High School, where she played basketball, soccer and softball. She later participated in industrial league softball and basketball. Barney entered the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1948 with the Grand Rapids Chicks, playing briefly for them in part of that season as a backup for All-Star catcher Pepper Paire. The Chicks, managed by Johnny Rawlings, won the Eastern Division with a league-best record of 77–48, but were swept in the semifinal round by the Fort Wayne Daisies. In a four-game career, Barney was hitless in four plate appearances. She later worked for more than 36 years at Raybestos-Manhattan Inc. in her native Bridgeport. After retiring in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlene Barnett
Charlene Barnett ("Barney") (March 13, 1928 – January 25, 1979) was an infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed. Born in Elgin, Illinois, Charlene Barnett filled a consistent role during her four seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A three-time champion team member, she was a versatile infielder, playing mainly at second base, while adding deep defense at third base and shortstop. Considered a light hitter, she combined her usual brilliant defense with a decent bit of offense for a hitter placed at bottom of the batting order. Barnett entered the league in 1947 with the Grand Rapids Chicks, playing for them one year. She hit a .115 batting average as a rookie, appearing in 33 games as a backup for Alma Ziegler (2B), Ernestine Petras (3B) and Doris Tetzlaff (SS). Grand Rapids, managed by Johnny Rawlings, defeated the South Bend Blue Sox in the first round of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lois Barker
Lois Anna "Tommie" Barker (April 7, 1923 – February 14, 2018) was a utility player who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) during the season. Listed at 5 ft 3 in, 130 lb, she batted and threw right-handed. Born in Dover, New Jersey, Barker was one of seven girls in a nine-sibling family. While growing up in Chester Borough, she used to watch her father coach baseball teams and her brother's career as an Olympic track athlete. In an interview, Barker recalled catching batting practice for a local men's team when she was eight years old. She admitted to growing up "more boy than girl". The reason, she explained matter-of-factly, stems from the nickname she received as an infant – Tommie. In fact, her family thought she would be a boy and had a name all picked out, Thomas Henry. As she told the story, her brothers and sisters, when passing her crib, would exclaim, "There's our Tommie!", and the name stuck. Barker graduated from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_(cropped)_(cropped).jpg "Click for more on -> Grand Rapids Chicks")
