The 1943 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the inaugural season of the circuit. Since the only organized ball for women in the country was

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, the league created a hybrid game which included both softball and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. The league underwent a name change during the season; it began as the All-American Girls Softball League., but midway through the 1943 season, the name was changed to the All-American Girls Baseball League (AAGBBL). The AAGPBL began with a 12-inch softball but incorporated baseball rules. The new league started with four teams, the

Kenosha Comets Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Kenosha Comets were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team played their home games at List of defunct amusement parks#Wisc ...

Racine Belles The Racine Belles were one of the original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing from through out of Racine, Wisconsin. The Belles won the league's first championship. The team played its home games at Horlick Fi ...

Rockford Peaches The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois. The Peaches were one of two teams to pla ...

and South Bend Blue Sox. The teams competed through a 108-game schedule, while the first Scholarship Series faced first-half winner Racine against Kenosha, second-half champ, in a Best of Five Series. The strong pitching led to low

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

s, as the league hit a collective .230 average with Racine topping the chart (.246). Just one player, Rockford's Gladys Davis, reached the .300 mark. Only 72

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s were batted for the four teams. Ten of these homers came from the bat of

Eleanor Dapkus Eleanor V. Wolf (née Eleanore Dapkus; December 5, 1923 – June 6, 2011) was a center fielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Early years Dapkus was born to Lithuanian parents, ...

with Racine. Kenosha pitcher

Helen Nicol Helen Nicol (later Fox; May 9, 1920 – July 25, 2021) was a Canadian-American baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at , , Nicol batted and threw right-handed. She was ...

won the Triple Crown with 31 wins, 220

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and a 1.81

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, and also led the league in

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(.795), consecutive wins (13),

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s (33),

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s (8) and

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

(348). The best individual pitching performance on the year came from Rockford's Olive Little, who hurled the first

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

in league history.''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary'' –

W.C. Madden W.C. Madden is a retired journalist, teacher and author who has written multiple books about baseball, including two about the AAGPBL. He has also written about the Western League and the College World Series. While much of his work is based on ba ...

. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Softcover, 295pp. Language: English. In the final series, Racine blanked Kenosha in three games to win the first title of the league. Irene Hickson led the Belles with a .417 average, while pitchers Mary Nesbitt,

Joanne Winter Joanne Emily Winter '' o' (November 24, 1924 – September 22, 1996) was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 138 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Early life A native ...

and

were credited with a win a piece.''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' The AAGPBL drew 176,000 fans during its inaugural season, which assured the league would continue the following year.

Standings

First half

Second half

Composite records

Postseason

Individual statistics

Batting

Pitching

All-time individual records

* Josephine D'Angelo (SB) – Fewest strikeouts in a season: three times in 358 at bats *

Shirley Jameson Shirley Jameson (March 29, 1918 – December 29, 1993) was an American center fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 4' 10¾" (1.49 m), 104 lb. (47 k), Jameson batted right-handed a ...

(KEN) – Most consecutive games stealing a base: 18 (June 14–23) *

Margaret Stefani Margaret Stefani 'Marge''(December 18, 1917 – January 13, 1964) was an infielder and chaperone in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Summary Born in Detroit, Michigan, Stefani was one of the sixty original players of the All ...

(SB) – Most consecutive games without striking out: 57 (June 3 – August 22) * Mildred Warwick (ROC) – Most consecutive games batting a hit: 13 (June 20–27) * Dorothy Wind (RAC) – Most hits batted in a single game: six (August 28)

All-Star Game

Sources

External links

AAGPBL Official WebsiteAAGPBL League historyAAGPBL Rules of playAAGPBL RecordsBaseball Historian filesSABR Projects – Jim Sargent articlesYouTube videos
{{All-American Girls Professional Baseball League All-American Girls Professional Baseball League seasons All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, 1943

All All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All al ...