Alice Haylett (April 2, 1923 – March 27, 2004), nicknamed "Al" and "Sis", was a female

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

who played from through in the

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 Uni ...

. Listed at , 155 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.Alice Haylett – Profile/Obituary
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''; retrieved April 15, 2019.

Biography

A native of

Coldwater, Michigan Coldwater is a city in Branch County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County, located in the center of the southern border of Michigan. The city is surrounded by C ...

, Haylett grew up in a farm family of English,

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-sp ...

, and Indian ancestry. She graduated from Coldwater High School in 1940, and after taking a summer job in Battle Creek, Michigan she worked full-time for five years and played

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 ...

for several local teams. She heard about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from Betty Whiting, a fellow softball player who had entered the league in 1945 with the

Milwaukee Chicks The Milwaukee Chicks were a women's professional baseball team which played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season. They were managed by Max Carey, former star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Robi ...

. Haylett attended a tryout for the league in 1946, and was assigned to 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, winning championships in 1947 and 1953. History The franchise ...

, playing for them for the next four years. In her

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season, Haylett hit a .221

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 i ...

playing briefly at

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

. Grand Rapids finished in second place that season. In 1947, she joined the pitching staff and posted a 19–11 record, helping her team to clinch the championship. Her most productive season came in 1948, just when the league changed to pitching overhand and adopted a smaller ball. She made the adjustments, relying on a strong

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have t ...

and a breaking

curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

that baffled opposite hitters who tried to analyze her pitches. Haylett finished with a 25–5 mark, 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 ...

(.833) and

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 numb ...

(0.77), and tied with Joanne Winter in victories. She was named Pitcher of the Year and also earned an All-Star berth. With Haylett at the mound, the Chicks won the 1947 AAGPBL Championship Title and reached the playoffs in 1948 and 1949. However, she ended her career prematurely after developing a sore pitching arm in her last season. Haylett, who never married, worked at the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek for 30 years and retired to Florida in 1981. She returned to softball briefly, and eventually played golf. She died at her

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

home on March 27, 2004, three weeks before her 81st birthday.

Career statistics

Pitching Madden, W.C., ''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland & Company (2005);
Batting

References

External links

Alice Haylett, Earlene "Beans" Risinger, and Mildred Earp Photograph, 1950
''

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball- ...

''. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayett, Alice 1923 births 2004 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Grand Rapids Chicks players Baseball players from Michigan People from Coldwater, Michigan Sportspeople from Lakeland, Florida Sportspeople from Michigan 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women