Amy Irene "Lefty" Applegren (November 16, 1926April 3, 2011) was an American
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 t ...
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 ...
Born in Peoria, Illinois, Amy Applegren was one of five siblings in the family of Roy and Amy ee GardinerApplegren. She started playing
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 ...
at the age of eleven for the Farrow Chicks, a team based in her hometown. In the early 1940s she joined the Caterpillar Dieselettes, where she came to the attention of a scout of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The league had been founded the year before by Philip K. Wrigley, a chewing-gum magnate and owner of the Chicago Cubs
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
club. Wrigley feared that major leaguers would be drafted into the military during World War II, while minor leaguers were already being called up. Teams of girls (never called women) seemed like a way to fill ballparks, according to an article in '' Smithsonian'' in 1989. Applegren showed up at Peru, Illinois, for a tryout and was offered a contract to play. The league lasted for 12 seasons from 1943 to 1954, and she played in all but the first and last seasons.
AAGPBL career
Applegren joined the AAGPBL in 1944 with the
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 ...
, playing for them two years. A hard-thrower underhand lefty, Applegren posted a 16–15 record for Rockford in her season debut and went 13-11 the next year, as part of a pitching rotation that included
Carolyn Morris
Carolyn E. Morris (September 28, 1925 – February 20, 1996) was a female pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 157 lb., Morris batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed ...
and
Jean Cione
Jean S. Cione €³Cy″(June 23, 1928 – November 22, 2010) was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 8", 143 lb., She batted and threw left-handed.
AAGPBL rules of play
The ...
. In the interim, she graduated from Peoria Manual High School.
The Peaches, with
Bill Allington
William Baird Allington (October 26, 1903 – August 17, 1966) was an American minor league baseball player and manager. Listed at 5' 9" and 160 pounds, Allington batted and threw right-handed. He was born in St. Clair County, Michigan ...
at the helm, clinched the league title in 1945 with a 67–43 record and later defeated the
Fort Wayne Daisies
The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana that played from through as members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
History
The Daisies represented Fort Wayne, Indiana, and ...
in the best-of-seven series, four to one games, behind a strong pitching effort from Morris (3-0) and the opportune hitting of
Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy "Dottie" "Kammie" Kamenshek (December 21, 1925 – May 17, 2010) was an American All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She batted and threw left-handed.
Early life
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Kamenshek played outfield ...
(6-for-21, .285).
Applegren opened 1946 with the expansion
Muskegon Lassies
The Muskegon Lassies were one of the expansion teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season, representing Muskegon, Michigan. The team played their home games at Marsh Field.
History
The 1946 Muskegon Lassies ...
, managed by
Buzz Boyle
Ralph Francis "Buzz" Boyle (February 9, 1908 – November 12, 1978) was a professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1929 through 1935. He played for the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1934, hi ...
, as the league usually switched players as needed to help new teams to be competitive. Nevertheless, the Lassies went 46-66 their first year, good enough for a modest sixth place in the now eight-team league. Applegren struggled to an 8–18 record, even though she hurled a no-hitter against 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 ...
on July 31.''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book''
The first AAGPBL spring training outside the United States was held in 1947 in Havana, Cuba, as part of a plan to create an International League of Girls Baseball. That season the league made the transition from underhand to full side-arm pitching.
Muskegon, now managed by legendary
Bill Wambsganss
William Adolf Wambsganss (March 19, 1894 – December 8, 1985) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1914 through 1926, Wambsganss played for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia Athletics. He is best remembered ...
, saw a vast improvement in 1947. Besides Applegren, the revamped Lassies included top notch players as Jo Lenard ( OF), Dorothy Maguire ( C),
Charlene Pryer
Charlene Barbara Pryer ayer(September 24, 1921 – June 3, 1999) was a female utility in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, playing mainly at second base and center field from through . Listed at , 105 lb., Pryer batted a ...
Doris Sams
Doris Jane Sams (February 2, 1927 – June 28, 2012), nicknamed "Sammye", was an American outfielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 145 lbs., she batted and threw righ ...
(OF/P),
Dorothy Stolze
Dorothy Stolze 'Dottie''(May 1, 1923 – July 19, 2003) was a second basewoman who played from through for four teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 129 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Career ...
Evelyn Wawryshyn
Evelyn Wawryshyn itwin/Moroz(November 11, 1924 – February 3, 2022) was a Canadian second base who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 3", 130 lb., Wawryshyn batted and threw right-ha ...
(IF), among others. Muskegon (69-43) won a close pennant race with 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 ...
(65-47), having three of the top four leaders in
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 ...
with Sams (0.98), Applegren (1.06) and Warren (1.13), but failed in the first round of the playoffs dropping 3 of 4 games to the
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 ...
.
In 1948 Applegren moved to first base as the league shifted strictly to overhand pitching. She then turned in a competent defensive player and a solid hitter. She spent part of two seasons with Muskegon, and was dealt back to Rockford during the 1949 midseason.
Applegren played for the Peaches through 1952, being part of the champion teams in 1949 and 1950, and joined the South Bend Blue Sox in 1953 for her last AAGPBL season.
With their fourth Championship Title the Rockford team set an all-time record in the league. Applegren was a member of three Peaches champion teams (including her 1945 season), being glorified for the same feat by
Eleanor Callow
Eleanor 'Squirt' Callow (born August 8, 1927) was a left fielder who played from through for three teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Callow was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. She was born in Winnipeg, Mani ...
,
Lois Florreich
Kathleen Lois "Flash" Florreich (April 29, 1927 – September 11, 1991) was a pitcher and utility who played from through for three different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 140 lb., Florreich batte ...
and
Ruth Richard
Ruth Richard '' ichie' (September 20, 1928 – May 6, 2018) was an American baseball player who played as a catcher from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 134 lb., she batted left-handed and t ...
(all of them did it from 1948 through 1950). Nevertheless, the four girls were surpassed by the eternal
Rose Gacioch
Rose M. Gacioch (; August 31, 1915 – September 9, 2004) was a right fielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
data entry clerk
A data entry clerk, also known as data preparation and control operator, data registration and control operator, and data preparation and registration operator, is a member of staff employed to enter or update data into a computer system. Data is o ...
for insurance benefits. She retired in 1985, after 19 years of work. Applegren, who never married, lived with her mother and took care of her. After retiring from Caterpillar she enjoyed playing
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
and
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...
.Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball
In the early 1980s, a group of former members of the league led by
June Peppas
June Peppas (June 16, 1929 – March 14, 2016) was a first basewoman and pitcher who played from 1948 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , , she batted and threw left-handed.
Early life
Peppas was b ...
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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 basebal ...
filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
Penny Marshall
Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She is known for her role as ...
premiered her film ''
A League of Their Own
''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena ...
'', which was a fictionalized account of activities during the league's first season. This film brought a rejuvenated interest to the extinct league, while many of the real players began to earn a rebirth of celebrity over the years for coming. In 1993, she received word she had been selected for membership in the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Amy Applegren died in
Washington, Illinois
Washington is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. Washington is on U.S. Route 24 and Illinois Route 8, northeast of East Peoria. The population was 15,134 at the 2010 census, a 39.6 percent increase over 2000. It is a suburb of ...