Betsy "Sockum" Jochum (born February 8, 1921) is a former
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
and
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 ...
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 5' 7", 140 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Overview profile
A native of
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Jochum was one of the sixty original founding members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. An ideal
leadoff hitter
In baseball, a leadoff hitter is a batter who bats first in the lineup. It can also refer to any batter who bats first in any inning.
Strategy
Traditionally, the leadoff hitter has been utilized as a contact-oriented position. The leadoff hit ...
, she was one of the fastest runners in the early years of the league and rarely
struck out
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 denote ...
, fanning only 104 times in 2,401
plate appearances
In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...
, which combined with a stellar defense and a strong and secure throwing arm. In addition, she was an All-Star, won a batting title, collected 354
stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
s, and pitched a full season during her six seasons in the league.
Brief history
Chewing gum magnate and Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
owner Philip K. Wrigley decided, in 1942, to start a women's professional baseball league, concerned that the 1943 Major League Baseball season might be canceled because of World War II. Since the only organized ball for women in the country was softball, the league created a hybrid game which included both softball and baseball. Wrigley had scouts
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
all over the United States, Canada and even Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
signing girls for tryouts. About 500 girls attended the call. Of these, only 280 were invited to the final try-outs in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
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, subdivision_name ...
, where 60 of them were chosen to become the first women to ever play professional baseball. The girls were placed on the rosters of four fifteen-player teams: 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 Kenosha's Lake Front Stadium, but l ...
, 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 first spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
was set for May 17, 1943, at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...
. By then, the average full-time worker made $1,299 a year or about $25 a week, according to one estimate. Players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League were offered between $50 and $125 a week during a three-month, 108-game season. Of the six girls from Ohio who went to Chicago, Betsy Jochum and 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 ...
were selected for the new league. Jochum was allocated to the Blue Sox and Kamenshek joined the Peaches.
Early life
Betsy was the daughter of Frank and Katherine Jochum, German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-speaking Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
who immigrated to United States, landed at Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...
, and eventually arrived to Cincinnati, just before the World War
A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
began in 1917.[ Her father worked as a carpenter and cabinetmaker. She had an older brother, Nicholas, and her younger sister Frances. The siblings grew up together in a close household that held the value of family over anything else.][
Jochum started playing ]sandlot ball
Sandlot ball or sandlot baseball is a competitive and athletic sports game that follows the basic rules and procedures of baseball. It is often less organized and structured, as the name alludes to a makeshift field or an empty lot.
History and ...
by the time she turned eight and organized softball at age 12. During her student years at Hughes Center High School
Hughes STEM High School is a public high school located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is part of the Cincinnati Public Schools.
History
The first Hughes High School was established in 1853 on property on Fifth and Mound streets.
The school owes its na ...
, she took part in many intramural athletic events offered for girls: basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
, track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
and softball.
After graduating from high school, Jochum attended Cincinnati Business School and learned to operate the comptometer
The Comptometer was the first commercially successful key-driven mechanical calculator, patented in the United States by Dorr Felt in 1887.
A key-driven calculator is extremely fast because each key adds or subtracts its value to the accumulato ...
, the first commercially successful key-driven mechanical calculator. But Jochum came of age during the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
when jobs were hard to find. She was forced to take an employment in a meat packing house, and played semi-professional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...
softball on the company team in the Cincinnati League. The team participated in several national softball tournaments, including Chicago, Illinois.[''Biographical Dictionary of American Sports''] She also liked competing in Amateur Athletic Union track and field events such as the baseball throw
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 ...
. During a competition held in Connecticut in 1938, she posted a 276 feet mark which placed second only to Babe Zaharias
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer O ...
, who threw the ball a national record of 296 feet. Later, she found a job in a dairy company doing comptometer work, earning $16 a week, before signing a contract for $50 per week to become an original member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.[
]
AAGPBL career
Jochum entered the league in 1943 and spent her entire six-year career with the South Bend Blue Sox, one of two teams to play in every AAGPBL season, being the other the Rockford Peaches. Jochum appeared at center field
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...
and left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
, pitched, and also played first base
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
for a long time when the regular was hurt. Because she played in a league that progressively expanded the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreased the size of the ball until the final year of play in the 1954 season. Incidentally, the relatively 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 in the early years reflect mainly the high quality of AAGPBL pitchers, rather than a lack of skills by the hitters.
In her rookie season, Jochum posted a .273 average and led the league in at-bats (439), hits (120), singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
(100), and doubles (12). She also stole 66 bases, scored 70 runs, and led all hitters in the second half of the season with a .295 average. She was selected to the All-Star Game, which coincidentally was the first night game played at Wrigley Field, on July 1, 1943. The game was played under temporary lights between two teams composed of Blue Sox and Peaches players against Comets and Belles players.
Jochum led the circuit in her sophomore year of 1944 by hitting a respectable .296 average, considering the league's dead-ball era
In baseball, the dead-ball era was the period from around 1900 to the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1919, when he hit a then-major league record 29 home runs; only three players since 1890 had even hit 20. This era was characterized ...
. She also posted career-numbers in games (112), runs (72), hits (128) and stolen bases (127), including seven steals in a game on August 2.[
Jochum dropped to .237 with 40 runs and 25 stolen bases in 1945 but rebounded in 1946 with a .250 average, including 64 runs, 73 stolen bases, 64 runs and a career-high 63 ]runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
.[ In that season, ]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 ...
led the league with a .316 average, while Bonnie Baker tied Sophie Kurys
Sophie Kurys (May 14, 1925 – February 17, 2013) was a former second basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , , Kurys batted and threw right-handed.
Career
A native of Flint, Mic ...
for second place at .286. With her .250 average, Jochum ranked third in her team and tenth overall for girls playing 90 or more games. She also tied with Kamenshek for the fewest strikeouts (10) and ranked second in RBI behind Elizabeth Mahon
Elizabeth B. Mahon (November 18, 1919 – September 6, 2001) was an American outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 135 lb., Mahon batted and threw right-handed. She was born ...
(72). Often a second-division team, the Blue Sox advanced to the playoffs for the first time in 1946, being beat in the first round by the Racine Belles, the eventual Championship Team after defeating the Rockford Peaches in six games.[
In 1947, the league moved its spring training camp to ]Havana, Cuba
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. . Two hundred girls made the trip to Havana, and for many, like Jochum, the flight was their first airplane trip. As she recalled in an interview with Jim Sargent, ''I took my first airplane flight, we stayed at the Seville-Biltmore Hotel, and we played our games at the Gran Stadium. All the teams were filmed for Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
going down the steps at the University of Havana
The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...
''.[ The new rules applied during the regular season permitted a full sidearm pitching delivery, and many players who developed hitting underhand pitching had problems adjusting to the new pitching style.][ As a result of the innovation, ]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 ...
was the champion bat with a significant .306 average, Audrey Wagner
Genevieve "Audrey" Wagner udrey(December 27, 1927 – August 31, 1984) was an outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 145 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Brief profil ...
was the leader with seven 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, and Elizabeth Mahon
Elizabeth B. Mahon (November 18, 1919 – September 6, 2001) was an American outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 135 lb., Mahon batted and threw right-handed. She was born ...
topped all hitters with 53 runs batted in. Jochum was not an exception, as she slipped to .211, 42 RBI, 36 runs, and 44 stolen bases. For the second consecutive year South Bend made the playoffs, but again lost in the first round, this time to the Grand Rapids Chicks, who defeated the Racine Belles in seven games.[
The AAGPBL grew to an all-time peak of ten teams in 1948, the first year the league shifted to overhand pitching.][ Showing her versatility, the strong-armed Jochum was a natural choice to become a pitcher in her final season. She debuted against the Fort Wayne Daisies and limited them to a pair of hits, allowing only four batters to get on base (two by errors) while striking out five. At one point during the season, Jochum had a 13–6 record, but she lost seven of her last eight decisions to finish with a 14–13 mark. When she was not pitching, South Bend ]manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
Marty McManus
Martin Joseph McManus (March 14, 1900 – February 18, 1966) was an American baseball player and manager.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, McManus spent two years in the United States Army before beginning his professional baseball career in 1920 ...
used her to fill at outfield, first base and pinch hit
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...
, even though she batted a low-career .195 average. Nevertheless, Jochum provided 14 of the 57 victories of her team, including a sparkling 1.51 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 striking out
''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...
103 batters while walking
Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...
just 58 in 215 innings of work. Nevertheless, for the second straight year South Bend lost to Grand Rapids in the first round of the playoffs.[
]
Statistics
Batting
Fielding
Pitching
Life after baseball
Jochum quit the league after the 1948 season, when she was notified that the Peoria Redwings had acquired her in a transaction with the Blue Sox. While playing for South Bend, she resumed her comptometer job in Cincinnati during the off-season. Jochum learned about the trade unofficially through a teammate, and she ultimately decided to retire. She had many good friends in South Bend, plus a new comptometer job at Bendix Home Appliances. Jochum also was disappointed because the Blue Sox boasted figures as Charlotte Armstrong
Charlotte Armstrong Lewi (May 2, 1905, in Vulcan, Michigan – July 18, 1969 in Glendale, California) was an American writer. Under the names Charlotte Armstrong and Jo Valentine she wrote 29 novels, as well as short stories, plays, and screenp ...
, Bonnie Baker, Doris Barr
Doris "Dodie" Barr (August 26, 1921 – July 12, 2009) was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 145 lb., Barr batted and threw left-handed. She was born in Starbuck, ...
, Margaret Berger
Margaret Berger (born 11 October 1985) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, music director, and DJ. She made her debut on Sony BMG after she placed second on the second season of '' Norwegian Idol'' in 2004.Hoffman, K. Ross. _Review".html" ;"ti ...
, 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 ...
, 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.[Lillian Faralla
Lillian "Lil" Faralla (July 29, 1924 – July 26, 2019) was a female pitcher and utility who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed.][Elizabeth Mahon
Elizabeth B. Mahon (November 18, 1919 – September 6, 2001) was an American outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 135 lb., Mahon batted and threw right-handed. She was born ...]
and Dorothy Schroeder
Dorothy "Dottie" Schroeder (April 11, 1928 – December 8, 1996) was a shortstop who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 150 lb., Schroeder batted and threw right-handed. She was born in ...
, who were part of strong winning teams during her years there, but never was able to win a regular season title or a championship crown.
After her baseball days, Jochum earned bachelor's and master's degrees in physical education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
from Illinois State University
Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...
. She taught girls physical education for South Bend Community Schools at Muessel Elementary/Junior High School for 26 years and retired in 1983. After that, she has participated in 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 wi ...
, 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), though ...
, and the Run Jane Run Exhibition Games. She also has assisted in gathering and sorting AAGPBL memorabilia for the Northern Indiana Historical Society.
In November 1988, Jochum, along with her former teammates and opponents, received their long overdue recognition, when the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York dedicated a permanent display to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. In 1999 she was enshrined into the Ohio Baseball of Fame and Museum in 1999. Besides this, her South Bend Blue Sox uniform has traveled in an itinerant display promoted by the Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
as part of its exhibition on ''Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers''. As Jochum recalled in an interview, ''Women should have their own major league and minor leagues plus the sponsors to make it go''. As of 2010, Jochum was living in South Bend, Indiana. She turned 100 in February 2021.
Sources
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jochum, Betsy
1921 births
Living people
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players
American centenarians
Baseball players from Cincinnati
South Bend Blue Sox players
Baseball players from South Bend, Indiana
Women centenarians
21st-century American women
Bendix Corporation people