Cartha Doyle ''Childress(born October 12, 1929) is a former infielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 130 lb., she batted and threw right handed.Cartha Childress
'' All-American Girls Professional Baseball League''. Retrieved 2019-04-11. Cartha Doyle saw limited action at second base during her only season in the league. Born in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

, Doyle attended Young High School in South Knoxville, where she was a member of the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

squad in her senior year. She also played basketball and

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 ...

in the city league, and was convinced by AAGPBL player

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 ...

to join the league while still in high school. Doyle made a tryout, and later became one of two hundred players to attend the first AAGPBL spring training outside the United States, which was held in

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 ...

at Gran Stadium de La Habana before the 1947 season. She made the grade and was assigned to 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 ...

. The 17-year-old played briefly for the Peaches, where she earned the nickname ″Duckie″ (a shortening of ''duck soup''), which players got called when they were an easy out as a batter.The Free Dictionary – duck soup
/ref> At the end of the season she married Albert Lee Childress and decided not to go back to the league the following season.Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball Instead, Cartha played softball in her hometown until 1967. After that she coached and umpired for a long time, retiring in 1982. She developed arthritis in both knees and had knee replacement surgery. Meanwhile, she gave birth to one daughter, Janet, and helped her husband run a family business. She was widowed in 1975.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Cartha received further recognition in 1988 when she became part of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She also was inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. She currently lives in

Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, and is a suburb of Knoxville. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area and a short distance from popular tourist de ...

Career statistics

Batting Fielding

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Cartha All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Rockford Peaches players Baseball players from Knoxville, Tennessee 1929 births Living people 21st-century American women