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 ...
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 ...
. Chinn-Tyler, who is Black, appeared in an "iconic" scene in the 1992 movie ''
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 ...
'' as a bystander who throws back an overthrown ball from
Bosse Field
Bosse Field is a baseball stadium located in Evansville, Indiana. Opened in 1915, it was the first municipally owned sports stadium in the United States and is the third-oldest ballpark still in regular use for professional baseball, surpassed o ...
's first base bullpen to White actor
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor
at homeplate, then gives Davis a glance full of meaning.
Chinn-Tyler, who is from
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
, played softball competitively from 1971, when she was 11, sometimes joining
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization She eventually played for the Express, a slow-pitch softball team that, according to
WJCT
WJCT, Inc. is a non-profit public media organization in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It operates PBS member television station WJCT "Jax PBS" (channel 7) and NPR member radio station WJCT-FM 89.9, as well as their associated digital plat ...
, "dominated regional games and tournaments" in the 1970s and 1980s. She played for
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the heptathlon as well as long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in tho ...
's team
Prime Time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
. She was known for her ability to throw runners out at first base from center field, and according to WJCT, was a "double threat on offense". She retired from softball at age 52, at which time she was still playing outfield.
Chinn-Tyler, then 31, was cast in the 1992 movie ''A League of Their Own'', which was filmed primarily in Evansville, after she answered an open
casting call
In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenplay, ...
in the local paper. At the tryouts she was told there were no parts for Black women because, at the time the film was set, the sport was not integrated. However, director
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 ...
was at the tryouts that day, saw Chinn-Tyler play, and decided to write her into the film.
In the scene, a ball is overthrown and lands near the first base bullpen, where a small crowd of Black spectators are standing to watch the game in the segregated stadium. Chinn-Tyler walks forward, picks up the ball, and throws it to Davis at home plate; the throw is clearly a mighty one. Chinn-Tyler recalls being told to throw the ball to Davis, then "give her a look that said that Black women could play also". According to ''Collider'', the scene references pitcher
Mamie Johnson
Mamie "Peanut" Johnson (September 27, 1935 – December 18, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who was one of three women, and the first female pitcher, to play in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues.
Early life
Johnson was ...
, one of three women to break the gender barrier in the
Negro leagues
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
. The scene takes less than 15 seconds but is considered an important and "iconic" moment in the film. Chinn-Tyler received $750 for the part; she was told she would be credited, but wasn't.
As of 2022, Chinn-Tyler was working as a team leader at
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana (TMMI) is an automobile manufacturing factory located in Gibson County, Indiana, nearly halfway between Princeton and Fort Branch, and mostly in Union Township. It is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor North America ...