Dorothy "Dottie" Hunter (January 28, 1916 – August 17, 2005) was a Canadian first basewoman who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season. A member of several

halls of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

, Hunter was one of 68 players from Canada to participate in the extinct All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Early life

Hunter was born in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada. She grew up in a home where sports were considered of vital importance, as her father was a prominent soccer player and coach. She started playing playground games, and played whatever sport the boys were playing,

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. There were no teams for girls and the boys would let her play with them. Finally, only 280 girls were invited to the final try-outs 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 ...

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, where 60 survived the final cut. Enticed with salaries ranging from $55 to $150 per week, the initial group of women would form four teams – 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 ...

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 ...

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 – for the league’s inaugural campaign. Each team consisted of 15 players. Hunter survived the last cut and was assigned to the Racine squad, becoming one of the oldest players to enter the league at 27.

AAGPBL career

Listed at , Hunter batted and threw right-handed. She started 1943 with the Belles as their regular first sacker. She hit .224 in 80 games and helped Racine win a pennant and championship in the AAGPBL’s first-ever season. After that she became a chaperone for the expansion Chicks, first at

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

(1944) and later in Grand Rapids (1945-'54), until the league folded following the 1954 season. Hunter enjoyed continued success following each move, becoming the only girl in AAGPBL history to participate in the playoffs every year, including four Championship Titles. She also was one of three girls, along with Dottie Green (

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

/chaperone) 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 ...

( infielder), to participate in all 12 seasons for the league.

Statistics

Batting

Fielding

Milestones

On November 5, 1988, Hunter was honored with the rest of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the opening of a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. In 1998, she and another 10 girls from Manitoba who played in the AAGPBL were inducted into the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. H ...

and the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame. Hunter died at a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

in Manitoba at the age of 89.

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Dottie 1916 births 2005 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Racine Belles (1943–1950) players Canadian baseball players Sportspeople from Winnipeg Baseball people from Manitoba Canadian expatriates in the United States