Elma Steck Weiss (May 3, 1923 – July 22, 2014) was a fourth outfielder who played 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' 4", 120 lb., Elma batted left-handed and threw right-handed. She was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, and was nicknamed "El".

Baseball

Steck played for the

Peoria Redwings The Peoria Redwings was a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season and remained in the league through 1951. The team represented Peoria, Illinois, playing home games at ...

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 ...

, Chicago Colleens and Springfield Sallies in parts of three seasons spanning 1948–1950. Discussing the movie made about the league, '' A League of Their Own'', she described her time playing as being "wonderful, but of course we didn't know it was going to be history. We just thought we we're going to have a good time playing.” During her time in the league she traveled extensively. About that, she explained, "on the road we had a little time we could go to the movies and shop, but there was a game every single night, unless it rained and sometimes double headers.”

Other activities

Following her baseball career, she became a teacher. She earned two

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

s 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 ...

and taught for three decades at

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union High School and Junio ...

, retiring in 1984. In addition to teaching she served as its Women's Athletic Director. She then taught in a part-time basis until retiring for good in 1993.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League In 1951, she married Ken Weiss, a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who played in the

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 ...

and

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

Minor League system. The couple raised a family of four: Dan, Mike, Lynne and Cindy, and had six grandchildren. In addition, she served in the US Navy from 1944 through 1946. After retiring, she played golf and attended the AAGPBL annual reunions. Elma died in 2014 in

Sun City, Arizona Sun City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, that is located within the Phoenix metropolitan area. The population was 39,931 as of the 2020 United Sta ...

, where she lived, at the age of 91.The Arizona Republic – Weiss, Elma Steck (5/3/1923 - 7/22/2014)
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Career statistics

Sources

External links

"Elma Weiss (Steck) AAGPBL Player Profile"
AAGPBL. Retrieved 16 September 2014. *Weiss, Tyler
"Elma Steck-Weiss: A Life Well Lived"
YouTube. Retrieved 16 September 2014. *Aguilar, Brandy

AZ Family.com. Retrieved 16 September 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Steck, Elma 1923 births 2014 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Columbus, Ohio Baseball players from Phoenix, Arizona People from Sun City, Arizona Baseball players from Maricopa County, Arizona 21st-century American women