Irene K. Kotowicz Ike"(December 10, 1919 – January 24, 2002) was an American

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 ...

and

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 c ...

who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 128 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Irene Kotowicz was one of those pitchers who posted a solid

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 ...

but only had one winning season in four years, partly because she was never on a champion team and suffered from a low run support. Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Kotowicz grew up playing ball with her neighborhood kids on the street at an early age, but did not start playing organized ball until she joined the Rockola Chicks of the rival National Girls Baseball League (NGBL).''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League'' Kotowicz entered the AAGPBL in 1945 with 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 ...

, playing for them one year before joining the

Fort Wayne Daisies The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana that played from through as members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. History The Daisies represented Fort Wayne, Indiana, and ...

(1946–1947

tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes wit ...

/small>) and the

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 ...

(1947 nd/small>). A below average hitter and

fourth outfielder In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various s ...

, she gradually made the transition to sidearm pitching in 1947. She had a combined 8–10 record and a 2.61 ERA in 23 games for Fort Wayne and Kenosha.All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book The league set a new rule for a strictly overhand pitching in 1948. Kotowicz was able to make the change, and went 18–17 with a 2.71 ERA for her hometown

Chicago Colleens The Chicago Colleens were a women's professional baseball team who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1948 to 1951, evolving into a development team. The team was based Chicago, Illinois and played their home gam ...

, an awful team who finished last with a 47–76 record, 29½ games out of the first place spot in the Eastern Division. Nevertheless, Kotowicz led all pitchers in innings pitched (298) and finished third in strikeouts (197), being surpassed only by

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 ...

Joanne Winter Joanne Emily Winter '' o' (November 24, 1924 – September 22, 1996) was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 138 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Early life A native ...

(248) and Rockford's

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 ...

(231). In addition, she tied with Rockford's

Margaret Holgerson Margaret Holgerson (January 28, 1927 – March 23, 1990) was an American pitcher and infielder who played from to in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed. After being married in 1948 she played u ...

for the most games pitched (37), while tying for seventh in wins. Kotowicz also pitched for Racine the next two years, going 8–15 with a 2.32 ERA in 1949, and 0–5 with a 4.67 ERA in 1950. The Belles advanced to the postseason in 1949. In the first round, she allowed one run in an 11-inning, 2–1 win against 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 a ...

to give Racine a sweep of the series. Then, she lost a dueling pitching with Holgerson, 1–0, which gave the Peaches a ticket to the final series. She gave up just two earned runs in 20 innings of work for a 0.90 ERA. Following her baseball career, she was a buyer of men's clothing for

Sears Roebuck Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

in Chicago for 33 years. In her spare time, she enjoyed playing

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 ...

and

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), thou ...

. In November 1988, Kotowicz, along with her former teammates and opponents, was recognized when the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York dedicated a permanent display to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Irene Kotowicz was a longtime resident of

Elk Grove Village, Illinois Elk Grove Village is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 32,812. Located northwest of Chicago along the Golden Corridor, the Village of Elk Grove Village was incorpor ...

, where she died in 2002 at the age of 82.

Career statistics

Pitching Batting Fielding

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotowicz, Irene All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Rockford Peaches players Fort Wayne Daisies players Kenosha Comets players Chicago Colleens players Racine Belles (1943–1950) players People from Elk Grove Village, Illinois 1919 births 2002 deaths Baseball players from Chicago 20th-century American people