Jean Buckley Bucketts"(December 4, 1931 – July 7, 2019) was a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

who played from through 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 , , Buckley batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts. Buckley was a solid

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 ...

and

clutch hitter A clutch hitter is a baseball player who is seemingly adept at getting a hit in high-pressure situations, i.e. in the clutch. This usually refers to getting a hit (particularly a home run) when the player's team is trailing late in a game and need ...

during her three years in the league, turning into a feared batter in two postseasons, although her teams failed to win the title in any of them. She started to play

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 ...

at age 12 for a

Catholic Youth Organization Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) is an international Catholic youth movement founded by Bishop Bernard Sheil in Chicago in 1930. It would become a major factor in the development of race relations in the US Catholic Church following World War ...

team in her hometown. As a teenager, she played with the Quincy Raiderettes, an amateur

fastpitch softball Fastpitch softball, also known as fastpitch or fastball, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Fast pitch is considered the most competitive for ...

team. At the time she was scouted by Mary Pratt, a former AAGPBL

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 ...

, who invited her and other girls to a tryout in a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Everett was the last city in the Un ...

. "I never threw a

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 tea ...

in my life", she explained in an interview. "I played softball in Boston. No sliding, no

stealing Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

; a team sport not dominated by a pitcher; C.Y.O. tBoston Parks. I was a natural". Buckley was admitted in the league and went to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

West Baden, Indiana West Baden Springs is a town in French Lick Township, Orange County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 574 at the 2010 census. It is well known for its West Baden Springs Hotel and for being the birthplace of Larry Bird. History W ...

. She opened the 1950 season with 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 List of defunct amusement parks#Wisc ...

, playing for them two years before joining 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 ...

(1952). She usually was placed fifth in the batting order but could also fill in at

cleanup Cleanup, clean up or clean-up may refer to: * Cleanup (animation), a stage of animation workflow * Clean-up (environment), environmental action to remove litter from a place * Cleanup hitter, a baseball position * Clean-up Records, a record label ...

spot if needed. "I played at centerfield,

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

a little... I batted fifth, couldn't handle the fourth place pressure", she recalled. In her rookie year, Buckley batted a .207

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

with 22

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and a

slugging Slugging, also known as casual carpooling, is the practice of forming ad hoc, informal carpools for purposes of commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking. A driver picks up these non-paying passengers (known as ...

of .297 in 71 games, helping Kenosha reach the playoffs after losing the first round a year before; however, the Comets once again failed to advance to the finals. She went 4-for-10 (.400) with a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

, one

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

and one RBI in a lost cause.All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book Her most productive season came with the Peaches in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

, when she posted career numbers in

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

(96)

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s (4),

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(62), doubles and RBI (35), to have a shot at getting back into the playoffs. She went 4-for-4 with four RBI against 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 ...

in the third and decisive game of the first round, to back up a six-hit, 6–0

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

Migdalia Pérez Migdalia Pérez (″Mickey″) was a Cuban pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right handed. After being married she played under the name of Migdalia Jinright. Born in H ...

and secure a spot in the best-of-five final series. In all, Buckley batted .500 (6-for-12) with two homers, a double and six RBI in the first round, and squeezed in the winning run to edge the

South Bend Blue Sox The South Bend Blue Sox was a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented South Bend, Indiana, and played their home games at Bendix Fi ...

in Game 3 of the finals, but it took all seven games for South Bend to be declared the champion team. Following her baseball career, Buckley moved to

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

, where she played for the local softball team and travelled the great state. In 1954 her whole family moved to Redwood City to see her playing on the team. She then attended

San Francisco State College San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

and earned a degree in 1954. She taught at elementary and junior high school for the next 29 years and retired in 1995.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League She later lived in

Fortuna, California Fortuna (Spanish for "Fortune"; Wiyot: ''Vutsuwitk Da'l'') is a city on the northeast shore of the Eel River, approximately from where it enters the Pacific Ocean, and is on U.S. Route 101 in west-central Humboldt County, California, United St ...

, and attended AAGPBL Players Association reunions. The association was largely responsible for the opening of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based at the

Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

, which was unveiled in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Jean Buckley died on July 7, 2019, at the age of 87.Jean Buckley Obituary
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Career statistics

Batting Fielding

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckley, Jean 1931 births 2019 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Boston Kenosha Comets players People from Dorchester, Massachusetts People from Fortuna, California People from Redwood City, California Rockford Peaches players 21st-century American women