Jean Ann Havlish '"Grasshopper"''(born November 23, 1935) is a former female

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

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 5' 6", 130 lb., Havlish batted and threw right-handed. She was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

.Jean Havlish – Biography
. ''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-14.

Brief profile

A slick-fielding shortstop, Jean Havlish joined 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 ...

during the last three seasons of the

. She posted a modest .218

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 193 games, but provided outstanding defense with a strong and secure throwing arm. After the league disbanded in 1954, Havlish played elite fast-pitch softball and competed successfully in bowling for over three decades, leading the WIBC Top Twenty Year Average list for many years.

Early life

Havlish was one of five siblings of Howard Havlish, a full-time worker for the Great Northern Railroad, and Mary (Sheskern) Havlish, who labored part-time for the Internal Revenue Service. At age eight, Havlish was watching the older girls play when the shortstop got hurt. She was given an opportunity to play, and after that she played all the time. "I can't even remember not playing baseball", she recalled in an interview. Havlish added that she started playing baseball in an empty cornfield near her home with all the neighborhood boys. While attending Washington High School, she developed as a multi-talented athlete, playing

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, football, basketball, baseball and softball and competed in

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...

. She graduated from there to playing organized softball in the playground leagues. "The only thing I could not play was tennis", she acknowledged. Havlish wound up with the

in 1952 in a shortstop swap that sent Dottie Schroeder to Kalamazoo. After three tryouts for three different teams, Havlish went back to school and entered the league in 1952 with the Daisies, by then managed by

Bill Allington William Baird Allington (October 26, 1903 – August 17, 1966) was an American minor league baseball player and manager. Listed at 5' 9" and 160 pounds, Allington batted and threw right-handed. He was born in St. Clair County, Michigan. ...

AAGPBL career

Havlish played in only a few games for the Daisies in 1952. In 1953, she struggled at the plate, hitting just .189 (64-for-343), but she excelled in the field preventing runs for a team particularly potent on offense. In the 1953 season, the Daisies outscored their nearest rival by over 100 runs, winning the league title with a 66–39 mark. The explosive bats of

Wilma Briggs Wilma Briggs '' riggsie' (born November 6, 1930) is a former left fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 138 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed. She led the l ...

and the sisters Betty Weaver Foss and

Joanne Weaver Joanne "Joltin' Jo" Weaver (December 19, 1935 – March 19, 2000) was a right fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 142 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Overview profile ...

provided the difference in the league. While Briggs belted a league-lead nine

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, Joanne led in average (.346) and Betty in

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 ...

(81) and

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s (80), but Fort Wayne lost for the third consecutive year in the first round, now with the

Kalamazoo Lassies The Kalamazoo Lassies were a team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team represented Kalamazoo, Michigan. Home games were initially played at Lindstrom Field, but later games were played at the ...

, 2-to-1.League History
. ''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-14. In the 1953 All-Star Game, played on July 14 at Memorial Park, the Daisies defeated the All-Star team in an 11-inning effort behind

Jean Geissinger Jean Louise Geissinger (later Harding; June 25, 1934 – June 8, 2014) was an infielder and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with the Fort Wayne Daisies (1951-1952 'start'' 1953–195 ...

, who belted a

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not ...

, and

Katie Horstman Catherine Horstman ��Horsey″(born April 14, 1935) is a former female utility player who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 150 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Overview profile ...

, whose relief pitching silenced an All-Stars potential rally in the 9th inning. Havlish improved her offensive and defensive statistics in 1954, when she connected 11 more hits in 67 fewer

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s for a .254 average (70-for-276), including hitting a home run in three consecutive games. At the field, she committed 18 fewer

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

s, participated in 14 more

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

s, and started a

triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...

. Notably, she played in 14 fewer games due to an injury, but also had three times as many doubles, 11 more walks and 24 fewer

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s (she fanned only 16 times). During what turned out to be the league's final season, Kalamazoo clinched the Championship Title over Fort Wayne, three games to two.

Awards and recognitions

Havlish is included in a ''Women in Baseball'' permanent display, which was opened in 1988 at the

National 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-r ...

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 ...

to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than any individual player. In 2009, Havlish's glove was accepted by the Hall of Fame as part of the AAGPBL memorabilia. In 1992, Havlish, Kay Heim and Nancy Mudge, two other Minnesota residents and former AAGPBL players, were invited to throw out the first pitch in a game

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

played at the

Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League' ...

. The trio also was honored by the

Colorado Silver Bullets The Colorado Silver Bullets were an all-female professional baseball team that played in the United States from 1994 to 1997. The Bullets were the first such team since the folding of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1954. ...

all-female baseball team in their 1994 inaugural season, in which they threw out the first ball pitch of a game celebrated in Saint Paul. Additionally, Havlish gained inductions in the Women's International Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 1987, the Minnesota State Women's Hall of Fame in 1991, the St. Bernard's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007, and is also a member of the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.Baseball in Fort Wayne
/ref>

Career statistics

Seasonal Batting Records Seasonal Fielding Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Havlish, Jean All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Fort Wayne Daisies players Baseball players from Saint Paul, Minnesota American ten-pin bowling players 1935 births Living people 21st-century American women