Lenna B. Arnold (October 29, 1920 – January 22, 2010) was a

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 played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 135 lb., she batted and threw right handed. Arnold was an outstanding

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 ...

pitcher before joining the AAGPBL with her hometown

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 1946 season. Born in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, Arnold was the only daughter of two children born to John E., Sr. and Marie (Klemm) Arnold. She was a 1939 graduate of Central High School, bachelor degree from Ball State Teachers College and masters degree at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. An '' all-around athlete'', she excelled at softball with the Uhligs Machine Shop and also played

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 ...

for the City Light squad, while participating in

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

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 ...

. ״Sis״, as her Daisies teammates called her, had a modest career during her only season in the league, ending with a 2–4 record in just six pitching appearances. As a hitter, she went 3-for-14 for a .214

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 ...

. After that, she labored as a teacher during 35 years for Fort Wayne Community Schools, teaching at Central and Northrop high schools, before retiring in 1978. Following her retirement, she followed the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

on the basketball court and enjoyed travelling throughout the United States in a

motorhome A motorhome (or motor coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which offers mobile living accommodation. Features Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed or conv ...

. In 1988, Arnold received further recognition when she became part of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She died in 2010 at her home of Fort Wayne at the age of 89.

Pitching statistics

''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary'' – W.C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Softcover, 295 pp. .

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Lenna B. 1920 births 2010 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Fort Wayne, Indiana Ball State University alumni Indiana University alumni Fort Wayne Daisies players 21st-century American women