Lillian "Lil" Faralla (July 29, 1924 – July 26, 2019) was a female

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

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...

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 ...

. She batted and threw right-handed.Lillian Faralla
''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-12.

A brief history

The early 1940s saw unprecedented numbers of women entering the public realm in numerous traditionally male occupations. The

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

left scores of businesses, including baseball, without adequate labor. Driven by the fear that

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

would be shut down for the duration of the war,

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 ...

owner

Philip K. Wrigley Philip Knight Wrigley (December 5, 1894 – April 12, 1977), often called P. K. Wrigley, was an American chewing gum manufacturer and a Major League Baseball executive, inheriting both of those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant fa ...

created a women's league as a backup plan to keep baseball alive. The circuit existed from 1943 to 1954. It eventually became known as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL).

Early life

A native of

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

, Faralla started playing

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 ...

when she was 14 years old for a team in her hometown. She played for six years with four different teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, being traded back and forth a couple of times when other teams had injuries, because she was able to fill in since she played a number of positions. A hard-throwing pitcher, she also appeared at second base,

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

, and

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

AAGPBL career

Faralla entered the league in 1946 with 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 ...

, 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 ...

(1947),

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 ...

(1948–1949),

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 ...

(1950), and coming back to South Bend (1951). She posted a career-high 19 victories in 1949, but her career milestone came in 1949, when she pitched two

no-hitters In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

in that season. She reached the playoffs with the Blue Sox in all three seasons she played for them, including the championship team in 1951. "Women should have their own league (...) The game should be adapted for women players (...) Enjoying something you like to do and getting paid for it", Faralla recalled in an interview. It was the lessons of baseball, taught by AAGPBL

managers Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

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. ...

, that the women would remember most about their time in the field of play. After the circuit folded in 1954, many of them would go on to coach softball and baseball themselves for schools and other organizations with teams. In November 1988 Faralla the entire AAGPBL was inducted into 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 ...

. She died on July 26, 2019.Lillian Faralla's obituary
/ref>

Career statistics

Batting Pitching ''Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball'' – Leslie A. Heaphy, Mel Anthony May. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2006. Format: Paperback, 438pp. Language: English.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faralla, Lillian All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Peoria Redwings players Fort Wayne Daisies players South Bend Blue Sox players Kalamazoo Lassies players Baseball players from Los Angeles People from San Pedro, Los Angeles 1924 births 2019 deaths 21st-century American women