Margaret Villa-Cryan (born December 21, 1924) is an American former
utility player
In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo.
The ...
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 , 115 lb., Villa batted and threw right-handed. She was born in
Montebello, California
Montebello (Italian for "Beautiful Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located just east of East Los Angeles and southwest of San Gabriel Valley. It is an independent city. east of downtown Los Angeles. It is ...
and was of Mexican American descent.
A very versatile player, Marge Villa was one of the 39 players born in California to join the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in its twelve years history. She entered the AAGPBL in 1946 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 during her five years in the league, being used as a
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
, at
second base and
third base
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
, as well as in the
outfield corners, even though she claimed notoriety in a game during her rookie season.
[
On June 9, 1946, Villa made history in her own right, when she drove in nine runs and collected eleven total bases in a contest, setting two single-game league records that never would be surpassed.
In 1947, Villa had the chance to join the touring AAGPBL teams that traveled to Central and South America. After retirement, she focused much of her time and energy visiting friends and family and traveling to reunions of the AAGPBL Players Association.]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 ...
in 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 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than individual baseball personalities. Besides this, she spent countless hours responding to requests for autographs and corresponding with young athletes interested in hearing of her days in the league.[
As of 2016, it was noted that Villa-Cryan was still playing golf into her 90s and still spent time referring to fan mail.Adobe Dust, April 2016]
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Career statistics
Batting
Fielding[All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book]
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villa, Marge
1924 births
Living people
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players
American sportspeople of Mexican descent
Baseball players from California
Sportspeople from Montebello, California
21st-century American women