Mary Lou Beschorner (September 18, 1929 – November 8, 2008) was an

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 ...

who played 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' 7", 135 lb., she batted and threw right handed. Born in

Sandwich, Illinois Sandwich is a city in DeKalb and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 7,421 at the 2010 census and 7,221 at the 2020 census. History The town's history is tied to politician "Long John" Wentworth and his efforts t ...

, Mary Lou was one of ten children born to William F. and Maria N. (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Loscher) Beschorner. Her interest in baseball began at an early age while playing throw and catch with her brother-in-law Marshall Shumaker, who raised her from age nine. In her teen years, she played organized softball with the Dekalb Hybrids team and graduated from Plano High School in 1947.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League She later heard about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League tryouts at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and made the final cut. She attended the

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 ...

held at

West Baden Springs, 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. Histor ...

, in 1949 and was assigned to the

Grand Rapids Chicks The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winning championships in 1947 and 1953. History The franchise ...

, a team managed by former big leaguer

Johnny Rawlings John William Rawlings '' ed' (August 17, 1892 – October 16, 1972) was a second baseman and shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for six different teams between the and seasons. Listed at , 158 lb., he batted and threw right-han ...

. Beschorner was used mainly as a

pinch-hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...

the first season, appearing in 36 games while batting an

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, ...

of .165 (14-for-85). She was still considered a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

when she joined 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 ...

in 1950. Redwings' manager

Leo Murphy Leo Murphy may refer to: * Leo Murphy (Australian footballer), Australian rules footballer * Leo Murphy (baseball) Leo Joseph "Red" Murphy (January 7, 1889 – August 12, 1960) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburg ...

used her as a

fourth outfielder In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various s ...

that year behind

Faye Dancer Faye Katherine Dancer (April 24, 1925 – May 22, 2002) was a center fielder who played from through for three teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 145 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Women i ...

Joyce Hill Joyce Elaine Westerman (née Hill; December 29, 1925 – January 18, 2021) was a catcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 150 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed. B ...

and Twila Shively. She finished with a .150 average in 49 games.1950 Peoria Redwings
Retrieved 2019-03-26. After the season, she married Robert F. Michealson and decided not to return to the league in 1951, although her husband told her that she could return. They had a son, Kirk Alan, and two grandchildren, Trevor and Hayley. Her husband died in 1960, when her boy was three years old. She remarried again in 1972, to John L. Baskovich, and was widowed for a second time in 1995. He was very proud of her son, who graduated from the

USNA The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...

and went on to be a commander in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Mary Lou was a longtime resident of

Plano, Illinois Plano is a city near Aurora in Kendall County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 11,847 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, being about 55 miles (90 km) from Chicago. The city was home to the Plano Har ...

, where she worked as a bookkeeper for Town & Country Food Stores during 32 years, until her retirement in 1993. Besides baseball, she was also an avid

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 wi ...

er and once had a four handicap. As a member of the Cedardell Golf Course in Plano, she won the Golf Club Ladies Invitational three times since it was established in 1987. In addition, she set the ladies' golf record at three nine-hole golf courses in Illinois: Morris Country Club (1974), Cedardell Golf Club (1977) and Earlville Country Club (1985). She kept playing until the arthritis benched her. ″Bush″, as her AAGPBL teammates called her, received further recognition in 1988 when she became part of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 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. She died in 2008 in

Yorkville, Illinois Yorkville (officially the United City of Yorkville) is a city and county seat of Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,533 at th2020 census History In 1836, the city of Yorkville was settled ...

, at the age of 79.

Career statistics

Batting Fielding

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beschorner, Mary Lou All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Illinois People from Sandwich, Illinois 1929 births 2008 deaths People from Plano, Illinois Grand Rapids Chicks players Peoria Redwings players 21st-century American women