Meryle Fitzgerald (later LeClaire; January 24, 1925 – March 4, 2004) 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 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 ...

. Fitzgerald batted and threw right handed. She was dubbed 'Pinkey' by her teammates.All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Meryle LeClaire – Profile / Obituary
Retrieved 2019-04-02. Born in

Hutchinson, Minnesota Hutchinson is the largest city in McLeod County, Minnesota, McLeod County, Minnesota, United States. It lies along the South Fork of the Crow River (Minnesota), Crow River. The population was 14,599 at the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census. ...

to Elmer and Virginia Fitzgerald, she was raised in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

. By the age of 10 she was the mascot/batgirl for a baseball team coached by her father. Meryle was 21 when she 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 ...

in 1946, but she did not have much of a chance to play during the season. She made two pitching appearances, Madden, W. C. (2000) ''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book''. McFarland & Company. but additional information is incomplete because there are no records available at the time of the request. In 1988, a permanent display was inaugurated at 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 ...

, that honors those who were part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Meryle Fitzgerald is included at the display/exhibit.Before A League of Their Own
''National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum''; retrieved September 5, 2016. She later was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Meryle 1925 births 2004 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Fort Wayne Daisies players Baseball players from South Dakota People from Rapid City, South Dakota 20th-century American women 21st-century American women