Mildred Eleanor Deegan (December 11, 1919 – July 21, 2002) was an American

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 ...

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 ...

and second basewoman who played ten seasons 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 ...

, from to .

Background

Deegan was one of 25 players who made the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League clubs hailed from New York City and State, including

Muriel Bevis Muriel Bevis ��Breezy″(October 7, 1928 – October 29, 2002) was an American outfielder and pitcher who played in All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1950 season. Bevis batted and threw left-handed. She was born in Coro ...

Gloria Cordes Gloria Cordes Elliott (September 21, 1931 – March 13, 2018) was a starting pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 8", 138 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Overview pro ...

, Nancy Mudge,

Betty Trezza Betty "Moe" Trezza (August 4, 1925 – January 16, 2007) was an American professional baseball player. An infield and outfield utility, she played from through for four different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. T ...

and

Margaret Wigiser Margaret M. "Wiggie" Wigiser (December 17, 1924 – January 19, 2019) was a center fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed. Overview profile Wigiser was a center ...

. Born in

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

, she was a star athlete at Abraham Lincoln High School and in 1935 was the "champion woman baseball thrower" in New York City. "Mildred Eleanor Deegan was born on Dec. 11, 1919, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst.... She excelled in track and field at Lincoln High School, and after graduation played amateur softball with a team called the Americanettes." She learned baseball from her father, coach of the Brooklyn Bloomer Girls team. As a teenager she placed second behind

Babe Didrikson Zaharias Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Ol ...

in the javelin throw in the national meet before the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. However, at 16 she was too young. Later, she played

fastpitch softball Fastpitch softball, also known as fastpitch or fastball, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Fast pitch is considered the most competitive for ...

for the New York Americanettes in 1938–39. In 1939 her batting average was .406. That year she was the guest of New York City Mayor

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...

(along with other celebrities) at the opening day of the New York World's Fair. She played later with the Manhattan Beach Girls, who competed in the Metropolitan League in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. Deegan hit a 250-foot home run inside the building.

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

, the only other player ever to hit a home run inside the Garden, was in attendance, and posed for a photograph with her, squeezing her biceps. Then, she gained the nickname of "the Babe Ruth of Women's Softball".

Professional career

Deegan joined a Chicago fastpitch softball team for the American Softball Association National Tournament in 1943. She was soon signed by the league to play for the

Rockford Peaches The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois. The Peaches were one of two teams to pla ...

. She played for the Peaches until midway through the season, when she was traded to 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 ...

, beginning a four-year stretch in which she played for six teams. In Deegan was with the Comets and

Springfield Sallies The Springfield Sallies were a women's professional baseball team who were members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1948 season and became a development team. The Sallies were based in Springfield, Illinois and played ...

, from through part of the season she played with 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 ...

. She finished the season 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 ...

before ending her career in , returning to the Rockford franchise. Her managers and coaches included former big-leaguers

Max Carey Maximillian George Carnarius (January 11, 1890 – May 30, 1976), known as Max George Carey, was an American professional baseball center fielder and manager. Carey played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1910 through 1 ...

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

Bill Wambsganss William Adolf Wambsganss (March 19, 1894 – December 8, 1985) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1914 in baseball, 1914 through 1926 in baseball, 1926, Wambsganss played for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia ...

and

Marty McManus Martin Joseph McManus (March 14, 1900 – February 18, 1966) was an American baseball player and manager. A native of Chicago, Illinois, McManus spent two years in the United States Army before beginning his professional baseball career in 1920 ...

. Deegan also worked as the league's official photographer. As a pitcher, she gave up the winning run to the

Racine Belles The Racine Belles were one of the original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing from through out of Racine, Wisconsin. The Belles won the league's first championship. The team played its home games at Horlick Fi ...

in the final game of the 1946 Shaughnessy series but had a lifetime

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 2.36. Her career batting average was .260. In , the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

brought Deegan and two other women players to the team's spring training camp at

Bear Mountain, New York Bear Mountain is one of the best-known peaks of New York's Hudson Highlands. Located partially in Orange County in the town of Highlands and partially in Rockland County in the town of Stony Point, it lends its name to the nearby Bear Mountain ...

. She was given permission to travel with the team from manager

Leo Durocher Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager and coach (baseball), coach. He playe ...

but was not allowed to step on the field. However, after retrieving a foul ball during an exhibition game, one of the coaches gave her a

fungo bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal Club (weapon), club used in the sport of baseball to hit the Baseball (ball), ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more t ...

and let her bat infield practice. Durocher was quoted as saying that "...if we run out of men, Millie will be the first on the team...if she were a man, she no doubt would have been a Dodger."

Retirement

After retiring from baseball Deegan worked as a commercial photographer in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She also worked for the Western Electric Corporation in

Kearney, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,Middlesex County College Middlesex College, formerly known as Middlesex County College, is a Public college, public community college with its main campus in Edison, New Jersey. Founded by the Middlesex County Board of Elected Freeholders in 1964, the two-year college ...

in the late 1970s. Deegan moved to Florida in 1976 and died at the age of 82 following a two-year battle with breast cancer.

Career statistics

Batting Pitching Fielding ''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2008. Format: Paperback, 302pp. Language: English.

References

External links

Mildred Deegan – Biography / Obituary
''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
St. Petersburg Times obituary – Pro ballplayer Millie Deegan dies
Retrieved 2019-04-10.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deegan, Millie 1919 births 2002 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Rockford Peaches players Kenosha Comets players Springfield Sallies players Fort Wayne Daisies players Peoria Redwings players Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Sportspeople from Brooklyn Baseball players from New York City Softball players from New York (state) 20th-century American women