Rita Briggs '' Maude"' (March 27, 1929 – September 6, 1994) was an American female baseball

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 ...

who played from through for seven different teams 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 , 120 lb., Briggs batted

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. She was born in

Ayer, Massachusetts Ayer () is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Originally part of Groton, Massachusetts, Groton, it was incorporated February 14, 1871, and became a major commercial railroa ...

Brief profile

An All-Star and member of two champion teams, Briggs was a solid backup catcher during the last years of existence of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Known more for her glove work than her bat, she had a strong throwing arm and worked well with pitchers, important in a league that progressively expanded the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreased the size of the ball until the final year of play. A consistent and durable player, she recorded an all-time mark for most games played by a catcher in a single season. Besides this, she provided versatility being able to play all

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

positions and

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

while being a left-hitter.

Early life

Briggs started to play baseball at a very early age. She attended

Ayer High School Ayer Shirley Regional High School is a high school located in Ayer, Massachusetts. The school colors are maroon and white, and the mascot is the Panther. The student body contains about 350 students in 9th-12th grade. School Support The school b ...

, where she was the full-time catcher for the Ayer baseball team to become the first and only girl ballplayer in the school's history. Briggs was discovered by an AAGPBL

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

while she was playing at school and give her a tryout. Briggs did well, and was given a contract to play in the 1947 season. This time the league opened its

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 ...

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

AAGPBL career

Briggs entered the league in 1947 with 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 ...

, playing for them one and a half years before joining the

Chicago Colleens The Chicago Colleens were a women's professional baseball team who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1948 to 1951, evolving into a development team. The team was based Chicago, Illinois and played their home gam ...

(1948), South Bend Blue Sox (1949),

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 ...

(1949),

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 ...

(1949-'51), Battle Creek Belles (1952) and

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 ...

(1953-'54). She hit .215 in limited action during her rookie season. In 1948 she batted .200 for Rockford and Chicago with a career-high 43

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s and seven triples (third in the league). She caught 128 games that year, to set an all-time record for most games played by a catcher in a single season. Playing for three clubs in 1949, Briggs hit a combined .222 average with 22 steals before becoming a regular with Peoria for the next two years. Her most productive season came in 1951, when she posted career-highs in average (.275),

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

(57) and

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(44). After that she helped the Daisies to win pennants in 1953 and 1954, but the team lost the final series in both years 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 ...

and

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 th ...

, respectively. She was named to the All-Star Team in 1952, and shared catching duties with

Pepper Paire Lavone A. "Pepper" Paire Davis (May 29, 1924 – February 2, 2013) was a baseball catcher and infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 138 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. ...

in 1954, during what turned out to be the All-American League's final season. In November 1988, the AAGPBL received their long overdue recognition when 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 ...

dedicated a permanent display to the entire league rather than any individual player. Rita Briggs spent the last years of her life in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

, where she died at the age of 65. In 2009, Ayer High School dedicated to her their new softball park Rita Briggs Field.

Statistics

Batting

Fielding

The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Rita All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Rockford Peaches players Chicago Colleens players South Bend Blue Sox players Peoria Redwings players Battle Creek Belles players Fort Wayne Daisies players Racine Belles (1943–1950) players Baseball catchers Sportspeople from Kalamazoo, Michigan People from Ayer, Massachusetts Baseball players from Middlesex County, Massachusetts 1929 births 1994 deaths