Ruth Kramer Hartman Kramer ''Hartman(April 26, 1926 – November 9, 2015) 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 ...

and backup infielder 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' 1", 150 lb., she batted and threw right handed. Madden, W. C. (2005) ''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland & Company. Kramer was born in Limekiln, Pennsylvania. She received an opportunity to pitch in the league when she was a sophomore in college. Kramer joined 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 1946, then moved to 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 ...

for the rest of the year through the 1947 season. Most of her time in the league, Kramer pitched

batting practice B backdoor breaking ball :A breaking pitch, usually a slider, curveball, or cut fastball that, due to its lateral motion, passes through a small part of the strike zone on the outside edge of the plate after seeming as if it would miss the pla ...

and in short

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

situations. Eventually, she was used only as a skilled bunter or a defensive replacement at second base. Kramer married William D. L. Hartman. They had a daughter, Karen. Considered a pioneer for women's athletics in Reading, Kramer earned a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

degree from East Stroudsburg State College in Pennsylvania, now East Stroudsburg University, and worked for the Reading School District for 36 years. In between, she started a girls’ softball program at

Reading Senior High School Reading Senior High School, colloquially known as The Castle on The Hill, is a 9–12 public high school in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1927 and is part of the Reading School District. It is the largest traditional high school ...

, where she coached with great success during 16 years. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954, but there is now a permanent display 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 ...

since November 5, 1988 that honors those who were part of the league. Ruth, along with the rest of the girls and the league staff, is included at the display/exhibit.Before A League of Their Own
''National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum''. Retrieved on September 5, 2016. Ruth Kramer Hartman died in 2015 in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

, at the age of 89.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Ruth 1926 births 2015 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Racine Belles (1943–1950) players Fort Wayne Daisies players East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania alumni Baseball players from Reading, Pennsylvania 20th-century American sportswomen