Theresa Paz Donahue (August 22, 1925 – March 14, 2019) was a Canadian

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

in women's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, playing mainly as a

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 ...

for 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 at ...

of 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 through . Listed at 5' 2", 125 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.Terry Donahue
. ''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-11.

Biography

Donahue was born in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, of Irish ancestry. As a young girl she learned to play baseball with the help of her brother in their family farm, and later played

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

at school and in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...

for the local Royals team. In 1945 Donahue was invited by an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

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 ...

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 ...

the next year in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She agreed to try out and was assigned to the Redwings, an expansion team based in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. During her four seasons in the league, Donahue was primarily a

, but played every position except

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 ...

and

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 ...

. She hit .127 in 287 games, and committed 56 errors in 1051

chances Chances may refer to: * ''Chances'' (TV series), an Australian soap opera * ''Chances'' (Philippine TV series), a prime-time soap opera * '' Chances: The Women of Magdalene'', a 2006 documentary film * ''Chances'' (novel), a 1981 novel by Jac ...

for a .947 fielding average. In 1950 Donahue joined the Admiral Music Maids of the rival National Girls Baseball League in

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

. After that, she worked for an interior design firm in Chicago in accounting and bookkeeping for 38 years, and then retired in 1990. A longtime resident of

St. Charles, Illinois St. Charles is a city in DuPage and Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It lies roughly west of Chicago on Illinois Route 64. Per the 2020 census, the population was 33,081. The official city slogan is "Pride of the Fox", after the F ...

, Donahue carried out her Grand Marshal duties during the

St. Patrick's Day Parade Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

in 2009. She was honored with many recognitions and awards over the years, including inductions in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame. She died in March 2019 at the age of 93 after suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. In 2020,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

released a documentary, ''

A Secret Love ''A Secret Love'' is an 2020 American documentary film, directed by Chris Bolan. Ryan Murphy serves as a producer on the film, while Jason Blum serves as an executive producer under his Blumhouse Productions banner. It stars Terry Donahue and ...

'', which chronicles Donahue's ultimately 72-year relationship with her wife Emma Marie "Pat" Henschel. The couple got married on Donahue's birthday in 2015.
; retrieved 2020-04-30.

Batting statistics

Fielding statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Terry 1925 births 2019 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball people from Saskatchewan Baseball players from Illinois Canadian baseball players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in Alberta LGBT people from Illinois Canadian LGBT sportspeople Lesbian sportswomen Peoria Redwings players LGBT baseball players 21st-century American women