Zonia Vialat was an

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 ...

player. Little is known about this woman who had an extremely short career in the league. Born in

Havana 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.

, Zonia Vialat was one of seven girls born in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

to play in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in its twelve-year history. Besides her, other ''Cubanas'' who played in the league were Luisa Gallegos,

Mirtha Marrero Mirtha Marrero ''Fernándezis a Cuban born former pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right handed. Career Born in Havana, Mirtha Marrero was one of seven girls born i ...

Migdalia Pérez Migdalia Pérez (″Mickey″) was a Cuban pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right handed. After being married she played under the name of Migdalia Jinright. Born in H ...

and Gloria Ruiz. All of them debuted in 1948. The next year were added

Isabel Alvarez Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

and

Isora del Castillo Isora del Castillo e-soa'-ra del cast-ee'-yo(born May 16, 1932) is a former infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 1", 117 lb., she batted and threw right handed. She played u ...

. Vialat appeared in only one game with the Springfield Sallies before returning to Cuba. She went hitless in one

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

and did not have fielding chances. In 1988 was opened ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based 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 ...

, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. It was not really a well known fact until filmmaker

Penny Marshall Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She is known for her role as ...

premiered her

1992 film Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

'' A League of Their Own'', which was a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

alized account of activities in the AAGPBL. Starring Geena Davis,

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Lori Petty Lori Petty (born October 14, 1963) is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She is noted for her roles in the films ''Point Break'' (1991), ''A League of Their Own'' (1992), ''Free Willy '' (1993), and the title role in ''Tank Girl'' ...

and Rosie O'Donnell, this film brought many of the real AAGPBL former players a rebirth of celebrity. In 2011, Zonia Vialat and her AAGPBL teammates from Cuba were honored by having their names and photos presented at a ceremony in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The event was presented by Leslie Heaphy, history professor at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, during the Cuban Baseball Congress held on August 20 at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

.The Miami Herald – Cuban Player a Hit in Baseball Heyday. Article by Marino Martinez Peraza

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vialat, Zonia All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Havana Date of birth unknown Year of birth unknown Date of death unknown Year of death unknown Place of death missing