Betty Ann Wagoner (July 15, 1930 – May 9, 2006) was an American

baseball player 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 te ...

. She was a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

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 ...

who played from 1948 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 110 lb., she batted and threw left-handed. An All-Star and a member of two championship teams, Betty Wagoner played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the final seven years of its existence. For most of her career Wagoner hit for

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, moving along baserunners as an occasional slugger and often appeared among the league's top twenty hitters. A smart and alert runner, she moved aggressively in the right situations to take the extra base. Armed with a strong, accurate throwing arm, she had good range at right field, catching almost everything that came her way and always knew what to do with the ball. Eventually, she played at center field or first base, serving also as an occasional starting pitcher. She posted an 8–20 record in 32 pitching appearances, while her .271 batting average ranks her eleventh in the AAGPBL all-time list.

Early life

A native of

Lebanon, Missouri Lebanon is a city in and the county seat of Laclede County in Missouri. The population was 14,474 at the time of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Laclede County. The Lebanon Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Laclede County. Hi ...

, Wagoner was a 1948 graduate of Bolivar High School. She started to play

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 ...

in Phillipsburg on the boy's softball team in grade school and later joined the girls' softball team at Bolivar, playing also for the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

team of Springfield during two summers. Wagoner read about the AAGPBL in ''Life'' magazine when she was 12 years old. "I told my parents that someday I'd like to play in that league (if I was good enough),", she recalled in an interview. After graduating at 17, she attended a tryout at

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

. She passed the test and was rewarded with a contract to play in the circuit.

Career

Wagoner entered the league with the Lassies, playing for them only four days before joining South Bend for the rest of her career. In her rookie season, she hit a combined .278 (69-for-284) in 84 games for both teams. South Bend, with

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 ...

at the helm, ended in third place with a 57–69 record and lost to Grand Rapids in the first round of the playoffs, three to two games. In Game 1,

Jean Faut Jean Anna Faut ''Winsch/Eastman(born November 17, 1925) is an American retired starting pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 137 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Jean F ...

pitched 20 innings to beat

Alice Haylett Alice Haylett (April 2, 1923 – March 27, 2004), nicknamed "Al" and "Sis", was a female pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 155 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

and Grand Rapids, 3–2, in which has been reported as being the longest game in AAGPBL post-season history. Grand Rapids won Game 2 in 11 innings, 3–2, to tie the series, but

Lillian Faralla Lillian "Lil" Faralla (July 29, 1924 – July 26, 2019) was a female pitcher and utility who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed.Mildred Earp silenced the South Bend hitters in a one-hit, 1–0

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, and Grand Rapids advanced to the finals. In 1949 Wagoner became the right fielder of South Bend. She appeared in a career-high 113 games and hit .230 (87-for-379),

scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

58 runs while driving in 26 more. Throughout the regular season, South Bend, now managed by

Dave Bancroft David James Bancroft (April 20, 1891 – October 9, 1972) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Robins ...

, waged an up-and-down battle with Rockford for first place. Although South Bend had a four-game lead in August, both clubs tied with identical records of 75–36 at the end of the year. In the playoffs, Rockford eliminated South Bend in four straight games. By edict of league president Max Carey, the playoff victory also made Rockford the regular season champion team. By 1950 the advantage began to shift toward the batter. That year, most pitchers were still adjusting to the new 10-inch ball introduced the previous season. Also, the pitching distance, set at 43 feet before 1948 and increased to 50 feet in 1949, was augmented to 55 feet in 1950. Betty Foss of Fort Wayne topped the league with a .346 average, while Rockford's Eleanor Callow and Racine's

Sophie Kurys Sophie Kurys (May 14, 1925 – February 17, 2013) was a former second basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , , Kurys batted and threw right-handed. Career A native of Flint, Mic ...

tied with seven

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, and Grand Rapids'

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. ...

finished with 70 runs batted in. Wagoner enjoyed a solid season, hitting .296 with 61 runs and 39 RBI in 106 games,. She also recorded career-best numbers in at-bats (388) and hits (115), and was selected for the All-Star Team. South Bend finished in fifth place with a 55–55 mark and dropped out of the playoffs. In 1951 Karl Winsch took over as manager of South Bend. By the time the season rolled around, his wife

was a successful and established pitcher. She led the league in strikeouts (135), tied for seventh in wins (15), and ranked third in

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 ...

(1.33) and in shutouts (seven). Wagoner, who was proficient at hitting line drives, played 110 games and hit a .272 average (102-for-375), driving in 41 runs and scoring 77 times to set career numbers in both categories. Faut reached her peak of the season on July 21, when she hurled a

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

against the visiting Rockford Peaches at Playland Park. Ahead 2–0, she struck out five of the last nine hitters, including pitching ace

Helen Nicol Helen Nicol (later Fox; May 9, 1920 – July 25, 2021) was a Canadian-American baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at , , Nicol batted and threw right-handed. She was ...

to end the game. Faut gave considerable credit for her perfect performance to the flawless fielding of her teammates. ''I had an extremely good team behind me'', she recalled years later. To this day she remembered the shoestring catch Wagoner made on the right field foul line in the second inning. ''That was the only real scare I had. That was a tremendous catch'', adding that Wagoner ran a long way on a dead run to snag it justoff the ground. While South Bend placed third in the first-half standings, the team finished first in the second half, thus giving them a playoff berth. Their complete season record of 75 and 36 was best in the league in 1951, and the Blue Sox would end the season battling Rockford in the best-of-five championship round. The defending AAGPBL champion Rockford won the first two games, but South Bend won the next three games to clinch the title. Faut collected two of the victories, while Wagoner led all-hitters with a .600 average (6-for-10).''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' But everything came to a head in 1952, because South Bend manager Winsch became more demanding of his players. That season was to see Faut again lead the league in several pitching categories. She posted a 20–2 record in 23 games to set an all-time record in

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(.909). She also recorded a career-best 0.93 ERA and led all pitchers with 114 strikeouts, but the fact that her husband managed the team created friction between Faut and many of her teammates. Meanwhile, Wagoner raised her average to .295, including 64 runs and 27 RBI in 97 games. Nevertheless, some of the players bristled under Winsch's leadership, many of them refusing to speak to him or their star pitcher. Dissension within the South Bend team peaked just before the season ended, when flashy infielder

Charlene Pryer Charlene Barbara Pryer ayer(September 24, 1921 – June 3, 1999) was a female utility in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, playing mainly at second base and center field from through . Listed at , 105 lb., Pryer batted a ...

was disciplined following a dispute with Winsch. The incident occurred when he suspended Pryer from the team after she responded slowly to his order to pinch-run late in a game. In protest, five South Bend teammates joined Pryer in a walkout, leaving Winsch's team short-handed for the playoffs. Pryer was reinstated at the club, but she decided to retire for good. The championship series was a repeat of the previous year with South Bend again facing Rockford. It was the second league championship for South Bend and the second time Faut pitched the decisive Game 5. She also hit two triples and drove in two runs while turning in a 6–3 complete game victory. In 1953 South Bend was weakened considerably by the player losses at the end of the previous season. The Blue Sox would finish the second from last, compiling a dismal 45–65 record. Wagoner dropped to .239 (84-for-352), driving in 27 runs while scoring 42 times in 97 games. In spite of everything that had gone wrong, Faut still turned in a solid season by leading the league in wins (17), strikeouts (153) and ERA (1.51) in 29 games, to win the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

and Player of the Year honors. She was worn down from all the dissension and retired at the end of the season. Wagoner saw limited action in 1954, but she still batting for average and went 48-for-150 to collect a .320 mark in just only 48 games, joining the All-Star team as a reserve outfielder. South Bend finished second (48–44) and advanced to the playoffs, but was beaten in the first round by the

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 ...

, who would end the season defeating Fort Wayne to become the winning team of the last championship in the league's history.

Later life

Following her baseball career, Wagoner took a job at Bendix Corporation, where she worked as an office supervisor from 1952 to 1986. After retiring, she stayed active by constantly volunteering and by

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

and playing

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. She gained induction into the Hall of Fame in

, and also is part of the AAGPBL permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York, which was inaugurated in 1988 in honor of the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities. Wagoner was a longtime resident of

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

, where she died, aged 75, from undisclosed causes. She was survived by one sister, three nieces, two nephews, and a large extended family.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagoner, Betty 1930 births 2006 deaths People from Lebanon, Missouri Baseball players from Missouri All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Bendix Corporation people 21st-century American women