Virginia Bell (July 30, 1927 – April 19, 1994) was a pitcher and outfielder 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' 3", 128. lb., Bell batted and threw right handed. She was dubbed ''Ginger''.All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Virginia Bell
Retrieved 2019-03-26. Madden, W. C. (2005) ''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary'' (2005). Born in

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expa ...

, Bell served for the

Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an Auxiliaries, auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the U ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

before joining the league with the

Springfield Sallies The Springfield Sallies were a women's professional baseball team who were members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1948 season and became a development team. The Sallies were based in Springfield, Illinois and played ...

in its 1948 season. Bell posted a 7.88

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in one pitching appearance and did not have a decision or save, allowing 10 runs (three unearned) on six hits and eight walks, while

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

four batters in 8.0 innings of work. As a hitter, she went 2-for-4 (.500 BA). After baseball, Bell moved to

Many, Louisiana Many () is a town in, and the parish seat of Sabine Parish in western Louisiana. The population was 2,853 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 36 or 1.246 percent from 2000. History The site where Many currently sits was originally a Belgian settle ...

, where she spent the rest of her life. The AAGPBL folded in 1954, but there is 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 the entire league rather than any individual figure.Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Official Website
Retrieved on March 27, 2017. Ginger Bell died in 1994 at the age of 66.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Virginia 1927 births 1994 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Michigan People from Many, Louisiana Sportspeople from Muskegon, Michigan Women's Army Corps soldiers Springfield Sallies players Baseball pitchers