Erma M. "Bergie" Bergmann (June 18, 1924 – September 13, 2015) was an American baseball

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

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

who played from through 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 , 155 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

Early life

Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, Erma Bergmann was one of three children into the family of Otto and Sophie Bergmann. Her father was a packinghouse butcher, while her mother, a

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

pianist, wanted her only daughter to take piano lessons. But Erma declined, preferring to play

sandlot ball Sandlot ball or sandlot baseball is a competitive and athletic sports game that follows the basic rules and procedures of baseball. It is often less organized and structured, as the name alludes to a makeshift field or an empty lot. History and ...

with her two brothers and other neighborhood kids. At fourteen, she began playing at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in the St. Louis Amateur Softball League since other opportunities at school were limited. At fifteen, she played shortstop for the Melbas, a girls' softball team at St. Louis Park, and pitched for the Phantoms, a boys' baseball team, pitching ten straight victories. After eight years of experience, she was recruited by an AAGPBL

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 ...

that followed her for three years before signing a contract to play after graduation.

Career

Since the only organized ball for women in the country was softball, the AAGPBL created a hybrid game which included both softball and baseball. Over the twelve years of history of the league, the rules were gradually modified to more closely resemble baseball. Throwing underhand, Bergmann was one of the few AAGPBL hurlers to pitch all three styles in the league's history, being able to make the transition to full sidearm in 1947 and overhand pitching in 1948. Bergmann entered the league in 1946 with the expansion

Muskegon Lassies The Muskegon Lassies were one of the expansion teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season, representing Muskegon, Michigan. The team played their home games at Marsh Field. History The 1946 Muskegon Lassies p ...

, playing for them two years before joining 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 ...

(1948),

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 ...

(1949–1950) and Battle Creek Belles (1951). In her rookie season, Bergmann posted a 15–16 record and a 2.05

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 ...

in 35 pitching appearances, top numbers for the sixth-place Lassies. She also spent time at outfield, hitting a .255

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

in 50 games. Her biggest thrill in her season debut came when she belted her only career

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 ...

in the top of the ninth inning of a game against the

Rockford Peaches The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois. The Peaches were one of two teams to pla ...

. She then shut down the Peaches in the bottom of the inning for a victory with her parents in attendance. In 1947 the AAGPBL moved its

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 ...

camp to

Havana, Cuba 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.

, and Bergmann was one of the two hundred girls who made the trip. That season she was used strictly as a pitcher. She ended the season with an 11–10 mark and a solid 1.74 ERA in 27 games, helping the Lassies win the pennant. In addition, she tossed a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the host

Grand Rapids Chicks The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winning championships in 1947 and 1953. History The franchise ...

on May 22 of that year. For the rest of her career, Bergmann played for awful teams and her season records reflect reflected it. She went 9–19 in 1948, though she recorded a 3.05 ERA. Then, she finished 11–14 with a 2.09 ERA in 1949, and went 11–14 with a 2.68 ERA in 1950. Her worst season came in 1951, when she went 7–18 with a 3.92 ERA while leading the league in losses,

runs allowed Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

(119) and

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

s (87). It would be her last year in the league.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League After that, Bergmann moved to

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

and played in the rival

National Girls Baseball League The National Girls Baseball League (NGBL) was a professional women's baseball league which existed from 1944 to 1954, with teams based in Chicago, Illinois. The National Girls Baseball League started a year after the All-American Girls Professi ...

from 1952 to 1954. During this stint, she tied two league records by pitching a 23-inning game and hitting five

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

in a game.

Later career

Following her baseball career, Bergmann became one of the first commissioned police women in the city of St. Louis. She retired in 1981 after 25 years of exemplary service in the St. Louis Police Department. In 1988, Bergmann became part of ''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 rather than any individual personality. Then, in 1996 she gained induction in the St. Louis Amateur Softball Hall of Fame, and also was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.Missouri Sports Hall of Fame – 2007 Inductees

Career statistics

Pitching Batting

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmann, Erma All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from St. Louis 1924 births 2015 deaths American women police officers Muskegon Lassies players Springfield Sallies players Racine Belles (1943–1950) players Battle Creek Belles players National Girls Baseball League players 21st-century American women American female baseball players