Gertrude Alderfer '' ert' (September 21, 1931 – February 27, 2018) was a

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 ...

woman and

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 ...

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 ...

. She batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

.Gertrude Benner – Biography / Obituary
''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-11.

Early life

A native of

Kulpsville, Pennsylvania Kulpsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvanias. The population was 8,194 at the 2010 census. It is located in Towamencin Township, which is part of the North Penn Valley region that is centered around the boro ...

, Alderfer was an all-around athlete who did play field hockey, basketball and softball in high school. She also played on a playground baseball team for two years in which she was the only girl among several boys. At age 17, she attended an AAGPBL tryout with about 200 girls in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

. Only nine of them made it to their destination, including Alderfer. She went to

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

for

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 ...

after the night of her graduation. Most of her time in the AAGPBL was spent on the two touring training teams, 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 ...

and

Chicago Colleens The Chicago Colleens were a women's professional baseball team who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1948 to 1951, evolving into a development team. The team was based Chicago, Illinois and played their home gam ...

, though she did stay with the

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 ...

during five weeks in 1950.

AAGPBL career

The Colleens and Sallies played exhibition games and recruited new talent as they toured through the South and East. Highlights of these tours included contests at

Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW. The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Bounda ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Alderfer played for them in 1949 (Sallies) and 1950 (Colleens). She was drafted again by the Lassies after moving to Kalamazoo in 1951, but her mother took ill and she decided to stay home and care for her. Alderfer believed the toughest

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 faced was

Doris Sams Doris Jane Sams (February 2, 1927 – June 28, 2012), nicknamed "Sammye", was an American outfielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 145 lbs., she batted and threw righ ...

and the best player she saw in action was Dottie Schroeder. "Playing baseball and being paid for having fun was great. Also traveling to different cities and meeting a lot of different people. My teammates were the greatest.", she recalled. Alderfer hit a .236

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 ...

in 54 games. Following her baseball career, she worked at Ameter, Inc., for over 40 years, retiring in 1993. She married in 1955 and changed her name to Gertrude Alderfer Benner. She and her husband raised their three children and had five grandchildren. The AAGPBL folded in 1954, but there is now 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, that honors those who were part of this unique experience. Gertrude, along with the rest of the league's girls, is now enshrined in the Hall. She lived in

East Greenville, Pennsylvania East Greenville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,951 at the 2010 census. It is one of a strip of small towns that run together along Route 29, including Red Hill, Pennsburg and East Greenville. The boroug ...

and died February 27, 2018.

Career statistics

Batting ''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' –

W.C. Madden W.C. Madden is a retired journalist, teacher and author who has written multiple books about baseball, including two about the AAGPBL. He has also written about the Western League and the College World Series. While much of his work is based on ba ...

. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2000. Format: Softcover, 294pp.

References

External links

"Chicago Colleens and Springfield Sallies Photograph, probably 1949"
. ''

National Baseball Hall of Fame 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-r ...

''. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
"Letter from Earle McCammon to Gertrude Alderfer, 1951 February 05"
''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
"Ima G. Alderfer Paycheck stub, 1949 July 09"
''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alderfer, Gertrude 1931 births 2018 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Springfield Sallies players Chicago Colleens players Muskegon Lassies players People from Towamencin Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Pennsylvania Baseball first basemen 21st-century American women