| Featured below are some of the leading players who made the AAGPBL a sterling success during this decade. These women had superb skills and brought a new era to girls team sports.
This is the League that changed womens team sports forever. The hit movie 'A League of Their Own' depicted what these pioneering girls endured.
Women's Baseball History
Players Bios:
* Margaret Berger, South Bend Blue Sox Pitcher, RH - picked for the first All-Star team in 1943, she played just two season in the AAGBL, however was a major star in both years. Nicknamed Sunny... Berger chalked up two straight 20 win seasons (1943-44), going 25-13, with a 1.91 earned run average, and followed that with a 21-17 mark, including a miserly 1.57 ERA.
* Betty Yahr, Rockford Peaches Outfielder, Bats Left, Throws RH - a jackrabbit in the outfield, she caught everything in sight... the 5-ft, 5-inch ballhawk played just one year in the AAGBL (1946) and then turn own a contract to return... played a big role in Rockford's winning record 70-42 W/L in '46... born in Ann Arbor Michigan.
* Margaret Wigiser, Minneapolis &N Rockford Center fielder, RH - one of the womens league long ball hitters... as a 20-year old rookie with the Minneapolis Millerettes in 1944, she blasted the longest home run ever hit in Rockford Park, and later that year was traded to the Rockford team. Wigiser hit a career high .249, with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homeruns as the starting center fielder for the 1945 Rockford Peaches Championship Team. She played Three years in the League - 1944-46... born in Brooklyn NY.
* Charlotte Armstrong, South Bend Blue Sox Pitcher, Right-handed - one of the top pitchers in this League, her fastball second-to-none. Although it's been over 5 decades since he pitched Armstrong remains a fans favorite among our veteran baseball fans... nicknamed Skipper she went 21-15, a stingy 1.51 ERA in 1944 and next year was 18-22, 1.96 ERA in 46 games... she left the AAGPBL and then pitched for a rival professional League before going back to softball.
* Dottie Stolze, Muskegon Lassies & Peoria Redwings Infielder/Outfielder, RH - a veteran of seven years in the AAGPBL, a versatile player, she broke in as a 23-year old rookie with Muskegon in 1946, where she was played 3 1/23 years before being traded in mid-'49. Stolze hit a career-best .243 in 1950 and lined a career-high 9 doubles in '51... Muskegon 1946-49... Racine 1949... Peoria 1950-51... Grand Rapids 1952.
|
