Louise veronica lou arnold was a pitcher for the south bend blue. Rockford attendance dropped 30 percent to 91,634, but the peaches tied the south bend blue sox for the pennant 7536 and swept them 4. Fort wayne daisies pennant, circa 1949, from the collection of. The very first book about the blue sox baseball team the story of determined johnny madigan, who longs to stick with a major league baseball franchise, not only for. But the 1948 season set faut apart from her teammates.
In 1949, jean recorded her best season to that point, and probably the best. After falling in their playoff intents, in the 1949 season the team posted the best record in with a 7536 mark. The name white sox was not only used because of this, but also to incorporate the history of south. Jean anna faut winscheastman born november 17, 1925 was a starting pitcher who played from 1946 through 1953 in the allamerican girls professional baseball league. Lucille lou richards, 90, shortstop for the racine belles and the south bend blue sox in 1945 as part of the allamerican girls professional baseball league that was immortalized in. The peaches were one of two teams to play in every aagpbl season, the other being the south bend blue sox.
This image features the 1949 south bend blue sox, a team that was part of the aagpbl. The books included such items as photos, clippings, ephemera, and even. Search books by title, author last name, keyword and isbn. A journal of baseball history and culture on deepdyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your. The teams uniform consisted of a peach colored dress featuring the rockford city seal centered on the chest, along with red socks and cap. Mcfaul, who died last year, also played with south bend in 1947. With the chicago colleens and springfield sallies turning into rookie development teams after the 1948 season. Buy league of their ownsouth bend blue sox by lindsey butler as a tshirt, classic tshirt, triblend tshirt, lightweight hoodie, fitted scoop tshirt, fitted vneck tshirt, relaxed fit tshirt, sticker, kids clothes, lightweight sweat. Geena davis was mary baker, her soninlaw darrell baker insists.
Womens professional baseball league thrives in the 1940s the allamerican girls professional baseball league lasted from 1943 to 1954. Lists pitching charts record books rules scoring statmaster stats 101 year by year. The two teams share the record set in 1947 by the racine belles and south bend blue sox. Members of this team include mary baker, rita briggs, dolores mueller and helen steffes. League of their own for the league pennant in 1949. Her sister, gene mcfaul, also played in the aagpbl.
Pitchers 4 doris barr 5 ruth born 11 catherine bennett betty jean mcfadden 19 margaret berger catchers 12 mary baker. Karl winsch told the south bend tribune that the blue sox came from behind to win 24 games in 1951, compared to four in 1950. Head, heart, and hustle national baseball hall of fame and. A founding member, the team represented south bend, indiana, and played their home games at bendix field 19431945 and playland park 19461954 the blue sox was one of two teams to play in every aagpbl. A history of the allamerican girls professional baseball league team and its players. Collections university of notre dame specialized collections. The name white sox was not only used because of this, but also to incorporate the history of south bend and its former.
Allamerican girls professional baseball league players at spring training. Jean faut was the best pitcher in the league, and maybe the best in aagpbls fleeting. Dailey 18941971, a south bend, indiana oral surgeon who served the leagues south bend blue sox franchise in various executive capacities. Also, south bends lil faralla hurled a nohitter against racine on may 11, so two blue sox pitchers shut down the belles in 1948. The city of south bend was home to the blue sox for all 12 years of the leagues existence and todayis home base for todays history buffs. Winner, brown award for best edited referenceprimary sourcepopular culture association.
Baker was an allstar catcher who played for the south bend blue sox from 1943 to 1949 before managing the kalamazoo lassies for three seasons. The history museum in south bend holds the largest collection of memorilbila from the league and is well worth the trip to south bend to visit the official archives if you want to relive this unique history. South bend blue sox tied for first place shaugnessy playoffs. She was an outfielder and second baseman for the allamerican girls professional baseball league aagpbl from 1944 to 1952 and played for the minneapolis millerettes, the kenosha comets and the south bend blue sox. The history of women in baseball parallels the rise and fall of the. The kenosha comets and racine belles in wisconsin, the rockford peaches in illinois, and the south bend blue sox in indiana. Outstanding reference sourceamerican library association. Elizabeth lib mahon is a greenville, south carolina native and a 1942 graduate of winthrop college. Home sports baseball teams the south bend blue sox. The south bend blue sox was a womens professional baseball team who played from 1943 through 1954 in the allamerican girls professional baseball league. Married with a baby, she began handling baseball like a job. The traditional softball rules were modified to make the game more like baseball.
The south bend blue sox was a womens professional baseball team who played from 1943. Elizabeth mahon society for american baseball research. Included is a set of nine looseleaf notebooks compiled by south bend blue sox executive harold t. The team was an affiliate of the chicago white sox. Details on the south bend blue sox an allamerican girls professional baseball leagues team. Encyclopedia of baseball catchers aagpbl mary bonnie baker. Coveleski stadium from 1988 to 1993, south bends midwest league franchise was known as the south bend white sox.
A history of the allamerican girls professional baseball league team and its players, 19431954 jim sargent, robert m. They played their home games at beyer stadium on 15th avenue in rockford. In their own league, i visited a lot of former players in western canada and in the midwest, south and west of the u. The blue sox added one run in the fifth and clinched the game with four more runs in the eighth. Lois florreich, betsy jochum, josephine dangelo, margaret berger, dorothy schroeder, mary holda. A history of the allamerican girls professional baseball league team and its players, 19431954 by jim sargent and robert m. The all american girls softball league was born in 1943, with four teams that played eight games a week. This photograph is a faithful reproduction of an image from th. South bend was on its way to its second straight championship when mutiny broke out in the blue sox dugout. Aagpbl seasons the 1949 allamerican girls professional baseball league season marked the seventh season of the circuit. The all american girls professional baseball league aagpbl was the.
The all american girls professional baseball league. Often a seconddivision team, they posted the best record in 1949 tied with rockford. Board director harold dailey, who had smarted so badly from losing rose gacioch to rockford in 1945, wrote of the 1946 tryouts, we got wirth and faut out of the deal. That year, for example, she led the league with 72 rbis, and she hit. Duane decker wrote a beloved series about an imaginary major league baseball team called the blue sox from 1947 to his death in 1964. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Born in maquoketa, iowa, the stocky betty francis played during the last six seasons of the allamerican girls. Get the best deals on boston red sox vintage mlb programs when you shop the largest online selection at. The south bend blue sox were one of two teams to play in every aagpbl season the other was the rockford peaches.
A history of the allamerican girls professional baseball league team and its players, 19431954 by jim sargent stay safe and healthy. By the time she was picked for the postseason allstar team of the allamerican league in 1946, mahon had become a topnotch hitter for her ballclub, the south bend indiana blue sox. Here youll find current best sellers in books, new releases in books, deals in books, kindle. Dailey, comprising a kind of documentary history of the league. Mary bonnie baker, jane jeep stoll, jean faut, senaida shooshoo wirth, rita briggs, shirley stovroff, helen filarski, betty whiting, betty wagoner. See more ideas about baseball league, baseball girls and all american girl. Its an old story with the south bend blue sox but theyre counting on jean faut to pull them out of another jam at playland park tonight, wrote the south bend tribune sports reporter.
In 1949 faut recorded her best season so farand the best individual mark in. Wrigley decided to create a professional womens baseball league to capture the public interest and bring in money the league, mainly centered in the midwest, began playing in the spring of 1943 with four teams, though that number would grow over the. However, in 1951, the blue sox came from two games behind against rockford in the playoffs to win the aagpbl championship on september 14, for the first time since 1943. Marty mcmanus manager, dorothy whalen, bernice bernie metesh, delores dolly brumfield, norma metrolis, phyllis koehn, lucille moore chaperone. Mcfarland a leading independent publisher of academic. Thunderstorms in the morning followed by occasional showers in the afternoon. Former allamerican girls professional baseball league players betsy jochum, left, who played for the south bend blue sox from 1943 to 1948, and jeneane lesko, who played for the grand rapids. The greater part of the collection consists of records preserved by dr.
Robert m gordon this work chronicles the history of the allamerican girls professional baseball league as seen through the eyes of the players and management and the experiences of the south bend blue sox. Rockford peaches by the numbers, from 19431954 special. Very few are aware that thousands of women have played baseball in the united states as early as 1866. To quote from the opening paragraph of our book, the south bend blue sox. After finishing fifth out of six teams in 1945 with a 4060 record, the south bend blue sox would have been among the first to select players. Merrie fidler, the origins and history of the allamerican girls professional baseball. Good field, no hit blue sox, book 1 by duane decker. After the blue sox dropped the first two contests, she started the third game with her team facing elimination. Detailsed information on the 1949 south bend blue sox of the allamerican girls professional baseball league. Bert niehoff manager, muriel coben, ellen tronnier, johanna hageman, geraldine shafranis, betty mcfadden, rose virginia way chaperone. In addition to the standout pitching of jean faut, who won 15 games during the regular season and four more in the two playoffs, betty wagoner batted.
Women pro baseball players gather, reminisce in south bend. Sioux city, south dakota sioux city cornhuskers league. During its peak attendance year, the league attracted close to a million fansthree of whom wrote letters, included below, to correct factual misrepresentations about the. The official online store of the national baseball hall of fame offers a wide assortment of baseball apparel and collectibles, including exclusive 2020 induction merchandise, cooperstown collection items, mlb team gear and vintage collectibles.