Remembering the AAGPBL’s greats

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/07/2016 (3585 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In 1992, the movie A League of Their Own, put the focus on women who played professional softball and baseball in the 1940s and 1950s.

Starring Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell, it told a fictional story about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that operated in the U.S. Midwest. Eleven players from Manitoba and 25 from Saskatchewan played in the league.

At the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, author Maureen Ulrich brings the league back to life with her play, Diamond Girls. Fringers can enjoy the story of Mary “Bonnie” Baker, Arlene (Johnson) Noga, the slugging stenographer from Saskatchewan, and other prairie gals in a celebration of their time in the AAGPBL. Baker was the inspiration for catcher Dottie Hinson, the role played by Davis. The final three performances are July 21, 23 and 24 at the U of W Asper Theatre.

On the diamond, players wore short skirts and lipstick to emphasize their femininity. They were provided with rules of behaviour and the summing up read, “be clean and wholesome in appearance, be polite and considerate in your daily contacts, avoid noisy, rough and raucous talk and actions and be in all respects a truly All-American girl.”

Dorothy (Ferguson) Key went from the St. Vital Tigerettes to the Rockford Peaches in 1945 and played until the league disbanded in 1954. The Mae Mordabito character played by Madonna supposedly was based on Key, a speedster on the bases. Key joked about Madonna’s portrayal telling an Indiana newspaper that players were much more behaved. “If I did what she did, I would have been sent home,” she said.

Key and pitcher Audrey (Haine) Daniels were inducted into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame in 2005. Daniels was only 17 when she went south in 1944. She said her parents were reluctant to let her go, but the opportunity was too good to turn down. Haine was making $25 a week working in Eaton’s and the AAGPBL was offering $75. With exception of  1950 when the married mother returned to Winnipeg to play for the Ramblers, Daniels pitched in the AAGPBL through 1953.

Olive (Bend) Little was rated as one of the fastest pitchers in the game when she was recruited to play for the Rockford Peaches in 1943. She pitched four no-hitters, but retired when the league switched to sidearm pitching after the 1945 season. Little was inducted posthumously into the provincial softball shrine with the first group in 2002.

Eleanor (Knudson) Callow, an all-star outfielder from 1951 to 1954, entered this May.
Pitcher Dodie Barr, who had 79 AAGPBL wins, all-star infielder Evelyn (Wawryshyn) Moroz and outfielder Ruth (Middleton) Gentry have also been inducted. Dorothy Hunter, who played one season and then became a league chaperon, Mary (Shastal) Kustra, Yolande (Teillet) Schick and Doris (Shero) Witiuk are other Winnipeggers who went south. All are deceased except for Moroz, who lives in Winnipeg, and Daniels, who resides in Ohio.

Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com