The Baseball Guru - Women in Baseball - November 2004 by Leslie Heaphy

The fall has been a busy time for women’s baseball with a variety of tournaments, a world series and the first World Cup event all being held in various places. Japan won the 4^th World Series title by a score of 14-4. The United States won the Gold Medal in the World Cup. The New England BoSox beat out the Ocala Lightning this year to win the AAU National Championship by a score of 2-1. The North Shore Lady Spirit just returned from a exhibition tour in the Dominican Republic where they played four games and won them all. And these are just a few of the highlights. If you see articles on any of these games, team etc please send them to me. This is how we can record the history now, rather than later.

Please send me any and all articles, programs, citations etc that you find. It will be better for me to receive the information four times than not at all. You can either mail the materials to me or attach them as e-mails or even fax an article to me at 330-494-6121. Thanks in advance for your continued help in preserving the history of women in baseball.

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Encyclopedia Update: Articles are being revised and the manuscript is slowly coming together. The project grows every day as I continue to hear from players and others, especially those involved today. We expect to have the manuscript to the publisher before the end of the year for a 2005 publication. There is still a short window of opportunity to get in touch with me if you are a ball player so your information can be included. E-mail me at Lheaphy@stark.kent.edu ASAP.

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Recent books, articles, websites and other projects. Thanks to the following people for sending material.

Dick Clark, Jim Glennie, Larry Lester, Patsy Scott, Justine Siegel, Wayne Stivers,

(**Denotes item available for a SASE, 1 stamp per 4 pages).

**“Daisies, Blue Sox Ready for Exhibition Contest.” 5/19/49 Lima News

** “Babe the Greatest” on Babe Didrikson

All American Girls Professional Baseball League, 1943-54. 1986, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

“The History of the AAGPBL.” Thesis by Jeni Leis, 1998.

Kenosha Comets, 1943-51. By John W. Bailey, 1997. Badger Press.

** “Scorecards, Scrapbooks and Stats: Girls, Women and the Game of Baseball.”

** “Women in the Stands.”

** “Baseball and the Women’s Question.”

** “All but Forgotten Now” from Sports Illustrated, 1985.

November 21, 2004 a Goodwill game between Japan and Korea in Seoul. Any one know the results? The game was played at Chamshil Stadium.

Research Requests

What are you looking for? What are you currently working on? Let us know and we can help one another as we are doing our research.

If you have a topic you are researching let me know what it is and I can now check the bibliography I have for what articles, collections etc I am aware of on all kinds of subjects.

Anyone with any information about the St. Louis Black Bronchos please send to Leslie Heaphy.

Anyone with any information at all about former player Urseal Williams of the Knoxville Giants or Isabel Baxter please pass that on to Leslie Heaphy for someone working on an article.

Her name was Audrey Wagner and she played in the AAGPBL from 1943 through 1949 with the Kenosha Comets. Her career average was .254 in 694 games. She stole 206 bases and walked 257 times. She started in the league when she was only 15 and made two All-Star teams and was player of the year in 1948 when she hit .312. {Information from Larry Fritsch Card, 2000}

Ever get a chance to interview any women ball players? We need to be thinking about documenting the current game as women are playing so that we are not searching for the stories 30 years from now. What about taking pictures at a game and saving them.

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Member News

An interesting question posed to your chair and one I continue to share with all of you—If you had to put together a women’s all-star team with 5 pitchers and 3 utility players in addition to your regulars who would you include and why? Send your replies to me and the results will be shared with the rest of the committee in future newsletters and in the near future on our newly revamped website.

Women’s All-Star Team

C Mary “Bonnie” Baker, Alex Sickinger

1B Dottie Kamenshek

2B Toni Stone

3B Jean Weaver/Maddy English

SS Dorothy Harrell/Dorothy Schroeder

OF Helen Candaele

OF Betty Foss (Weaver), Gina Satriano

OF Jane Stoll/Joanne Weaver

P Jean Cione/ Ila Borders

P Helen Nicol (Fox)/Linda McGill

P Doris Sams/ Connie Wisniewski

P Pat Scott/Mamie Johnson

P Dottie Wiltse (Collins), Pam Davis

U Sophie Kurys

U Elizabeth Mahon

U June Peppas

What do you think? Agree/disagree? Who would you want on your team? What about some of the earlier women ball players like Loretta Lipski? Or the current players who have been added to this list. Send me your picks and I’ll continue to add them in the next newsletter.

Team USA winning Gold

I recently came across a video tape of the season opener for the San Jose Spitfires one year. Anyone aware of any other game videos like this that are available and should be acquired for preserving history?

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Please send correspondence, questions, suggestions, ideas to Leslie Heaphy for future newsletters. Our committee is only as active as you the members help to make it. Thanks for your help in keeping our list updated. Just a reminder that some of you have not paid your dues to SABR yet this year and should send that in if you also want to continue receiving other SABR publications.

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Thanks,

Leslie and Claudia

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