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D'Ann Mateer

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All-American Girls Professional Baseball League 70th Anniversary

Home » Uncategorized » All-American Girls Professional Baseball League 70th Anniversary

In: Uncategorized on: March 11, 2013

Most people (including myself) know of the AAGPBL from the 1992 movie A League of Their Own. But as often happens with history and fiction, sometimes I forget that these were real women. At least until this weekend. As I sat with my husband and son to watch a baseball game, I heard an announcement that intrigued me. Five women were introduced at home plate as former AAGPBL players, honored in this the 70th anniversary of the girls professional baseball league organized in 1943. What I didn’t realize is that this league was around until 1954! (For more information, here’s the link to the AAGPBL website: http://www.aagpbl.org/)

I felt almost giddy with excitement! Who knew that history and baseball would intersect in this way on this day. The announcement came that the ladies would be signing autographs until the third inning. I grabbed my notebook and proceeded to the place where their table was set up.

They were still spunky, these 80ish-year-old ladies. But that didn’t surprise me considering their past. But now they looked like anyone else grandmother or great-grandmother. Each signed their name on my paper and chatted for a few minutes. I snapped a couple of pictures and it was done. But that was only the beginning. When I came home again, I looked up their names to learn more about them. So let me share what I learned:

Katie Horstman played for the Ft. Wayne Daisies from 1951-1954. One of the fun facts I discovered about her? She was a consultant on the movie A League of Their Own! Here is a great article about Katie: http://pressprosmagazine.com/in-a-league-of-her-own-katie-horstman/

Maybelle Blair played one year–1948–for the Peoria Redwings. She was a pitcher.

Katie Horstman and Maybelle Blair

Barbara J. Payne is a Louisiana girl who played from 1949-1951 for several different teams. She was part of an association that helped bring the Women in Baseball exhibit to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988. She is the only girl from Louisiana to play in the AAGPBL.

Dr. Elma Steck Weiss played two years in the league. She later became a doctor and served as a Wave.

Shirley Burkovich started playing in the league as a sixteen-year-old. She played for two years. She was also active in brining the Women in Baseball to fruition, serves on the AAGPBL Players Association Board of Directors and even had a role in A League of Their Own. 

Shirley Burkovich

Meeting these ladies brought some history to life. I love it when that happens!

Have you ever had an unexpected meeting with someone who experienced something you only read about in the history books? We’d love to hear about it!

Tagged: history, sports, Uncategorized

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marie Burton

    March 11, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    Wow, what a blessing to be able to be a part of history like that!! Who knew? You thought you were just going to hang out with the boys, and you got to meet some heroes! What fun!

    Reply
    • Anne

      March 11, 2013 at 4:18 pm

      I know! It was such a cool thing! I love getting to “touch” history, whether it be in the form of a house or antiques or people who lived it!

      Reply
  2. Mary Liechty

    March 11, 2013 at 4:22 pm

    I smell a new story!!!

    Reply
    • Anne

      March 11, 2013 at 4:28 pm

      Lol! I’m not sure anyone could write a better one than A League of Their Own! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Melissa Tagg

    March 13, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    How fun!! So cool that you got to meet them!

    Reply
    • Anne

      March 13, 2013 at 5:58 pm

      I know! I love putting real faces to historical facts!

      Reply
  4. Tom

    July 17, 2013 at 2:13 am

    We met Maybelle and Shirley at the All Star Game FanFest at the Javits Center in NYC. They were still spunky and it was a thrill to meet them.

    Reply
    • Anne

      July 17, 2013 at 11:50 am

      How fun that they were there! It must be so exciting for them to get to do those kinds of events. I know it was a thrill for me to meet them and have a bit of history come alive.

      Reply
  5. Kendra Levesque

    November 22, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    I met Maybelle in 2014, we keep in touch through Facebook, I absolutely adore her, she is extremely supporting of girls playing baseball. I am a baseball player, I’m 14 years old and look forward to seeing her every year. I was very fortunate to meet many of the women of AAPGL before I left for Cooperstown, I’ll cherish that forever.

    Reply
    • Anne

      November 23, 2015 at 9:48 am

      How very cool, Kendra! What a special friendship and memory!

      Reply

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