Faded Glory, a film about a group of men pursuing a national baseball championship will be shown at the Cinema Center Wednesday May 12. Fort Wayne’s Mike Roesler (a NEIBA Hall of Famer) is one of the featured players in this film and we’ll talk with Mike and the film’s director Rick Cohen.

We’ll also check in with TinCaps President Mike Nutter as the TinCaps are home for the weekend and Komets President Michael Franke as the K’s face the Flint Generals in the IHL Turner Cup finals Saturday night at the Coliseum. We’ll also talk with Stephanie Jentgen from SCAN about plans for the upcoming Greater Fort Wayne Putting Championship.

We’ll be naming our SportsCenter Athlete of the Week in the 4th Quarter of the show . Any athlete (youth, adult, high school, collegiate, neighbor) can be a SportsCenter Athlete of the Week. Nominations for the SportsCenter Athlete of the Week can be submitted to this e-mail address or: jim@wowo.com.

Phone lines are always open at 260-447-8500.

• Eric Wedge (Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians)
• Keith Shepherd (Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles)
• Gerry Tilker (35-year Wildcat official, FWUA Umpire)
• Thomas Pillars (1928 St. Louis Cardinals, Monroeville Little League Coach and Organizer)

Pillars honor is being given posthumously and family members will be on hand to accept on his behalf. Wedge will also serve as the evening’s keynote speaker. In addition to the new HOF honors, NEIBA will also present the Bob Parker Memorial Award, given to individuals who go above and beyond to be promoters and ambassadors of the game of baseball on the local level, and the Colin Lister Award, which is given to individuals who demonstrate commitments to local youth league organization and development.

The Bob Parker Award will be presented to Dona Schaefer (Fort Wayne Daisies and AAGPBL supporter/activist and Fort Wayne Turners). The Colin Lister Award will be presented to Chuck Itt (Wallen Baseball player, coach and leader) and to Dan Eash (player and founder of the Fort Wayne Men’s’ Senior Baseball League). Tickets to the event are $25 and parking is free. Tickets must be ordered by January 24th.

They are available at Sports Center, Inc. (5511 Coventry Lane – Fort Wayne), via mail NEIBA, PO Box 40224; Fort Wayne, IN 46804 or on NEIBAseball.org (click here to request your tickets).

We’ll also talk with Chad Gramling, author of the book Baseball in Fort Wayne. Chad will share with us how a local baseball organization will benefit financially from sales of his book.

We’ll preview the IHSAA Girls State Championship basketball games and Boys basketball sectional finals.The PSI/One Eleven Design Athlete of the Week will be named and we’ll be taking your phone calls at 447-8500 with comments, questions, rants and opinions.

Nominations for the PSI/One Eleven Design Athlete of the Week can be submitted to this e-mail address or: wkjg1380@yahoo.com.

Tune in Saturday mornings at 9 for Talkin’ Sports on WKJG-ESPN Radio 1380.

Talkin’ Sports is brought to you each week by: INdigital Telecom, Perfection Bakeries/Aunt Millie’s, Wise Insurance and PSI/One Eleven Design.

Talkin’ Sports. Local Guests. Local Topics. Local Opinion.

Since then, several outlets have reported the news ans many have produced wonderful recaps of her life and career.

A wonderful tribute to a treasure of a woman. Rather than produce my own, I’ve provided excerpts and links to the full coverage.

Collins made sure we’ll never forget legacy:

No one was more willing to do than Collins. No one was more cheerful or accommodating, more patient, more forgiving of those whose awareness of the AAGPBL was informed only by Hollywood, in the guise of the 1992 release “A League of Their Own.”

Dottie became Dottie-From-The-Movie once that hit the screen, even though she wasn’t. But what the hey. If it helped America reclaim a piece of its athletic heritage it had somehow forgotten, you could call her Santa Claus if you wanted to. (Ben Smith – Journal Gazette)

For Love of The Game: ’40s baseball ace was ambassador for girls league:

“She supported so many things in our league,” remembers Isabel Alvarez, who was recruited out of Cuba to pitch in the AAGPBL and had two separate stints with the Daisies. “The organizing she did. If it was for the league, she was right there all the time.”(Ben Smith – Journal Gazette)

Sports pioneer Dottie Collins dead at 84:

“Well into her retirement, Collins continued to promote the AAGPBL, providing interviews, speaking at schools, running a Web site and publishing a newsletter. She also served on the board of the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1999.

That year Collins was 16th in The News-Sentinel’s rankings of northeast Indiana’s 50 greatest athletes of the 20th century. She was the fourth-highest ranked woman.”(Blake Sebring – The News-Sentinel)

Fmr. FW Daisy passes away:

“In 1981, Dottie helped to organize the first exhibition game for former players which renewed interest in the league. Her determined efforts resulted in the All American Girl’s Professional Baseball League Players Association and the movie “A League of Their Own.” She was instrumental in getting the league recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and had the privilege of opening the first Women in Baseball Display in Cooperstown. “(Wane-TV)

WANE also has a great video segment.

See Also:

• Dottie Wiltse Collins: 1923-2008
• Dottie Collins Honorary Golf Outing

The event brochure and registration form is available here.

Dottie Wiltse Collins

Dottie was born on September 23, 1923 and became a star softball player in the late 30’s. With the men off fighting WWII, Chicago Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley developed the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) to ensure that baseball would continue in the states. Dottie joined the league and became a 20 game winner as a right-handed pitcher in 4 out the 6 seasons she played.

She was marked as one of the league’s premier pitchers with a .608 winning percentage and lifetime 1.83 ERA. Dottie played for Minneapolis for one season and then came to Fort Wayne to play the remainder of her career for the Fort Wayne Daisies.

Dottie also accomplished a lot off the mound as well. Her husband, Harvey, taught her how to golf. She was the Fort Wayne City Champ in 1971 and was runner – up five other times. She helped organize youth golf and bowling leagues at the Elks Country Club. In 1988, she helped organize a reunion in Cooperstown that led to the movie “A League of Their Own”.

In 1999, Dottie was inducted into the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association (NEIBA) Hall of Fame. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease about 5 years ago. Dottie was quoted in the book, Dottie Wiltse Collins: Strikeout Queen of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League as saying her favorite memory of the league was:

“the people we met, including the fans, and the lifelong friendships that were created.”

Alzheimer’s Association

Our Mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Allen County
Amanda DeLong
260.241.6188 phone; 260.486.5866 fax

Wells County
Kali Giggy
260.224.1447 phone; 260.824.4689 fax

UPDATE: Blake Sebring has a nice piece on the outing in the August 8th News-Sentinel.

In addition to a change of venue, this year’s evening will include a dinner, door prizes and the induction of three new members of the local Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees include Doug Bair, Dick Crumback and Bill Derbyshire. Ella Hardiek and Isabel Alvarez will receive this year’s Colin Lister Award and Bob Parker Memorial awards respectively.

Tickets are $25 per person. Visit NEIBA.org for more info. Contact me if you are interested in attending.

The deputies then learned there was an outstanding warrant against McLain for failing to appear and McLain was arrested. Bail was set at $175,000.

McLain was the to win 30-games in a season; winning 31 for the 1968 world champion Detroit Tigers. Following his baseball playing days, McLain worked as Promotion Director for with the Fort Wayne Komets (where he was integral in bringing Pete Rose to the Coliseum). McLain also served as the Keynote Speaker for the 2006 NEIBA Hall of Fame banquet.

This year’s event will feature the evening will include a dinner, door prizes and the induction of three new members of the local Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees include Doug Bair, Dick Crumback and Bill Derbyshire. Ella Hardiek and Isabel Alvarez will receive this year’s Colin Lister Award and Bob Parker Memorial awards respectively.

Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased by mail: NEIBA, PO Box 40224, Fort Wayne, IN or from any NEIBA officer – so you can contact me if you would like to purchase tickets.

[tags]NEIBA, Tony Richards, Jim Shovlin, Baseball in Fort Wayne, HOF[/tags]

Peppas played in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) from 1948 to 1954 and stared as a pitcher before moving to first base. She is tied for 10th on the league’s all-time batting average with a .273 average.

Peppas was also honored with induction to the Northeast Indiana Baseball (NEIBA) Hall of Fame; class of 2007.

UPDATE: The TCPalm website has a related article and some great photos of Peppas.

[tags]AAGPBL, Baseball in Fort Wayne, Daisies, NEIBA, June Peppas[/tags]