Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘AAGPBL’

The Fort Wayne Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBl) have become a wonderful legacy to Fort Wayne. When I was working on Baseball in Fort Wayne, as I talked about the project, I heard “you gonna have anything about the Daisies in there?” or similar questions often. For the record, I do. Albeit, not as much as I would have liked.

Since that time, I have found some other on-line resourcesand previously existing resources have been added to. I don’t own the copyright to any of them, so I cannot show them here. However, I can link with a bit of narrative, so here goes:

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) Website: This is the most obvious place to start. However, not quite as large a repository as you might expect.

• Team Photos: http://www.aagpbl.org/teams.cfm
• Individual of June Peppas (while with Kenosha) 
• Individual of Dottie Schroeder (in color)
• 1947 Daisies Yearbook (cover photo)
• Lots of other good stuff here too. Check it out.

FloridaMemory.com has several outstanding photos of the Daisies while they trained in Opa-locka Florida. Great individual shots include; Dottie Schroeder, Marg Callaghan sliding into home plate, Marie Wegman “arguing” with umpire Norris Ward, Mary Rountree, manager Dick Bass giving members of the club pointers on new 10-3/8, and more.

The Allen County Public Library has a great community album that includes many local baseball photos, including several Daisies photos. Some of htem are:

• Rita Briggs, Lavonne “Pepper” Paire, Wilma Biggs and Shirley Weierman at Memorial Park
• Jean Geissinger, Jean Weaver, Jaynne Bittner and Jean Havish at Memorial Park
• Jo Weaver and Shirley Crites
• 1953 Daisies Team Photo

I should also mention that the Northeast Indiana Center for History in South Bend has a sizable AAGPBL repository, but none are on-line. Stop in and see it if you are in the area. The same can be said of the Allen County – Fort Wayne Historical Society as well as the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The latter also has a great educational guide on the history of women in baseball, called “Women’s History: Dirt on Their Skirts”.

I’m going to break from the normal thing I do here at Baseball in Fort Wayne and introduce you to a company called Vintage Blue. This vintage-inspired women’s sportswear clothing company is unique because it brings fresh designs that are rooted in timeless traditions while using eco-friendly materials on an enterprise-wide scale. That means we’re not just talking about fabrics, but the catalogues, tags and everything else.

So where’s the Fort Wayne connection you ask? Well, I’m glad you did!

Vintage Blue also holds an exclusive license to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). That means Fort Wayne Daisies. I’ve posted a picture of one of the Daisies oriented tee-shirts here, but I encourage you to visit the website to view more styles, check out their blog, and peruse the Vintage Blue Magazine. VB is also on MySpace, so friend them.

Now, if that isn’t enough to get you there, as a loyal Baseball in Fort Wayne visitor, you are entitled to a discount!

That’s right, use the promo code holiday1 with your on-line order and you’ll receive a 20% discount. Plus, Vintage Blue will donate 5% of their sales to Kiva.org.

An update to previous posts, AAGPBL great and NEIBA Hall of Famer, Dottie Collins passed away recently. Several outlets reported the news and many have produced wonderful recaps of her life and career.

Over the weekend, I learned of several more. Again, it’s a wonderful tribute to a treasure of a woman. Here are the excerpts and links to the additional coverage:

Baseball pitcher Dottie Collins dies at 84

She pitched underhand, sidearm and overhand; she threw curveballs, fastballs and changeups; and in the summer of 1948, she pitched until she was four months pregnant. She won more than 20 games in each of her first four seasons. She threw 17 shutouts and had a league-leading 293 strikeouts in 1945 for the Fort Wayne Daisies, when the women’s game resembled fast-pitch softball. But Ms. Collins’ greatest contribution to women’s baseball may have come when its ball clubs had long been forgotten [Richard Goldstein; New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle].

Final note sung for ex-Daisy

Despite the reminder, Alvarez said she still raised her hand after the funeral and stood by herself before the mourners, singing the league’s song.

As the tearful Alvarez struggled to continue, she was soon joined by Baumgartner and Harding, and the three finished the song together, singing, “We’re all for one, we’re one for all, We’re All-Americans.”

The performance garnered applause from the mourners, Eckler said, and demonstrated the bond that exists among the members of the All-American Girls Baseball League.

“I think it just epitomized the culmination of the love those women had for each other,” Eckler said. “Dottie would have done the exact same thing.”[Becky Manley; The Journal Gazette].

DOTTIE COLLINS, STAR PITCHER IN WOMEN’S BASEBALL, DIES AT 84

Sadly, after the AAGPBL folded, it was all but forgotten, and the girls lost contact with each other. That is, until their superstar got involved. Because of Dottie’s efforts, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown created its Women in Baseball exhibit.

Penny Marshall’s movie, A League of Their Own, recounts the history of the league. It’s one of my favorite movies and features some big names. The movie focuses mainly on Dottie and her sister, with Dottie being played by Geena Davis.

Note: This blog post includes a chilling excerpt from the end of A League of Their Own – Nearly brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.[ThirdWaveDave].

Dottie Collins, 84, pro league pitcher, dies

June Peppas, a rookie with the 1948 Daisies, remembered how Collins “kind of played mother” to her and fellow rookies, teaching them how to conduct themselves as professional athletes, and how she provided emotional support for former teammates over the years.

“She had a lot of compassion for everybody,” Peppas said from her home in Florida. “She did a lot of letter-writing to support people who had problems. She was a good shoulder.”

“The movie is second place so far as we are concerned,” she told The Las Vegas Review-Journal in 1992. “Being accepted by Cooperstown was the greatest thing that happened to any of us.” [Los Angeles Times].

Women’s Baseball League Hero Dies, or Me and Title IX

A lot of us grew up in the era before Title IX, which resulted in equal sports programs for girls. I was a tomboy and loved sports. I remember the angst I felt at having no outlet for my athletic energy . . . Dottie Collins, one of the most esteemed members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954), died August 12 at age 84. [The Boomer Chronicles].

Dottie Collins: Pitcher in pro baseball league in ’40s

Dottie Collins, a pitcher with the Fort Wayne Daisies in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s, has died at 84. [Chicago Sun Times].

NOTE: The Chicago Sun Times has also picked up my two earlier posts, “Dottie Collins Honorary Golf Outing” and “Dottie Wiltse Collins: 1923-2008″, through syndication.

As reported yesterday, AAGPBL great and NEIBA Hall of Famer, Dottie Collins passed away.

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

It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we report All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) great and Northeast Indiana Baseball Assocaiton (NEIBA) Hall of Famer, Dottie Wiltse Collins has passed away. I’ll post more information as it becomes available.

Rest in peace Dottie. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

See Also: Dottie Collins Honorary Golf Outing | DOTTIE COLLINS: A Great All-American Pitcher During the Forties

UPDATE: 5:28PM
More Coverage at:

• Journal Gazette (Ben Smith): Dottie Collins dies at 84
• Wane.com: Fmr. FW Daisy passes away

Service is 10:00 a.m. Saturday at D.O. McComb & Sons Lakeside Park Funeral Home, 1140 Lake Ave. Rev. Robert Petty officiating. Calling 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Burial in Greenlawn Memorial Park. Memorials to All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Reunion Support Fund or Allen County Alzheimer’s Association.

UPDATE: 9:35PM
More Coverage at:

• WLFI18 – Lafayette: Ex-Daisies pitcher dies at 84

A little over a year ago, I was a newly published author who was going to my first professional book signing at Barnes & Noble (in Jefferson Pointe). I had my ideas about what to expect, and everything pretty much went that way until the unexpected happened.

About half way through, a friendly-faced woman who was wearing an AAGPBL  sweatshirt emerged from beyond a series of bookshelves at the store much the same way Shoeless Joe Jackson (ably played by Ray Liotta) emerges from the corn husks in Field of Dreams. One of Isabel Alvarez’s former GE co-workers had informed me earlier in the day that she might be coming, so I was pretty certain who the woman was.

She was very soft spoken but we quickly struck up a conversation and she stayed for pretty much the remainder of the signing as we talked about baseball, Fort Wayne, her times with the Daisies and more. She also kindly signed next to her picture for folks who purchased the book.

It was a great experience indeed. Since that time, I have had the great fortune to talk with Isabel more and have found that first impression to be accurate. And, her passion for baseball and the AAGPBL in particular is apparent within just a few moments of meeting her and you can’t help but be reminded of this fact every time you see her.

This past spring, Isabel was honored by the Northeast Indiana Baseball Assocation (NEIBA) with the Bob Parker Memorial Award. Not only was she deserving, but she was truly humbled by an honor she never expected to receive. No offense to the other honorees, inductees, the emcee or keynote speaker Tony Richards, but her acceptance of the award was among the most memorable moments of that night in my mind.

It brought a smile to my face to see her handing out autographed baseball cards to those in attendance – because they were going faster than she cold hand them out. And, even though I had her autograph in my own book already, I had to get a card too.

Today, she sent me a link to an article in the News-Sentinel about a book that is being written about her life and baseball career. It was with much joy for her that I read the article as it detailed more.

But however much Alvarez’s past and present contributions to baseball are commemorated, she credits the game itself for the majority of opportunities she’s had in her life” exactly the point author Kathy Williams plans to touch upon in a book chronicling Alvarez’s life.

Right now, the book is tentatively titled “Life After the League: From La Tilla del Cerro to All-American. It likely will recount Alvarez’s family life in Cuba to her days as a professional baseball player in America and life after the league. The book is scheduled for publication by the end of the year.

It’s definitely one I am looking forward to reading.  Congrats again Isabel!

Delores “Dolly” Brumfield White, a former Fort Wayne Daisies player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was recently in Kenosha, Wisconsin for a re-dedication ceremony and the Hall of Fame Classic women’s baseball tournament at Simmons Field.

The one-time infielder went on to become a teacher and now lives in Prichard, Alabama. She is currently a director on the AAGPBL Players Association Board of Directors.

KenoshaNews.com did a “Seven Questions” segment with Dolly.

The Bowie Baysox, Class AA Minor League Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, are hosting a “Women’s Weekend” during their three game homestand this weekend. Tomorrow, the festivities include a tribute to the All-American Girls Professional Baseball Players League. It marks the second year that the Baysox have honored this special group of ladies.

Among those that will be honored is Ruth Hartman (Kramer), a pitcher and infielder who played with the Daisies and took part in the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum’s 2006 dedication of “Diamond Dreams: Women in Baseball”, an updated version of an exhibit on the history of women in baseball that has been on display in Cooperstown since 1988.

Also being honored are former AAGPBL players; Jean Faut, Gloria Elliott (Cordes), Sarah “Salty” Ferguson, Joanne McComb, Gertrude “Gertie” Benner.

All six former AAGPBL players will be honored in ceremonies prior to the game. Following the National Anthem, all six players will be positioned at meet and greet locations around the stadium concourse level. Players will be available for autographs and photos with fans throughout the game.