Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Wiltse’

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