Born in Belleville,Illinois,Barbara Hoffman began playing softball at age nine and advanced to organized softball leagues in St. Louis,where she was spotted by an AAGPBL scout who offered her a contract to play for the 1951 season.[3]
Hoffman joined the South Bend Blue Sox and was inserted at third base. But she hurt a knee and was temporarily switched to second base because the pivot was easier to catch. She hit .212 with 20 runs and 11 RBI in just 46 games,helping the Blue Sox win their first championship title in the league.[3]
In 1952,Hoffman was selected to the All Star Team and belted a home run in the contest,which she considered her greatest individual thrill. Just before the regular season ended,South Bend managerKarl Winsch suspended the flashy Charlene Pryer for not going in to pinch-run quickly when asked,which created an uproar after the game. That night at the team's hotel,several Blue Sox veterans talked the situation over. Then five players,including Hoffman,Elizabeth Mahon and Jane Stoll,quit the team in support of Pryer. I guess it was wrong for us to do it. We stood up for our principles,Hoffman reflected. She never returned to the league.[1][3][4]
Following her baseball career,Hoffman played three years with the South Bend Hoosierettes,a women's basketball team,and bowled for 25 years,but never professionally. She also took a job at Bendix Corporation,where she worked for thirty-three years until her retirement in 1985. After that,she dedicated to selling baseball cards and antiques.[3]
Barbara Hoffman is part of Women in Baseball,a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown,New York,which was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than individual baseball personalities. She currently lives in New Albany,Indiana.[5][6]
↑ The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Paperback, 295 pp. Language: English. ISBN0-7864-3747-2
1 2 3 4 5 The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the United States. Over 600 women played in the league, which eventually consisted of 10 teams located in the American Midwest. In 1948, league attendance peaked at over 900,000 spectators. The most successful team, the Rockford Peaches, won a league-best four championships.
Rose M. Gacioch was a right fielder and pitcher who played from 1944 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m), 160 lb, Gacioch batted and threw right-handed. She had one of the most successful careers in AAGPBL history and possibly the most well-rounded of any female player. She was of Polish descent.
Wilma Briggs was an American left fielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League who played from 1948 through 1954. Listed at 5' 4", 138 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed. She led the league in home runs during the 1953 season, ranks second in the all-time home runs list (43) behind Eleanor Callow (55) and over Dorothy Schroeder (42) and Jean Geissinger (41), and was one of only 14 players to collect 300 or more career runs batted in, yet she was never selected to the All-Star team. Briggs was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2013.
Mary Baumgartner was an American professional baseball player who played as a catcher from 1949 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed.
Lillian "Lil" Faralla was a female pitcher and utility who played from 1946 through 1951 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed.
Louise Veronica Arnold [Lou] was a female pitcher who played during four seasons for the South Bend Blue Sox of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 145 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Charlene Barbara Pryer [Mayer] was a female utility in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, playing mainly at second base and center field from 1946 through 1952. Listed at 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m), 105 lb., Pryer batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed Shorty amongst her friends and family members because of her slight build and minuscule stature.
Veronica Josephine Lenard, nicknamed "Bubblegum", was an American center fielder who played from 1944 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 130 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Betty Ann Wagoner was an American baseball player. She was a right fielder and pitcher who played from 1948 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m), 110 lb., she batted and threw left-handed.
Jane Stoll ("Jeep") was an outfielder who played from 1946 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 135 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Dorothy B. "Dottie" Ferguson Key was a Canadian infielder and outfielder who played from 1945 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 125 lb., she batted and threw right handed.
Jenniffer A. Romatowski [″Romey″] was an American baseball utility player who played from 1946 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m), 145 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Marguerite Pearson (Tesseine) was a utility player who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the 1948 and 1954 seasons. Listed at 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m), 125 lb., Pearson batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed ″Dolly".
Janet Jeree Rumsey was a pitcher who played from 1951 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m), 135 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Marilyn Charlotte Jones [Doxey] was an American pitcher and catcher who played from 1948 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m), 135 lb (61 kg), she batted and threw right-handed.
Mary Froning was an outfielder who played from 1951 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m), 118 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Emily Marie Mahoney was an outfielder who played from 1947 through 1948 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 3" (1.60 m), 135 lb. (61 k), she batted and threw right-handed.
Margaret “Marge” Wenzell was a utility infielder/outfielder who played from 1945 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m), 134 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Janet M. Wiley [Sears] was an infielder and pitcher who played from 1950 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m), 112 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.
Frances L. Janssen, also known as "Big Red" or "Little Red", was an American pitcher who played from 1948 through 1952 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 155 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.
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