The Kalamazoo Lassies were a team who played from 1950 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . The team represented Kalamazoo, Michigan . Home games were initially played at Lindstrom Field, but later games were played at the Catholic Athletic Association Field, now the Soisson-Rapacz field. Kalamazoo uniforms were white (home) and gold (away) with dark green numbers, belt, socks, and cap.
18-588: In 1950 the AAGPBL was losing money and fans, and the teams and host cities were changing almost every year. This was a good thing for Kalamazoo as the city was granted the Muskegon Lassies team on a trial basis when the city of Muskegon could no longer support them. The move took place in the middle of the season and the new Kalamazoo Lassies played their first game, still in their Muskegon uniforms, on June 15, 1950 at Lindstrom Field. About 1,400 fans attended
36-588: A grand slam . Pitching star Maxine Kline , who had posted an 18–7 record with 3.23 ERA for the Daisies during the regular season, gave up 11 runs in six innings and was credited with the loss. Katie Horstman connected two home runs for the Daisies in a lost cause, and her teammate Joanne Weaver slugged one. The Daisies bounced back in Game 2, hitting five home runs against the Lassies to win, 11–4. Horstman started
54-561: A 46–66 record in their first year, and placed sixth in the eight–team league. They improved to 69–43 in 1947 , to win a close pennant race with the Grand Rapids Chicks . Muskegon was led by OF / P Doris Sams , who ranked in several offensive categories and also collected 11 victories, including a perfect game , good enough to win the Most Valuable Player Award . Notably, the team counted with three of
72-850: The 1954 season , the Lassies posted a 48-49-1 record and finished fourth of five teams, earning the right to go to the playoffs. In the first round, the team disposed of the South Bend Blue Sox in three games and faced the Fort Wayne Daisies for the Championship Title. In Game 1 of the AAGPBL Series, Kalamazoo defeated Fort Wayne 17-9 behind a four-hit, seven strong innings from June Peppas , who also helped herself by hitting 2-for-4, including one home run . Her teammates Carol Habben and Fern Shollenberger also slugged one each, and Chris Ballingall belted
90-580: The All-American girls drew larger crowds for their exhibition games at Estadio Latinoamericano than did the Dodgers. In addition to the eight team practices, nearly 55,000 Cuban fans attended a round-robin tournament which took place at Estadio Latinoamericano at the end of the training. The Racine Belles won the tournament and received a commemorative trophy from Esther Williams , American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star . All in all,
108-662: The Series and collected two of the three Lassies victories, to become the winning pitcher of the last game in the league's history. Muskegon Lassies The Muskegon Lassies were one of the expansion teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season , representing Muskegon, Michigan . The team played their home games at Marsh Field. The league, its teams, and its story were later depicted in A League of Their Own . The 1946 Muskegon Lassies posted
126-471: The Series. In decisive Game 5, Peppas pitched a clutch complete game and went 3-for-5 with an RBI against her former Daisies team, winning by an 8–5 margin to give the Lassies the Championship title in the AAGPBL's last game. She received support from Mary Taylor (5-for-5), Balingall (3-for-4) and Schroeder, who drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eight. Peppas finished with a .450 average in
144-408: The feat with a two-run home run to open the score in the first inning. In the rest of the game, Betty Weaver Foss added two homers and drove in five runs, while her sister Joanne and In Game 4, starter Gloria Cordes helped Kalamazoo to tie the series, pitching a complete game victory over the Daisies, 6–5. Habben drove in two runs who marked the difference, while Kline suffered her second loss of
162-464: The fifth season of the circuit. The teams Fort Wayne Daisies , Grand Rapids Chicks , Kenosha Comets , Muskegon Lassies , Peoria Redwings , Racine Belles , Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 112-game schedule. The final Shaugnessy playoffs faced second place Grand Rapids against third place Racine in a Best of Seven Series. By April 1947, all of the league's players were flown to Havana, Cuba for spring training . At
180-415: The final standings. In 1952, the team finished fifth of six teams with a 49–60 record, their best yet. Kalamazoo improved in 1953, ending third at 59-50-2 and reaching the playoffs for the first time. After dropping the opener to the first-place Fort Wayne Daisies , Kalamazoo won 2–1 and 5–3 as Jean Lovell got a couple big hits. But the Lassies lost both games in the finals to the Grand Rapids Chicks . In
198-405: The game, which was won by the defending league champion Rockford Peaches , 8–2. The new Lassies posted their first victory the next night, a 10–2 rout of Rockford led by pitcher Doris Sams and player-manager Bonnie Baker . The Lassies combined for a 36–73 record that year and finished in the cellar. The Lassies ended 1951 with a mark of 33 wins, 75 losses and two ties, but moved up one spot in
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#1732775799729216-425: The other side, Grand Rapids defeated South Bend in five games guided by Connie Wisniewski , who pitched a win, stole home plate for another win, and collected an average of .318 (7-for-22). The second round was a tight fight, when the first three contests all went to extra innings and Grand Rapids held a 3–1 advantage in the best of seven series. But the defending champion Racine won the next two games to force
234-453: The regular season by Racine's Doris Barr , Muskegon Erma Bergmann , Kenosha's Jean Cione , and Rockford's Margaret Holgerson and Betty Luna . The pitching highlight came from Muskegon's Doris Sams , who hurled the third perfect game in league history . In addition, P/OF Sams posted an 11–4 record and a 0.98 earned run average in 19 pitching appearances, while batting a combined average of .280 (97-for-346) in 107 total games. Following
252-461: The rules, strategy and general play were the same in 1947. The sidearm pitching was strictly used, as the league was moving toward full overhand delivery for the next season. The sidearm throwing allowed the hitters more of an advantage than previous seasons. Rockford's Dorothy Kamenshek repeated her batting crown with a .306 batting average in a close race with Audrey Wagner (.305) of Kenosha. Nevertheless, five no-hitters were recorded during
270-535: The season, Sams was honored with the AAGPBL Player of the Year Award . At the end, Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Racine battled for the regular season title, until Muskegon got the victory with just two days remaining the schedule. Muskegon lost to Racine in the first round, three games to one, behind a strong pitching effort from Anna Mae Hutchison , who was credited with all three victories for Racine. By
288-651: The third consecutive year. Muskegon disposed of the Kenosha Comets in the first round, 3–1, being swept by the South Bend Blue Sox in the semifinals , 3–0. 1950 became a nightmare for Muskegon, after registering the worst record in the league (36–73) and a relocation during the midseason to Kalamazoo, Michigan , where the team was renamed the Kalamazoo Lassies . 1947 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season The 1947 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked
306-675: The time, the Brooklyn Dodgers trained in the Cuban capital because Jackie Robinson , who would be the first Afro-American to play in the Major Leagues, was training with the Dodgers for the first time. By then, city ordinances in Vero Beach, Florida , where the Dodgers normally trained, prevented blacks and whites players from competing on the same field against each other. Notably, newspaper stories from Havana indicate that
324-539: The top four pitchers in earned run average , Sams (0.98), Amy Irene Applegren (1.06) and Nancy Warren (1.13), but lost to the Racine Belles in the best-of-five , first-round matchup 3–1. Muskegon went 66–57 in 1948 to gain a playoff berth, but lost to the Fort Wayne Daisies in the first round , three to zero games. The team dropped to 46–66 in 1949 but was able to reach the playoffs for
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