Amy Irene "Lefty" Applegren (November 16, 1926April 3, 2011) was an American
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
and
infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base.
Standard arrangement of positions
In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...
who played from 1944 through 1953 in 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 Uni ...
. Listed at 5'4, 125 lb., she batted and threw left-handed.
Early life
Born in
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...
, Amy Applegren was one of five siblings in the family of Roy and Amy ee GardinerApplegren. She started playing
softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
at the age of eleven for the Farrow Chicks, a team based in her hometown. In the early 1940s she joined the Caterpillar Dieselettes, where she came to the attention of a
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
** Scouts BSA, sect ...
of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The league had been founded the year before by
Philip K. Wrigley
Philip Knight Wrigley (December 5, 1894 – April 12, 1977) was an American chewing gum manufacturer and a Major League Baseball executive, inheriting both of those roles as the son of William Wrigley Jr.
Biography
Wrigley was born in Chicago in ...
, a chewing-gum magnate and owner of the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
club. Wrigley feared that major leaguers would be drafted into the military during World War II, while minor leaguers were already being called up. Teams of girls (never called women) seemed like a way to fill ballparks, according to an article in '' Smithsonian'' in 1989. Applegren showed up at
Peru, Illinois
Peru is a city in LaSalle and Bureau counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,896 at the 2020 census, down from 10,295 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Peru and its twin city, La ...
, for a tryout and was offered a contract to play. The league lasted for 12 seasons from 1943 to 1954, and she played in all but the first and last seasons.
AAGPBL career
Applegren joined the AAGPBL in 1944 with the
Rockford Peaches
The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from 1943 to 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois.
The Peaches were one of 2 teams to p ...
, playing for them two years. A hard-thrower underhand lefty, Applegren posted a 16–15 record for Rockford in her season debut and went 13-11 the next year, as part of a pitching rotation that included
Carolyn Morris
Carolyn E. Morris (September 28, 1925 – February 20, 1996) was a female pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 157 lb., Morris batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed ' ...
and Jean Cione. In the interim, she graduated from Peoria Manual High School.
The Peaches, with
Bill Allington
William Baird Allington (October 26, 1903 – August 17, 1966) was an American minor league baseball player and manager. Listed at 5' 9" and 160 pounds, Allington batted and threw right-handed. He was born in St. Clair County, Michigan. ...
at the helm, clinched the league title in 1945 with a 67–43 record and later defeated the
Fort Wayne Daisies
The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana that played from through as members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
History
The Daisies represented Fort Wayne, Indiana, and ...
in the best-of-seven series, four to one games, behind a strong pitching effort from Morris (3-0) and the opportune hitting of Dorothy Kamenshek (6-for-21, .285).
Applegren opened 1946 with the expansion
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 ...
, managed by Buzz Boyle, as the league usually switched players as needed to help new teams to be competitive. Nevertheless, the Lassies went 46-66 their first year, good enough for a modest sixth place in the now eight-team league. Applegren struggled to an 8–18 record, even though she hurled a
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...
against the Grand Rapids Chicks on July 31.''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book''
The first AAGPBL
spring training
Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...
outside the United States was held in 1947 in
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.International League of Girls Baseball. That season the league made the transition from underhand to full side-arm pitching.
Muskegon, now managed by legendary
Bill Wambsganss
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
P ...
, saw a vast improvement in 1947. Besides Applegren, the revamped Lassies included top notch players as Jo Lenard ( OF),
Dorothy Maguire
Dorothy Maguire (November 21, 1918 – August 2, 1981) was a catcher and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Maguire batted and threw right-handed. She also played under the name of Dorothy ...
Dorothy Stolze
Dorothy Stolze 'Dottie''(May 1, 1923 – July 19, 2003) was a second basewoman who played from through for four teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 129 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Career
...
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
with Sams (0.98), Applegren (1.06) and Warren (1.13), but failed in the first round of the playoffs dropping 3 of 4 games to the
Racine Belles
The Racine Belles were one of the original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing from through out of Racine, Wisconsin. The Belles won the league's first championship. The team played its home games at Horlick F ...
.
In 1948 Applegren moved to
first base
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
as the league shifted strictly to overhand pitching. She then turned in a competent defensive player and a solid hitter. She spent part of two seasons with Muskegon, and was dealt back to Rockford during the 1949 midseason.
Applegren played for the Peaches through 1952, being part of the champion teams in 1949 and 1950, and joined the
South Bend Blue Sox
The South Bend Blue Sox was a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented South Bend, Indiana, and played their home games at Bendix F ...
in 1953 for her last AAGPBL season.
With their fourth Championship Title the Rockford team set an all-time record in the league. Applegren was a member of three Peaches champion teams (including her 1945 season), being glorified for the same feat by Eleanor Callow, Lois Florreich and Ruth Richard (all of them did it from 1948 through 1950). Nevertheless, the four girls were surpassed by the eternal Rose Gacioch, who did it in 1945 and from 1948 to 1950, to set an all-time record for the most championship titles for a player while playing in the same team.
data entry clerk
A data entry clerk, also known as data preparation and control operator, data registration and control operator, and data preparation and registration operator, is a member of staff employed to enter or update data into a computer system. Data is ...
for insurance benefits. She retired in 1985, after 19 years of work. Applegren, who never married, lived with her mother and took care of her. After retiring from Caterpillar she enjoyed playing
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
and
bowling
Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...
.Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball
In the early 1980s, a group of former members of the league led by June Peppas created the AAGPBL Players Association and lobbied to have the circuit recognized in the
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...
at
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in and the county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in ...
. Yet it was not really a well known fact until 1992, when
filmmaker
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
Penny Marshall
Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, film director, and producer. She is best known for ...
premiered her film ''
A League of Their Own
''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). It stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Ma ...
'', which was a fictionalized account of activities during the league's first season. This film brought a rejuvenated interest to the extinct league, while many of the real players began to earn a rebirth of celebrity over the years for coming. In 1993, she received word she had been selected for membership in the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Amy Applegren died in
Washington, Illinois
Washington is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. Washington is on U.S. Route 24 in Illinois, U.S. Route 24 and Illinois Route 8, northeast of East Peoria. The population was 16,071 at the 2020 census, ...