Barbara Hoffman (born January 18, 1931) is a former

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 through 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' 6" .68 m/small>, 133 lb. 0 k/small>, she batted and threw right-handed. Born in

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is a southeastern suburb of St. Louis. The population was 42,404 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populated city in the Me ...

, Barbara Hoffman began 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 age nine and advanced to organized softball leagues in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, where she was spotted by an AAGPBL

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 ...

who offered her a contract to play for the 1951 season.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Hoffman 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 ...

and was inserted at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. But she hurt a knee and was temporarily switched to

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

because the

pivot Pivot may refer to: *Pivot, the point of rotation in a lever system *More generally, the center point of any rotational system *Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body *Pivot turn, a dance move Companies *Incitec Pivot, an Austra ...

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. In 1952, Hoffman was selected to the All Star Team and belted a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

in the contest, which she considered her greatest individual thrill. Just before the regular season ended, South Bend

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Karl Winsch Karl Edgar Winsch (February 10, 1915 – December 21, 2001) was a pitcher and manager in Minor League Baseball. Listed at , 180 lb., Winsch batted and threw right-handed. A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Karl Winsch spent two decades in ...

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. Following her baseball career, Hoffman played three years with the South Bend Hoosierettes, a women's basketball team, and

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, it is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batter. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batter, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. ...

for 25 years, but never professionally. She also took a job at

Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company founded in 1924 and subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse since 2002. During various times in its existence, Bendix made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft ...

, where she worked for thirty-three years until her retirement in 1985. After that, she dedicated to selling

baseball card A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s, they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, s ...

s and

antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

s. Barbara Hoffman is part of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display at the

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 S ...

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 ...

, 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 New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It ...

.Intellius.com – Barbara A. Hoffman/IN/report
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Career statistics

Batting Collective fielding

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Barbara All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players South Bend Blue Sox players Baseball players from Belleville, Illinois 1931 births Living people 21st-century American women Bendix Corporation people Baseball third basemen Baseball second basemen