Daisy Junor 'nee'' Knezovich(July 10, 1919 – April 29, 2012) was a Canadian

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

who played 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", 140 lb., she batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

. Basically a line-drive hitter and a fine defensive player, outfielder Daisy Junor was one of the 68 girls from Canada who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during its 12-year history. Her elder sister, Ruby Knezovich, also played in the league. Daisy was one of four children born into the family of Chris and Marina Knezovich. She was born and raised in Regina and lived her entire life in the province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, with the exception of many winters she spent with her spouse Dave Junor in

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. Basically a line-drive hitter and speedy

base runner In baseball, base running is the act of running from base to base, performed by members of the team at bat. Base running is a tactical part of the game with the goal of eventually reaching home base (home plate) to score a run. Batters strive to ...

, Junor was also a fine defensive player at all three outfield positions, playing mainly as a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

for three different teams during her four seasons in the league.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League She entered the league in 1946 with 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 ...

, playing for them two and a half years before joining the

Springfield Sallies The Springfield Sallies were a women's professional baseball team who were members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1948 season and became a development team. The Sallies were based in Springfield, Illinois and playe ...

(1948) and 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 ...

(1949). Her most productive season came in her

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

year, when she posted career-highs in games played (99), runs (30),

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(60),

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(22) and

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s (41), while ranking 10th among all outfielders with 17 assists. After returning to Regina, Junor became an accomplished bowler and

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 ...

er. From there, she was a member of the provincial bowling team that represented Saskatchewan in the Western Canada Five Pin Bowling Championships three times, winning both city and provincial titles. In addition, she won five golf club championships, two city championships and a provincial senior ladies golf title. In 1988, Junor received further recognition when she became part of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based at the

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, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. During her life, she was also honoured several times in recognition of her outstanding contribution to sport regionally, nationally and internationally, gaining inductions into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (1989), the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (1998), the Regina Sports Hall of Fame (2004), and the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in North Battleford. Shortly before her death in 2012, the City of Regina honoured Daisy with the naming of Junor Drive in northwest Regina.

Career statistics

Batting Fielding

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junor, Daisy All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players South Bend Blue Sox players Springfield Sallies players Fort Wayne Daisies players Canadian baseball players Canadian ten-pin bowling players Canadian female golfers Golfing people from Saskatchewan Baseball players from Regina, Saskatchewan Canadian expatriates in the United States 1919 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Canadian sportswomen