Elise "Lee" Harney (July 22, 1924 – November 1, 1989) was a female

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, ...

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 ...

. She batted and threw right-handed.Elise Harney
. ''

''; retrieved 2019-04-14. A native of

Franklin County, Illinois Franklin County is a county in Southern Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 37,804. The largest city is West Frankfort and the county seat is Benton. This area of Southern Illinois is known locally as "Little Egypt". Histo ...

, Elise Harney became one of the sixty founding members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. While at school, she made her mark as a

fast-pitch softball Fastpitch softball, or simply fastpitch, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Considered the most competitive form of softball, fastpitch is the ...

hurler in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

before joining the league. However, she ended her career prematurely after developing a sore pitching arm while trying to adapt to a new pitching motion in 1947.Rules of Play
. ''

''; retrieved 2019-04-14. In 1943, Harney joined a balanced Kenosha team that included players as very talented pitcher

Helen Nicol Helen Nicol (later Fox; May 9, 1920 – July 25, 2021) was a Canadian-American baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at , , Nicol batted and threw right-handed. She w ...

, as well as

Ann Harnett Ann S. Harnett ( Solowey, August 10, 1920 – 1974) was a female utility player who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 139 lb., Harnett batted and threw right-handed. She was born in ...

Phyllis Koehn Phyllis C. Koehn ��Sugar″(September 15, 1922 – May 28, 2007) was an American pitcher and utility who played from through for six different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 120 lb., Koehn ba ...

Shirley Jameson Shirley Jameson (March 29, 1918 – December 29, 1993) was an American center fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , , Jameson batted right-handed and threw left-handed. She was born i ...

Pauline Pirok Pauline Pirok ier-ock(October 18, 1926 – July 25, 2020) was an infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 132 lb., Pirok batted and threw right-handed. She earned the nickn ...

and

Audrey Wagner Genevieve "Audrey" Wagner (December 27, 1927 – August 31, 1984) was an outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 145 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Brief profile Audre ...

, notably for their hitting abilities and strong defense. Harney relished her debut in the league, ending with a 19–19 record for a .500

percentage In mathematics, a percentage () is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction (mathematics), fraction of 100. It is often Denotation, denoted using the ''percent sign'' (%), although the abbreviations ''pct.'', ''pct'', and sometimes ''pc'' are ...

, and posted a 2.93

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 ...

while

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish television legal drama television series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017, based on ''The Good Wife'' by Robert King (writer), Robert and Michelle King. Prod ...

102 batters. Her teammate Nicol led the league in wins (31), ERA (1.81) and strikeouts (220), being honored Pitcher of the Year. Kenosha collected the third-best record at 56–56, but won the second-half title and earned a ticket to the playoffs. The Comets were swept by Racine in three games during the first round. Inexplicably, Nicol failed in the playoffs and went 0–2 with a 4.50 ERA. Besides this, Harney also appeared in the league's first All-Star Game during the midseason, which was played under temporary lights at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

, between two teams composed of Blue Sox and Peaches players versus Comets and Belles players. It was also the first night game ever played in the venerable ballpark (July 1, 1943).League History
. ''

''; retrieved 2019-04-14.Reel Life: ''A League of Their Own''
espn.go.com; accessed July 3, 2020. As a result of the success of the AAGPBL in its first year, civic groups in each of the four cities agreed to finance their own franchises. Then, the newly formed

Milwaukee Chicks The Milwaukee Chicks were a women's professional baseball team which played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season. They were managed by Max Carey, former star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Rob ...

and

Minneapolis Millerettes The Minneapolis Millerettes were an expansion All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team that played for one season in 1944 based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Millerettes played home games at Nicollet Park, home of the men's minor lea ...

entered the league in 1944 and played their home games at American Association ball parks during the time periods the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

and

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

male teams were on road trips. As expected, the games schedule and frequent travels from one city to another increased significantly. Nevertheless, Harney went 18–14 (.562) with 88 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA. In comparison, her teammate Nicol slipped to 17–11 (.608) but led the league with 0.93 ERA. The Comets, now managed by

Marty McManus Martin Joseph McManus (March 14, 1900 – February 18, 1966) was an American baseball player and manager. A native of Chicago, Illinois, McManus spent two years in the United States Army before beginning his professional baseball career in 192 ...

, again placed third (62–54) and made the playoffs, this time thanks to a first-half title. Kenosha took a three-two advantage in the best-of-seven series against the expansion Chicks, but Nicol lost three of four pitching matchups with

Connie Wisniewski Constance Wisniewski ( Wiśniewski) (February 18, 1922 – May 4, 1995) was a starting pitcher and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 8", 147 lb., she batted left-handed a ...

, including a 2–1, 13 inning-duel, and finished 2–3 with a 1.09 in the finals. In 1945,

Eddie Stumpf Edward Stumpf (May 15, 1894 – October 16, 1978) was an American player, manager and executive in Minor league baseball. Stumpf began his professional baseball career as a catcher in the American Association, playing from 1916 through 1919 for ...

became the third different manager of Kenosha in three years, but the team suffered the worst season in franchise history. The Comets ended in last place with a 41–69 record, 26 games out of the first spot in the league. In the collective debacle, Nicol (24) and Harney (14) earned 38 of the 41 victories of their team. But Harney developed arm and elbow problems after being overused in the previous seasons. She started 1946 with Kenosha and was traded to the expansion

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 ...

during the midseason, compiling a collective record of 10–20 in 33 appearances that year. Harney, who never left school while she was playing for Kenosha, graduated from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1947. She is also part of the AAGPBL 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 ...

, opened in , which is dedicated to the entire league rather than any individual player.

Career statistics

Batting Pitching

References

External links

"Honoring" Female Baseball Players With the Lipstick They Were Required to Wear
de la Cretaz, Britni (May 10, 2018). ''

Racked Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB ...

''. Retrieved 2019-04-14. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harney, Elise All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Kenosha Comets players Fort Wayne Daisies players Baseball players from Franklin County, Illinois University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 1924 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American sportswomen