Janet Margaret Anderson (later Perkin; November 21, 1921 – March 30, 2012) was a Canadian

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

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 ...

during the 1946 season. She batted and threw right handed.Janet Perkin – Profile/Obituary
''

''; retrieved 2019-04-11. Anderson was one of the 68 players born in Canada to join the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in its twelve years history. Born in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Janet was the daughter of Tom and Mary Anderson. She grew up in

Bethune, Saskatchewan Bethune (Canada 2016 Census, 2016 population: ) is a village in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Dufferin No. 190 and Division No. 6, Saskatchewan, Census Division No ...

, where she went on to become a teacher. 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 signed her to a contract. She later attended the

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 ...

camp held at

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula metropolitan area, and is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi–Pascag ...

, and was assigned to the

Kenosha Comets The Kenosha Comets were a women's professional baseball team based in Kenosha, Wisconsin that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team played their home games at Kenosha's Lake Front Stadium, but l ...

. She had an unfortunate career in the league, posting a 0–6 record in 10 pitching appearances while connecting a .173

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 36 games. After baseball, she worked for

Allied Van Lines Allied Van Lines is an American moving company founded in 1928 as a cooperative non-profit organization owned by its member agents on the east coast of the United States, to help with organizing return loads and minimizing dead-heading (i.e. ...

moving company and in her spare time enjoyed

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 ...

. She married Max Perkin, and they had two children, Jean and Thomas. She also was a member of the 1954 Regina Govins softball club.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League A long time resident of Regina, she curled under her married name of Janet Perkin. As a

skip Skip or Skips may refer to: Acronyms * SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene * Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol * SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aiding ...

, she could be counted on to guide her rink in style, winning the first

Western Canada Women's Curling Championship The Eaton's Western Canada Women's Curling Championship was the championship for women's curling in Western Canada from 1953 to 1960. The event was the forerunner of Canada's national women's curling championship (now called the Scotties Tournamen ...

in 1953, and three provincial champion teams in 1953,

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

and . For her accomplishments, she was elected to several Halls of Fame: Canadian Baseball (1998), Saskatchewan Curling Association (2004), Saskatchewan Sports (curling, 2005) and Regina Sports (softball, 2008). In addition, she received life membership in the Saskatchewan Ladies Curling Association in 1992. Then, in 2004 her 1953 team was named to the Saskatchewan Legends of Curling Honour Roll. In 1988, she received further recognition when she became part of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based 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 to honour the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Janet Anderson Perkin died in Regina, Saskatchewan, at the age of 90.

Career statistics

Batting Madden, W.C. ''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'', McFarland & Company, 2000;

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson Perkin, Janet 1921 births 2012 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Kenosha Comets players Anglophone Quebec people Baseball players from Regina, Saskatchewan Baseball players from Montreal Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Canadian women curlers Curlers from Regina, Saskatchewan Curlers from Quebec 20th-century Canadian sportswomen