Janet M. Wiley ''Sears(October 12, 1933 – July 10, 2010) was an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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 attempts to e ...

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 , 112 lb, she batted and threw right-handed. A member of a champion team, Janet Wiley saw her career shortened due to a severe injury and a polemic suspension. Born in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

, Janet was one of six children. She was called ״Pee Wee״, a nickname that she acquired at an early age while playing

sandlot ball Sandlot ball or sandlot baseball is a competitive and athletic sports game that follows the basic rules and procedures of baseball. It is often less organized and structured, as the name alludes to a makeshift field or an empty lot. History an ...

with her three brothers and the boys of her neighborhood.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League She grew up watching her hometown

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 Fi ...

play at Playland Park. Then she had an inside track on the league when she became a bat girl for her home team in the 1945 season. Her duties varied from collecting the bats to keeping ice water ready for the players during games. She alternated with her fellow bat girl in working for the visiting teams as well. Wiley also participated in summer training camps sponsored by the Blue Sox. The team developed these camps to encourage South Bend girls who wished to play baseball but had no opportunities at their schools. She had many chances to play first base and decided she would do that rather than pitch as she had originally planned. When she turned 16, she was invited to a tryout and made the Blue Sox roster, even though she was still in high school.Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball In

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

, Wiley was allocated to the Chicago Colleens rookie training team to acquire more experience and better professional quality. She hit a .289

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

for them before joining South Bend midway through the season. Best known for her fielding skills, she shared duties at first base with

Dorothy Mueller Dorothy Mueller (December 25, 1925 – June 2, 1985) was a pitcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the and seasons. Listed at and , she batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed Dottie or Sportie ...

. Wiley managed only 13 hits in 97

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s for a measly .134 average in 40 games, as she recognized in an interview with these words: ''She was a better batter than I was''. She improved to .221 in the Sox 1951 season, while becoming a regular at the first sack when Mueller was pitching. She also posted career numbers in

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Baseball ...

(70), at-bats (181) and hits (40), while driving in 13 runs and scoring 11 times. With Karl Winsch at the helm, South Bend won both the pennant and the champion title for the first time in league history.All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book Early in the 1952 season, Wiley suffered a knee injury that sidelined her for most of the year. She was used sparingly after recovering, until she had a clash with manager Winsch toward the end of the season when he disciplined her teammate Charlene Pryer for not going in to pinch-run quickly when asked. Winsch felt Wiley was insubordinate and suspended her for 30 days. Then Janet decided she would not go back to the team. ''I was so angry, I wouldn't play for him anyway'', she explained. The league gave her an all-out release from her contract and she returned home to South Bend. A short time later, five other players walked out in protest, leaving Winsch's team short-handed for the rest of the season. Nevertheless, Wiley was signed by the Rockford Peaches before the 1953 season. She played in just 33 games because of recurrent knee ailments.1953 Rockford Peaches
/ref> Wiley left the league behind and married Donald L. Sears in 1955. The couple raised six children, three boys and three girls in the

Michiana Michiana is a region in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan centered on the city of South Bend, Indiana. The Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, Indiana defines Michiana as St. Joseph County and "counties that contribute at leas ...

area centered on South Bend. She always thought that her experience in the league helped her as a mother. ''It helped me to encourage our girls to be whatever they wanted to be and the boys to respect them for it'', she proudly explained. After her baseball days, Janet coached junior

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

for ten years, attended AAGPBL Players Association reunions, and enjoyed

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...

and

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fr ...

. Besides this, she stayed in her hometown and watched over her nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Since 1988 she is 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 private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball- ...

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and 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 the ...

, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Janet Wiley Sears died in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 76. She is buried at Southlawn Cemetery in Centre Township, Indiana.

Career statistics

Batting Pitching Fielding

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiley, Janet All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from South Bend, Indiana 1933 births 2010 deaths 21st-century American women