Julie Dusanko ''Sabo(February 22, 1922 – August 22, 2003) was a Canadian

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 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' 5", 122 lb., Dusanko batted and threw right-handed. She was born as Julianna Rita Sabo in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

.Julianna Dusanko – Profile / Obituary
''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-12. Dusanko was one of 68 girls from Canada who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during its 12-year history. Dusanko joined the league during the 1944 season, dividing her playing time with the

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 ...

and the

Racine Belles The Racine Belles were one of the original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing from through out of Racine, Wisconsin. The Belles won the league's first championship. The team played its home games at Horlick F ...

. After that, she remained in the United States to play in the National Girls Baseball League of Chicago with the Parichy Bloomer Girls. She then returned to Canada to play

fastpitch 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 ...

and was a member of two championship teams. She moved to Arizona in 1963 with her husband Eugene Dusanko, an air force man she had married two months before joining the league in 1944. The couple had a son, named Richard, who died in 1991 at the age of 28. Her husband died the same year at 67 years old.Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball In 1988, Dusanko 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 honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She also gained honorary induction into the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum () is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates the great players, teams, and events from Canadian baseball history. History The museum was founded in November 1982 in ...

in 1998. Dusanko died in 2003 at her home in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

at the age of 81.

Career statistics

Batting Fielding ''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2008. Format: Paperback, 302pp. Language: English.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dusanko, Julie All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Minneapolis Millerettes players Racine Belles (1943–1950) players Baseball players from Regina, Saskatchewan Canadian baseball players 1922 births 2003 deaths Canadian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American sportswomen 20th-century Canadian sportswomen