Lillian Shadic ''Campbell(June 14, 1929 – June 27, 2017) was an

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 ...

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 ...

. Listed at 5' 5", 145 lb., she batted and threw right handed. Madden, W. C. (2005) ''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland & Company. Profile
''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League website'' Lillian Shadic played one season barnstorming in the All-American League. Born in

Chatham, New York Chatham is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Columbia County, New York, Columbia County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 4,104 at the 2020 census, down from the 2010 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 ...

, Shadic was dubbed ''Pete'' as a child and she retained this nickname for the rest of her life. She was a graduate of the Roeliff Jansen High School in

Craryville, New York Craryville is a hamlet located within the town of Copake in Columbia County, New York, United States. The hamlet is named after the hotelier Peter Crary, who purchased the town's hotel in 1870. Its ZIP code is 12521. Education The Taconic Hill ...

, where she played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

before answering a press advertisement about the league. Pete did not just excel at softball, but she was even part of the Roe Jan, a local boys baseball team. She then went to a tryout in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and received an offer to play in the league during the 1949 season. Never having travelled, she decided to join one of the travelling teams and was assigned to 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 ...

, as they toured in twenty-six states, including exhibition contests at

Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW. The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Bounda ...

and

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

.Obituary
''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League website'' While no official statistics were kept by the league, she was credited with hitting two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in a single game. Afterwards, Lillian returned home and married Clifford H. Campbell Sr. in 1950. They raised seven children and she assisted him on the family dairy farm until 1988. In her spare time, she played softball, basketball and

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 ...

, while coaching her sons in little league baseball and her daughters in softball. Shadic also did volunteer work at Taconic Hills High School and drove the school bus for seventeen years. There is a plaque near the school softball honoring her. In 1988, a permanent display was inaugurated 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 ...

, that honors those who were part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The lively Pete, along with the rest of the girls and the league staff, is included at the display/exhibit.Before A League of Their Own
''National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum''. Retrieved on September 5, 2016. Lillian Shadic died in 2017 in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

following a brief illness, just 13 days after her 88th birthday.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadic, Lillian 1929 births 2017 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Columbia County, New York People from Chatham, New York 20th-century American sportswomen