Mabel B. Holle Holly"(March 21, 1920 – December 11, 2011) was an American

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 ...

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 season. Listed at , 125 lb, she batted and threw right-handed. Mabel Holle was one of the sixty original players to join the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League for its inaugural season. Basically a line-drive hitter, she had a strong throwing arm and was a sure fielder at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

center field 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 cen ...

and

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

. Born in

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city and the county seat of Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,616 at the 2020 census, down from 19,446 in 2010. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the Illinois Sc ...

, Holle was one of four children into the family of Frederick and Kathryn Holle. She came from a baseball family, as her father was a semi-professional

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, ...

. She always liked to play sports with her brother and three sisters, spending most of her time outdoors. In those days girls and women could not play on their school and college teams, so she played baseball with the boys on town teams until

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 ...

, one of the first players who signed with the league, put her name in for the final tryout 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 ...

.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Holle made the final cuts and was assigned to the

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 F ...

, playing for them for more of the year before being relocated 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 ...

for a short period of time. At the beginning of the 1944 season, the league did not renew her contract and made her try out again with the rookies, but this time she did not make the cut. Nevertheless, she did not give up playing and signed a contract with the rival National Girls Baseball League of Chicago to play for the next two seasons. A graduated from

MacMurray College MacMurray College was a private college in Jacksonville, Illinois, United States. Its enrollment in fall 2015 was 570. Founded in 1846, the college closed in May 2020. History Although founded in 1846 by a group of Methodist clergymen as the ...

in 1942, Holle started teaching

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

as a coach and athletic administrator in the

Waukegan Waukegan ( ) is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Chicago, Waukegan is a satellite city within the greater Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its popu ...

area schools for most of her 47-year professional career, retiring in 1990. 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 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. In 1993 she was inducted in the MacMurray Sports Hall of Fame, where was created an annual award in her honor that goes to the female athlete who exemplifies leadership in the classroom and the playing field. Mabel Holle was a longtime resident of

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and t ...

, where she died after a long illness at the age of 91.

Career statistics

Batting Fielding All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holle, Mabel All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Kenosha Comets players South Bend Blue Sox players MacMurray College alumni Sportspeople from Jacksonville, Illinois Sportspeople from Lake Forest, Illinois Baseball players from Lake County, Illinois 1920 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American sportswomen Baseball players from Morgan County, Illinois LGBTQ baseball players