Margaret Callaghan Maxwell (December 23, 1921 – January 11, 2019) 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. ...

who played from 1944 to 1951 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' 3", 112 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.Margaret Maxwell – Biography / Obituary
. ''

''. Retrieved 2019-04-11. A native of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, Callaghan was one of the sixty eight girls from Canada who played in the AAGPBL during its 12-year history. A light hitter, she only topped the .200 mark in

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 i ...

twice her entire career, hitting .196 in eight AAGPBL seasons with four different teams. But Callaghan had an uncanny ability to get on base, by any means, way above than the pure ability to get the hit, reaching first base by walks, by a bunt single or being hit by the pitcher. Incidentally, the relatively low batting averages from the 1943 season through 1947, before a smaller ball was introduced in 1948, reflect mainly the high quality of the AAGPBL

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 ...

s, rather than a lack of skills by the hitters. In addition, Callaghan stole 283 bases and posted a solid .319

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

. On the field, she divided her time between playing second base and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

for a collective .921

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

.''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

Early years

Callaghan is one of five children (three sisters and two brothers) into the family of Albert and Hazel (née Terryberry) Callaghan, of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

ancestry. She grew up in a home where

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

was considered of vital importance, as her younger sister

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, G ...

teamed up with her in the AAGPBL and her nephew

Casey Candaele Casey Todd Candaele (born January 12, 1961) is a American former utility player and professional baseball coach. His mother, Helen Callaghan St. Aubin and her sister, Marge Callaghan, played for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League ...

played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

. Athletically inclined, Marge and Helen filled their student days at

King Edward High School King Edward High School (locally called KEHS) is a semi-private, English-medium high school situated in the Buxton Park suburb of Matatiele, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was founded in the 1902. History The school was established in ...

participating in almost every sport the school had to offer, competing in track and field, basketball,

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensi ...

, volleyball, soccer and

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shootin ...

. The sisters also played softball for the Vancouver Western Mutual team and performed at the 1943 World Series Softball tournament held at

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, where they were recruited by a AAGPBL scout.

Career

Callaghan entered the league in 1944 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 le ...

, playing for them one year before joining the

Fort Wayne Daisies The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana that played from through as members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. History The Daisies represented Fort Wayne, Indiana, an ...

(1945–48),

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 ...

(1949),

Peoria Redwings The Peoria Redwings was a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season and remained in the league through 1951. The team represented Peoria, Illinois, playing home games at ...

(1950-'51) and

Battle Creek Belles The Battle Creek Belles were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The Belles represented Battle Creek, Michigan, and played their home games at Bailey Park. Histo ...

(1951). As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, she hit .182 while playing third base. She improved to .196 in 1945 and reached the playoffs, but Fort Wayne lost to the

Rockford Peaches The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois. The Peaches were one of two teams to pl ...

in the final series, four to one games. In 1946 she batted .188 with a .355 on-base percentage, including career-highs in stolen bases (80) and walks (88), while tying for sixth in runs scored (70). Callaghan enjoyed a good season in 1947 while moving to second base, when she hit .201 with a .331 OBP and 57 stolen bases, and belted her third and last career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

. She slipped to .187 and 42 steals in 1948, but set a career-high .945 fielding percentage. During the playoffs, she hit .123 with one homer and five runs, as the Daisies lost again to Rockford in the finals, four to one games. In 1949 she hit .169 with South Bend and made her last playoff appearance. She batted .157 for Peoria in 1950, and returned to third base in 1951. her last year in the league. She divided her playing time between Peoria and Battle Creek, hitting a career-high .236 with 26 steals and a .339 OBP.

Legacy

The

1992 film Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena Da ...

'' is about the first season of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. While the film does not use real names,

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

Penny Marshall Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She is known for her role as ...

seemed to be aiming for realism, as her film includes fake newsreel footage and

pseudo-documentary A pseudo-documentary or fake documentary is a film or video production that takes the form or style of a documentary film but does not portray real events. Rather, scripted and fictional elements are used to tell the story. The pseudo-documentary, ...

''present day'' scenes at the beginning and end of the fictitious story. ''A League of Their Own'' itself was inspired by the 1987 documentary of the same title, written and produced by

Kelly Candaele Kelly Candaele is a politician, filmmaker, teacher, and writer. For the past fifteen years, he has written extensively for the ''Los Angeles Times'', the ''New York Times'', ''The Nation'' and other national publications. While writing for the Lo ...

, one of the five sons of the aforementioned Helen Callaghan. Candaele also collaborated with Kim Wilson in the story for the film. The AAGPBL players were relatively unknown until the Marshall's film was exhibited for the first time. Marge and Helen Callaghan are part of the AAGPBL permanent display 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 ...

, opened in , which is dedicated to the entire league rather than any individual player. The sisters also received honorary inductions into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (1998) and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum (2008). Helen died in 1992 at the age of 69. Marge died on January 11, 2019, aged 97.

Career statistics

Batting Fielding ''The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary'' –

W.C. Madden W.C. Madden is a retired journalist, teacher and author who has written multiple books about baseball, including two about the AAGPBL. He has also written about the Western League and the College World Series. While much of his work is based on ba ...

. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Softcover, 295pp.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, Marge 1921 births 2019 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Minneapolis Millerettes players Fort Wayne Daisies players South Bend Blue Sox players Peoria Redwings players Battle Creek Belles players Canadian baseball players Canadian people of Irish descent Baseball people from British Columbia Sportspeople from Vancouver Canadian expatriates in the United States 21st-century American women