Marie Wegman (April 30, 1925 – January 20, 2004) was a
utility
In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings.
* In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...
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 ...
-
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 ...
and
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, ...
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 , 130 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Early years
Born in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, Marie Wegman had her first contact with baseball at the age of three when her father taught her how to throw and hit a ball. The oldest of seven children, she grew up playing
scrub baseball
Scrub baseball (also called workup, because the fielders work their way up to bat) is a way of playing baseball with no teams. The number of players is variable, and score is not kept, as the idea is "each against all". Batting, pitching, and fie ...
with her brothers and the neighborhood boys. She did not play organized
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) ...
until she was 14. At the time, softball was not offered at school for girls, so she joined an industrial league and played on several traveling teams.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Early career
Wegman was in a drugstore when she was spotted by a
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
** Scouts BSA, sect ...
of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She was offered a contract, but turned it down. Nevertheless, when Wegman found out she would train in
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Seville Biltmore Hotel and were filmed for
Fox Movietone News
Movietone News was a newsreel that ran from December 1927 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Spain in the early 1930s a ...
going down the steps at the
University of Havana
The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...
, while their exhibition games were played at
Estadio Latinoamericano
The Estadio Latinoamericano (English: ''Latin American Stadium'') is a stadium in Havana, Cuba. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the third largest baseball stadium in the world by capacity. The stadium, a spacious pitchers' park with ...
.
Wegman moved around for a while over a period of four years, as the AAGPBL shifted players as needed to help teams stay afloat. She started the 1947 season with the
Rockford Peaches
The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from 1943 to 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois.
The Peaches were one of 2 teams to p ...
, 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, and ...
(1948) and then found herself on the move again, this time to the
Muskegon Lassies
The Muskegon Lassies were one of the expansion teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season, representing Muskegon, Michigan. The team played their home games at Marsh Field. The league, its teams, and its story ...
(1949), and then the
Grand Rapids Chicks
The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winning championships in 1947 and 1953.
History
The franchis ...
(1950).
During her first season with the Peaches, Wegman got homesick, although she loved baseball. ″Blackie″, as she was called, played primarily 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 ...
and
second base
In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...
. Eventually, she also played in the
outfield
The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area.
In bat and ball games
...
and as a
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...
. She considered herself more of a defensive player. "I had problems with
curveball
In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...
s", she explained.
Career
Wegman was used sparingly in her first three years. Her most productive came in 1950, her final season, when she posted a career-high .234
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 is ...
scoring SCORE may refer to:
*SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program
* SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network
*SCORE! Educational Centers
*SCORE International, an offroad racing organization
*Sarawak Corrido ...
26 times while
stealing
Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...
22 bases, also career numbers. She was added to the All-Star Team as a replacement player.
In a four-year career, Wegman posted a .180 average and a .231
on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...
in 291 games. She pitched briefly in 1948, going 0–0 with a 6.56
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...
s in 11 innings of work.All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book
She also made two appearances in the post season with Muskegon (1949) and Grand Rapids (1950), going 8-for-31 for a .258 average with three runs, two RBI and two stolen bases in nine games.
Career after baseball
Following her baseball career, Wegman returned home to help out her family. She regretted her father's absence, because he died in 1945 and was not able to see her play professional baseball. She attended classes at the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
while working as a designer of packaging equipment and machinery. She later worked for Lodge & Shipley company until her retirement in 1988. Late in the year, 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 ...
in
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 rather than individual baseball personalities.
Death
Marie Wegman died of a
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood.
Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
in
Delhi Township, Ohio
Delhi Township ( ) is one of the twelve townships of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 28,760 people in the township. It is the only Delhi Township statewide.
History
The area of modern-day Delhi Township was first s ...