Naomi Meier ��Sally″(November 17, 1926 – July 15, 1989) was an

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 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 , 115 lb., Meier batted and threw right-handed. She was born in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

. Well-traveled Naomi Meier moved around for a while, as the AAGPBL shifted players as needed to help teams stay afloat. Basically a line drive hitter and speedy base runner, she collected over 25

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s in five of her eight seasons in the league. An instinctive player with good hands and a strong throwing arm, she also was capable of playing well all three outfield positions. But her best attribute may have been able to adapt and perform well for nine teams and thirteen different rosters in a span of eight years. Meier entered the league in 1946 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 and a half years 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 ...

(1947). Then she found herself on the move again, this time to the Peoria Redwings (1948) and Chicago Colleens (1948), and then 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),

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 ...

(1949),

Kalamazoo Lassies The Kalamazoo Lassies were a team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team represented Kalamazoo, Michigan. Home games were initially played at Lindstrom Field, but later games were played at the ...

(1950), followed by a new trip to Fort Wayne (1950–1952). She later was part of the Battle Creek Belles (1952) and played her last season for the Muskegon Belles (1953). In her rookie year, Meier appeared in 103 games and hit a .249

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 ...

with a career-high 49

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

while

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 ...

44 times. Her most productive season came in 1948, when she posted career numbers in

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(100),

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

(450), runs scored (54), stolen bases (55) and

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

(127), adding a .222 average and 47 RBI. She raised her average to a career-high .261 in 1950, while collecting a second-best 34 stolen bases in 99 games. In 1951, Meier suffered a season-ending compound fracture of her right ankle while sliding into second base. Used sparingly in 1952, she hit .229 and stole 25 bases in 111 games during the 1953 season, her last in the league.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League A .258 career hitter, she reached the postseason with the Peaches (1946), Lassies (1949) and Daisies, collecting a .208 average (21-for-201) with one

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, seven runs, seven RBI and six stolen bases in 27 games. In 690 games at outfield, she committed only 73 errors in 1226 chances for a .941

fielding average 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, di ...

.''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2000. Format: Paperback, 294pp. Language: English. In 1988 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. It was not really a well known fact until

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premiered her 1992 film ''

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). It stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Ma ...

'', which was a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

alized account of activities in the AAGPBL. Starring

Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Davis made her acting debut in the satirical romantic comedy ''Toots ...

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Lori Petty Lori Petty (born October 14, 1963) is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1990 comedy film '' Cadillac Man'' and later starred in films ''Point Break'' (1991), '' A League of Their Own ...

and

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American talk show host, comedian, and actress. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series ''Star Search'' in 1984. After a series of television ...

, this film brought many of the real AAGPBL former players a rebirth of celebrity. Naomi Meier died in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the age of 62.

Career statistics

Batting Fielding All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meier, Naomi 1926 births 1989 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Fort Wayne, Indiana Muskegon Belles players Rockford Peaches players