Norma A. Berger Taylor (December 22, 1932 – November 1, 2023) was an American baseball

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 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. Berger was nicknamed "Bergie״. Listed at , , she batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Born in

Maywood, Illinois Maywood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 census. History There was limited European-Am ...

, Norma Berger followed in the footsteps of

Barbara Berger Barbara Berger (December 6, 1930 – January 27, 2016) was an American baseball catcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 120 lb., she batted and threw right handed. Born in Maywood, Illino ...

, her older sister, a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

who played in parts of two seasons. The Berger sisters played baseball and basketball together during their childhood years, like the sisters depicted in the

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, film director, and producer. She is best known for ...

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 ...

'', though Margaret and Norma never competed against each other in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Berger spent the 1950 season with 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 ...

, a touring player development team managed by

Mitch Skupien Mitch Skupien was a manager and executive in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Very little is known about this man who worked hard for the AAGPBL during the final five years of its existence. Previously, Skupien had managed the ...

. She posted an 8–8 record in 18 pitching appearances. As a hitter, she collected a .118

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

(6-for-51), driving in four runs 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 ...

six times. After the season came to an end, Berger attended college and married Robert Taylor in 1955. The couple fostered two children, Bonnie and Vickie. Her husband retired in 1994, but she continued to work as a bank supervisor.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League In 1988, the Berger sisters received recognition when 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 ...

, dedicated a permanent display to the entire league rather than any individual player. Norma Berger Taylor lived in

Villa Park, Illinois Villa Park is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage County, Illinois, United States, within the Chicago metropolitan area. The population as of the 2020 Census was 21,113. History When Ovaltine established its factory, it needed a wa ...

. She died in

Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook is a village (Illinois), village in DuPage County, Illinois, with a very small portion in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County. The population was 8,163 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Chicago, it contains th ...

, on November 1, 2023, at the age of 90.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Norma 1932 births 2023 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Sportspeople from Maywood, Illinois Baseball players from Cook County, Illinois People from Villa Park, Illinois Baseball players from DuPage County, Illinois Baseball pitchers Springfield Sallies players 21st-century American women