Sara Louise Reeser (born February 11, 1925) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

between the and seasons. Listed at , 130 lb, she batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

. Noted for her defensive skills at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, Sara Reeser recorded the best

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 ...

at her position in 1947. Her .990 average also is the second best in league history for a single season, being only surpassed by the legendary

Dorothy Kamenshek Dorothy Kamenshek, nicknamed "Dottie" and "Kammie" (December 21, 1925 – May 17, 2010) was an American All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She batted and threw left-handed. Early life A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Kamenshek ...

(.995) in 1949. A .218 career hitter, Reeser excelled at

slap bunt Slap bunting is an offensive baseball and softball technique wherein the batter attempts "to hit the ball to a place on the infield that's farthest from the place where the out needs to be made". To execute slap bunting, the player is almost alway ...

ing for base hits. In addition, she possessed a near perfect eye for the

strike zone In baseball, the strike zone is the area of space through which a pitch must pass in order to be called a strike even if the batter does not swing. The strike zone is defined as the volume of space above home plate and between the batter's kne ...

and seldom

struck out 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 safel ...

, as evidenced by her .305 career

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 ...

and her 1.54

walk-to-strikeout ratio In baseball statistics Baseball statistics include a variety of metrics used to evaluate player and team performance in the sport of baseball. Because the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and player activity is characteristica ...

(149-to-97).All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book Born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, Reeser was a latecomer and did not start playing until age 16 in a Columbus industrial softball league. Reeser was 21 years old and married when she entered the league in 1946 with 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 ...

. In her rookie season, Reeser collected a .207

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 ...

and stole a career 45 bases in 110 games, while fielding for a solid .977 average, finishing in fourth place behind

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 ...

' Betty Whiting (.989),

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 ...

' Kamenshek (.985), and

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 ...

' Margaret Danhauser (.982). Her most productive season came in 1947, when she posted career numbers in batting average (.231) and

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

(92), while committing only 27

errors An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

in fielding chances to lead all first-sackers with her aforementioned .990 mark. She also set an all-time single season record for the most sacrifice bunts (39) and stole a second career best 36 bases. Late in the season, her teammate Doris Sams hurled a 2–0

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...

against Dorothy Wiltse and 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 ...

. A RBI-

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by Alva Jo Fischer in the fifth inning and a RBI-

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 ...

by Reeser in the eight represented the only runs of the game, in what otherwise was a strong pitching duel.SABR Biography Project – Doris Sams by Jim Sargent
/ref> Reeser batted .223 in 1948, while matching her career 110 games played, and finished second in fielding average (.986), slightly exceeded by Grand Rapids' Inez Voyce (.989). Out in 1949, she returned with her team when it became the

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 ...

in 1950, playing briefly for them in just ten games. Sara Reeser, along with her former teammates and opponents, received their long overdue 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 ...

dedicated a permanent display to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1988.

Career statistics

Batting Fielding

Sources

External links

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Official Website1946 Muskegon Lassies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeser, Sara All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Baseball players from Columbus, Ohio 1925 births Living people 21st-century American women