Shirley Burkovich (February 4, 1933 – March 31, 2022) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

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 1949 through 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 and , she batted and threw right-handed. Burkovich was one of forty players from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

who played on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League clubs. She was nicknamed "Hustle" for her boundless intensity on the field, and filled in at every position except

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 ...

during her three seasons in the league.

Career

Shirley Burkovich was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania, and raised in

Swissvale Swissvale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, east of downtown Pittsburgh. Named for a farmstead owned by James Swisshelm, during the industrial age it was the site of the Union Switch and Signal Company of George We ...

. Burkovich started playing

sandlot baseball Sandlot ball or sandlot baseball is a competitive and athletic sports game that follows the basic rules and procedures of baseball. It is less organized and structured, as the name alludes to a makeshift field or an empty lot. In the 20th centu ...

with the boys of her neighborhood when she was a little girl, but never played 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) ...

. Though she attended three different high schools, Burkovich played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

in all of them, and also played in the Westinghouse Girls Basketball League. At age 16, she was signed to a contract by the

(AAGPBL) after attending a tryout in Pittsburgh. Because she was still in high school, she needed permission from her parents and the school district to leave school in March for

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. Burkovich played for the Chicago Colleens,

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 ...

and

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 ...

from 1949 to 1951, collecting a .229

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 a .325

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 37 games. She also made three

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

appearances and did not have a decision.The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Some greats of women's professional baseball of that era include Jaynne Bittner, Ann Cindric,

Jean Faut Jean Anna Faut ''Winsch/Eastman(January 17, 1925 – February 28, 2023) was an American starting pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 137 lb., she batted and threw right-hande ...

, Jean Geissinger, Jean Marlowe, Marguerite Pearson, Ruth Richard, Sarah Jane Sands, Fern Shollenberger and Jane Stoll, among others. After baseball, Burkovich went to work for Pacific Bell Telephone for 30 years and retired in 1983. She also was an active collaborator in different projects of the AAGPBL Players Association since its founding in 1982. The association helped bring the league's stories to the public eye and was largely responsible for the opening of ''Women in Baseball'', a 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 a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

, which was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than any individual personality. Shirley Burkovich made her film acting debut playing the role of older Alice "Skeeter" Gaspers in the 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. This film, directed by

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 ...

, brought a returned celebrity to many of the former AAGPBL players.

Personal life

After baseball, Burkovich lived in

Cathedral City, California Cathedral City, colloquially known as "Cat City", is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. Situated between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, the city has the second la ...

, where she worked as a member of the AAGPBL Players Association Board of Directors. She died at her home in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothil ...

, on March 31, 2022, at the age of 89. She is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City.

Batting statistics

Note: Statistics were incomplete for the touring teams in 1949 and 1950.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burkovich, Shirley 1933 births 2022 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Chicago Colleens players Springfield Sallies players Rockford Peaches players Baseball_players_from_Pittsburgh People from Swissvale, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Rancho Mirage, California 20th-century American sportswomen