Shirley Kleinhans ''Sommer(November 2, 1928 – August 23, 2001) was an American pitcher 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 ...

. Kleinhans joined the league with the

South Bend Blue Sox The South Bend Blue Sox was a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented South Bend, Indiana, and played their home games at Bendix Fi ...

club during its 1948 season. Her career was cut short because of a back injury. Born in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, Kleinhans was the daughter of Edward W. Kleinhans and Olga M. Schmidt. Obituary
''Find A Grave Memorial''. Retrieved on April 28, 2017. She worked on her parents’ farm and attended

Howards Grove High School Howards Grove High School is a public secondary school located in Howards Grove, Wisconsin Howards Grove is a village in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,188 at the 2010 United States ...

in Wisconsin, where she graduated in 1946.Heaphy, Leslie A.; May, Mel Anthony 2006). McFarland & Company. Afterwards, Kleinhans went on to play

dartball Dartball is a game in which darts are thrown at a large wooden or Homasote board that resembles a baseball field with colored areas which denote bases. Dartball uses baseball-like rules and scoring. Dartball rules and board configurations var ...

for 17 years and worked at the Winnebago Indian School in Wisconsin. She married George A. Sommer in 1957. They raised two children, while operating a cattle farm and then a rabbit farm. She died in 2001 in Plymouth, Wisconsin, at the age of 72. In 1988 a permanent display was inaugurated 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 private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and 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 the C ...

, that honors those who were part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Kleinhans, along with the rest of the girls and the league staff, is included at the display/exhibit.Before A League of Their Own
''National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum''. Retrieved on September 5, 2016.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleinhans, Shirley 1928 births 2001 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players South Bend Blue Sox players Baseball players from Wisconsin People from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin