1943 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season

The 1943 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the inaugural season of the circuit. Since the only organized ball for women in the country was softball, the league created a hybrid game which included both softball and baseball.[1]

1943 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
Logo used for the first half of the 1943 season
LeagueAll-American Girls Professional Baseball League
SportBaseball
Number of teamsFour
Regular season
Season championsRacine Belles (first half)
Kenosha Comets (second half)
Scholarship Series
ChampionsRacine Belles

The league underwent a name change during the season; it began as the All-American Girls Softball League.,[2] but midway through the 1943 season, the name was changed to the All-American Girls Baseball League (AAGBBL).[3]

The AAGPBL began with a 12-inch softball but incorporated baseball rules. The new league started with four teams, the Kenosha Comets, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox. The teams competed through a 108-game schedule, while the first Scholarship Series faced first-half winner Racine against Kenosha, second-half champ, in a Best of Five Series.[1][4]

The strong pitching led to low batting averages, as the league hit a collective .230 average with Racine topping the chart (.246). Just one player, Rockford's Gladys Davis, reached the .300 mark. Only 72 home runs were batted for the four teams. Ten of these homers came from the bat of Eleanor Dapkus with Racine.[5]

Kenosha pitcher Helen Nicol won the Triple Crown with 31 wins, 220 strikeouts and a 1.81 earned run average, and also led the league in winning percentage (.795), consecutive wins (13), complete games (33), shutouts (8) and innings pitched (348). The best individual pitching performance on the year came from Rockford's Olive Little, who hurled the first no-hitter in league history.[6]

In the final series, Racine blanked Kenosha in three games to win the first title of the league. Irene Hickson led the Belles with a .417 average, while pitchers Mary Nesbitt, Joanne Winter and Helen Nicol were credited with a win a piece.[1][7]

The AAGPBL drew 176,000 fans during its inaugural season, which assured the league would continue the following year.[7]

Standings

First half
RankTeamWLW-L%GB
1Racine Belles3420.630–
2South Bend Blue Sox2826.5196
3Kenosha Comets2331.42611
4Rockford Peaches2331.42611

Second half
RankTeamWLW-L%GB
1Kenosha Comets3321.611–
2South Bend Blue Sox3024.5563
3Racine Belles2925.5214
4Rockford Peaches2034.37013

Composite records
RankTeamWLW-L%GB
1Racine Belles5949.546–
2South Bend Blue Sox5850.5371
3Kenosha Comets5652.5183
4Rockford Peaches4365.39816

Postseason
GameTeamsScore
1Racine Belles
@
Kenosha Comets		6

2
2Racine Belles
@
Kenosha Comets		7

4
3  Kenosha Comets  
@
Racine Belles		3

6

[7]

Individual statistics

Batting
StatisticPlayerRecord
 Batting average Gladys Davis (ROC)
Irene Hickson (RAC)
Mary Nesbitt (RAC)
Betsy Jochum (SB)
Shirley Jameson (KEN)
Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC)
Sophie Kurys (RAC)
Doris Barr (SB)
Dorothy Maguire (RAC)
Edythe Perlick (RAC)		.332
.280
.280
.273
.271
.271
.271
.269
.269
.268
Runs scoredShirley Jameson (KEN)
Margaret Stefani (SB)
Gladys Davis (ROC)
Betsy Jochum (SB)
Madeline English (RAC)
Claire Schillace (RAC)
Josephine D'Angelo (SB)
Irene Hickson (RAC)
Mildred Warwick (ROC)
Sophie Kurys (RAC)		111
87
78
70
69
65
62
62
62
60
HitsBetsy Jochum (SB)
Gladys Davis (ROC)
Shirley Jameson (KEN)
Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC)
Ann Harnett (KEN)
Sophie Kurys (RAC)
Margaret Stefani (SB)
Mildred Warwick (ROC)
Claire Schillace (RAC)
Johanna Hageman (SB)		120
116
108
107
105
104
99
93
88
85
DoublesBetsy Jochum (SB)
Ann Harnett (KEN)
Johanna Hageman (SB)
Edythe Perlick (RAC)
Lois Florreich (SB)
Phyllis Koehn (KEN)
Eileen Burmeister (ROC)
Sophie Kurys (RAC)		12
10
10
10
9
9
8
8
TriplesMargaret Stefani (SB)
Gladys Davis (ROC)
Ann Harnett (KEN)
Shirley Jameson (KEN)
Audrey Wagner (KEN)
Eileen Burmeister (ROC)
Betsy Jochum (SB)
Sophie Kurys (RAC)
Mildred Warwick (ROC)
Dorothy Wind (RAC)		11
10
10
10
10
7
7
7
7
7
Home runsEleanor Dapkus (RAC)
Ann Harnett (KEN)
Gladys Davis (ROC)
Lois Florreich (SB)
Shirley Jameson (KEN)
Phyllis Koehn (KEN)
Margaret Stefani (SB)
Audrey Wagner (KEN)
Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC)
Sophie Kurys (RAC)		11
6
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
Runs batted inAnn Harnett (KEN)
Sophie Kurys (RAC)
Gladys Davis (ROC)
Margaret Stefani (SB)
Phyllis Koehn (KEN)
Johanna Hageman (SB)
Dorothy Wind (RAC)
Lois Florreich (SB)
Betty Jane Fritz (RAC)
Eleanor Dapkus (RAC)
Edythe Perlick (RAC)		69
59
58
55
52
45
44
43
43
42
42
Stolen basesShirley Jameson (KEN)
Margaret Stefani (SB)
Madeline English (RAC)
Irene Hickson (RAC)
Betsy Jochum (SB)
Lois Florreich (SB)
Edythe Perlick (RAC)
Charlotte Smith (RAC)		126
90
75
68
66
57
55
54
Total basesGladys Davis (ROC)
Ann Harnett (KEN)
Betsy Jochum (SB)
Shirley Jameson (KEN)
Margaret Stefani (SB)
Sophie Kurys (RAC)
 Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC) 
Phyllis Koehn (KEN)
Mildred Warwick (ROC)
Lois Florreich (SB)		155
153
149
146
139
135
128
117
115
114

Pitching
StatisticPlayerRecord
WinsHelen Nicol (KEN)
Mary Nesbitt (RAC)
Margaret Berger (SB)
Olive Little (ROC)
Elise Harney (KEN)
Doris Barr (SB)
Gloria Marks (RAC)
Marjorie Peters (ROC)
Annebelle Thompson (RAC)
Joanne Winter (RAC)		31
26
25
21
19
15
11
11
11
11
 Winning percentage Helen Nicol (KEN)
Mary Nesbitt (RAC)
Margaret Berger (SB)
Olive Little (ROC)
Gloria Marks (RAC)
Doris Barr (SB)
Elise Harney (KEN)
Joanne Winter (RAC)		.795
.667
.658
.583
.550
.536
.500
.500
Earned run averageHelen Nicol (KEN)
Margaret Berger (SB)
Olive Little (ROC)
Joanne Winter (RAC)
Mary Nesbitt (RAC)
Doris Barr (SB)
Elise Harney (KEN)
Marjorie Peters (ROC)
Annebelle Thompson (RAC)
Ruth Born (SB)		1.81
1.91
2.56
2.57
2.63
2.90
2.93
3.10
3.51
3.59
StrikeoutsHelen Nicol (KEN)
Olive Little (ROC)
Margaret Berger (SB)
Elise Harney (KEN)
Mary Nesbitt (RAC)
Doris Barr (SB)
 Catherine Bennett (KEN/SB) 		220
151
112
102
85
63
53
Complete gamesHelen Nicol (KEN)
Elise Harney (KEN)
Margaret Berger (SB)
Mary Nesbitt (RAC)
Olive Little (ROC)
Marjorie Peters (ROC)
Doris Barr (SB)		33
30
29
29
28
24
22
Innings pitchedHelen Nicol (KEN)
Mary Nesbitt (RAC)
Margaret Berger (SB)
Elise Harney (KEN)
Olive Little (ROC)
Marjorie Peters (ROC)
Doris Barr (SB)
Annebelle Thompson (RAC)
Clara Cook (ROC/KEN)
Joanne Winter (RAC)		348
308
306
304
288
270
254
223
203
200

[7]

All-time individual records
  • Josephine D'Angelo (SB) – Fewest strikeouts in a season: three times in 358 at bats
  • Shirley Jameson (KEN) – Most consecutive games stealing a base: 18 (June 14–23)
  • Margaret Stefani (SB) – Most consecutive games without striking out: 57 (June 3 – August 22)
  • Mildred Warwick (ROC) – Most consecutive games batting a hit: 13 (June 20–27)
  • Dorothy Wind (RAC) – Most hits batted in a single game: six (August 28)

[7]

All-Star Game
Main article: All-American Girls Professional Baseball League All-Star Team

See also

Sources
  1. "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League history".
  2. Kathryn Cullen-DuPont (August 1, 2000). Encyclopedia of women's history in America. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-4100-8. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  3. "League History". All American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  4. AAGPBL Rules of Play
  5. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book – W.C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2000. Format: Softcover, 294pp. Language: English. ISBN 978-0-7864-3747-4
  6. The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary – W.C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Softcover, 295pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
  7. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book
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