Alice Pollitt

Alice Pollitt Deschaine [born Margaret Pollitt] (July 19, 1929 – March 15, 2016) was an infielder who played from 1947 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m), 150 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.[1][2]

Alice Pollitt
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Third base/Shortstop
Born: (1929-07-19)July 19, 1929
Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
Died: March 15, 2016(2016-03-15) (aged 86)
Bay Bluffs, Harbor Springs, Michigan, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Two-time All-Star Team (1951–1952)
  • Three Championship Teams (1948–1950)
  • Six playoff appearances (1948-'53)
  • Single-season leader in home runs (1951)
  • Women in Baseball – AAGPBL Permanent Display
    Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (1988)

A native of Lansing, Michigan, Margaret Pollitt was born to John and Mary (née Miller) Pollitt. She grew up in a home where sport was considered of vital importance. Her father, who had been a professional soccer player in England before coming to the United States, was also an avid baseball fanatic and motivated her to play the game at a very early age.[3]

A two-time All-Star, Pollitt was discovered by an AAGPBL scout while she was playing in her hometown and entered the league in 1947. She played all seven of her AAGPBL seasons with the Rockford Peaches, helping them win three championships pennants by combining a sharp defense and provided stability through the middle of the batting order.[4]

Pollitt started at shortstop in her rookie season, then anchored third base for six years as part of a solid and durable Rockford infield that included Dorothy Kamenshek at first base, Mildred Deegan at second and Dorothy Harrell at shortstop.[5]

Her most productive season came in 1951, when she collected a .299 batting average and tied with Fort Wayne Daisies' Betty Foss and teammate Eleanor Callow for the most home runs (four). Pollitt also ranked fourth in total bases (158), fifth in hits (121) and runs (88), seventh in average, while tying for second in triples with Kamenshek (9) behind Rockford Peaches' Eleanor Callow (10). In addition, she gained her first selection for the All-Star Team.[6][7]

In 1952, Pollitt batted .270 and stole 35 bases, being selected to the All-Star Team as a reserve infielder. She then posted career-numbers with a .315 average and 14 doubles in 1953, her last year in the league.[6][8]

Pollitt was also one of two hundred players to attend the first AAGPBL spring training outside the United States, which was held in 1947 in Cuba at the Gran Stadium de La Habana.[1][9][10]

Personal life

After marrying in 1951 to Glenmore Deschaine (who died in 1991), the couple had two children, a son and a daughter.[11]

In November 1988, Alice along with her former teammates and opponents, received their long overdue recognition, when the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York dedicated a permanent display to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.[11][12]

Alice died on March 15, 2016 at Bay Bluffs, Harbor Springs, Michigan. She was survived by her children, Rick and Dawn (Mrs. Patrick Keiser), and extended family.[11]

Career statistics

Batting

GPABRH2B3BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLG
606217725055541358214181139184.255.300.317

Collective fielding

GPPOAETCDPFA
5809551252200220798.971

[6]

Sources
  1. "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Official Webstite".
  2. W.C. Madden. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book. McFarland & Company, 2000; ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
  3. Susan Johnson. When Women Played Hardball. Seal Press, 1994; ISBN 978-1-878067-43-2
  4. Women in Baseball: The Forgotten History – Gai Ingham Berlage, Charley Gerard. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994; ISBN 978-0-275-94735-4
  5. 1947 Rockford Peaches, aagpbl.org; accessed March 19, 2016.
  6. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book
  7. 1951 AAGPBL All-Star Team, aagpbl.org; accessed March 19, 2016.
  8. 1952 AAGPBL All-Star Team, aagpbl.org; accessed March 19, 2016.
  9. When Women Played Hardball
  10. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League History Archived April 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, aagpbl.org; accessed March 19, 2016.
  11. Margaret Deschaine obituary, legacy.com; accessed March 19, 2016.
  12. AAGPBL official website
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