Janet Jacobs

Janet Jacobs (born October 31, 1928) is a former shortstop and center fielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during its 1945 season. Listed at 5' 4", 120 lb., Jacobs was a switch hitter and threw right handed. She was dubbed Jay Jay by her teammates.[1][2]

Janet Jacobs
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Shortstop / Center fielder
Born: (1928-10-31) October 31, 1928
Englewood, New Jersey
Bats: Both Throws: Right
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Women in Baseball – AAGPBL Permanent Display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (since 1988)

Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Jacobs attended Dwight Morrow High School. She played on the school's varsity baseball team but was forced to quit after a few games after being told by the principal that it was not the way a young lady should act.[3]

Jacobs spent a season with the Racine Belles club before going on to college.[1] She posted a batting average of .170 (17-for-100) in 38 game appearances, driving in seven runs and scoring six times, while hitting two homers with eight stolen bases.[1]

Afterwards, Jacobs switched to swimming and earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. She then married and raised a family of four children.[2]

In her spare time, Janet played tennis and competed in the Senior Platform Tennis Championships in the 1980s. She later moved to Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.[2]

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954, but there is now a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York since November 5, 1988 that honors those who were part of this unique experience. Janet, along with the rest of the girls and the league staff, is included at the display/exhibit.[4]

Sources
  1. "Janet Murk – Profile / Obituary". All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  2. Madden, W. C. (2005) The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2263-0
  3. Hertzel, Bob. "Janet Murk a true pioneer for women's athletics", Clarksburg Exponent Telegram, July 9, 2015. Accessed May 28, 2020. "Janet Murk, in the 1940s, had actually played for the Dwight Morrow High School boys baseball team … briefly. She played four, maybe five games, before she was called into the principal’s office. 'They called me into the principal’s office and said it wasn’t the proper way for a young lady to conduct herself, playing ball,' she said on the phone from the assisted living facility in which she now resides."
  4. Before A League of Their Own, Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved on September 5, 2016.
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