June Emerson

June Emerson (June 4, 1924 – October 1, 1990) was a Canadian ballplayer who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 135 lb., Emerson batted left handed and threw right handed. She was nicknamed Venus.[1][2]

Born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan,[1] June Emerson was one of the 57 players born in Canada to join the AAGPBL in its twelve-year history.[3]

Emerson worked as a reporter at the Toronto Star newspaper before joining the league with the Springfield Sallies in its 1948 season, then was dealt to the Peoria Redwings in 1949.[2] During the offseason, she wrote for the newspaper and kept herself in good physical shape swimming and playing basketball.[1]

In a two-season career, Emerson posted a batting average of .139 (26-for-159) with a .300 on-base percentage, driving in five runs and scoring 11 times, while hitting two doubles with seven stolen bases in 68 games.[4]

Afterwards, Emerson served as a director of the Hyde Park YMCA in Chicago. In addition, she worked for an airline during 37 years.[2]

Emerson died in 1990 in Saskatchewan, Canada, at the age of 66.[1]

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954, but there is a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York since November 5, 1988, that honors the entire league rather than any individual figure.[5] In 1998, June Emerson and all Canadian AAGPBL players gained honorary induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.[3]