Dorothy “Dottie” Kamenshek was the Babe Ruth, so to speak, of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the only women’s professional baseball league in baseball history.
She passed away on May 17, 2010 at age 84. The Gina Davis character in A League of Their Own was named after Dottie and loosely based on her.
The AAGPBL lasted 12 seasons from 1943 through 1954. At its inception, the “girls” played a game that was closer to fast-pitch softball than what we think of as baseball.
However, as the league matured, the rules changed until by the end of the 1954, the lady ballplayers were essentially playing baseball.
Here’s the All-American Girls Professional Baseball Association’s webpage describing the evolution of the AAGPBL’s rules.
Dottie played for the Rockford Peaches throughout her 10-year career (1943-1951, 1953). She started as an outfielder but quickly moved to first base.
According to this wikipedia article , She won the AAGPBL’s batting title in 1946 with a .316 average and again in 1947 at .306.
Dottie was the league’s all-time batting leader with a career .292 mark, and she was elected to seven All-Star teams (1943, 1946-1951).
Dottie would have likely played all 12 years the AAGPBL was in existence, but her career ...