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 | |
| League | All-American Girls Professional Baseball League |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Number of teams | Four |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Racine Belles (first half) Kenosha Comets (second half) |
| Scholarship Series | |
| Champions | Racine 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
| Rank | Team | W | L | W-L% | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Racine Belles | 34 | 20 | .630 | – |
| 2 | South Bend Blue Sox | 28 | 26 | .519 | 6 |
| 3 | Kenosha Comets | 23 | 31 | .426 | 11 |
| 4 | Rockford Peaches | 23 | 31 | .426 | 11 |
Second Half
| Rank | Team | W | L | W-L% | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenosha Comets | 33 | 21 | .611 | – |
| 2 | South Bend Blue Sox | 30 | 24 | .556 | 3 |
| 3 | Racine Belles | 29 | 25 | .521 | 4 |
| 4 | Rockford Peaches | 20 | 34 | .370 | 13 |
Composite records
| Rank | Team | W | L | W-L% | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Racine Belles | 59 | 49 | .546 | – |
| 2 | South Bend Blue Sox | 58 | 50 | .537 | 1 |
| 3 | Kenosha Comets | 56 | 52 | .518 | 3 |
| 4 | Rockford Peaches | 43 | 65 | .398 | 16 |
Postseason
| Game | Teams | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Racine Belles @ Kenosha Comets | 6 2 |
| 2 | Racine Belles @ Kenosha Comets | 7 4 |
| 3 | Kenosha Comets @ Racine Belles | 3 6 |
Individual statistics
Batting
Pitching
| Statistic | Player | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Wins | Helen 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 average | Helen 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 |
| Strikeouts | Helen 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 games | Helen 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 pitched | Helen 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 |
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)
All-Star Game
See also
Sources
- "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League history".
- 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.
- "League History". All American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
- AAGPBL Rules of Play
- 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
- 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
- All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book