Betty McKenna

Betty McKenna [Mac] (May 31, 1931 – February 24, 1992) was a third basewoman who played from 1951 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. McKenna batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Lisbon, Ohio.

Betty McKenna
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Third baseman
Born: (1931-05-31)May 31, 1931
Lisbon, Ohio
Died: February 24, 1992(1992-02-24) (aged 60)
Ohio
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
1951, for the Fort Wayne Daisies
Last appearance
1953, for the Muskegon Belles
Career statistics
Batting average.186
Runs scored   71
Hits   89
Runs batted in   42
Games played 166
Teams

A solid all-around athlete, McKenna got off to a slow start in the AAFPBL in her rookie season. She entered the league in 1951 with the Fort Wayne Daisies, playing for them in a few games before joining the Peoria Redwings during the midseason and ending the year with the Battle Creek Belles, batting .151 in 61 games, including six doubles and one triple.

After hitting .077 in 1952 in just 61 games, McKenna moved with the Belles when they relocated to Muskegon, Michigan before the 1953 season. This time she took over the full-time role at third base and blossomed into one of the better defenders of the hot corner in the league, setting career-numbers in average (.215), hits (63), runs (31), runs batted in (28), stolen bases (16) and games (94). Still only 22 years old, she was becoming a full-pledged star player, but the Belles, after two championship titles in the 1940s and two reincarnations in the 1950s, folded after 1953 season while the BBGPBL, too, folded a year later.

McKenna died in Ohio at the age of 60.

Sources
  • Encyclopedia of women and baseball - Leslie A. Heaphy, Mel Anthony May. Publisher: McFarland & Co., 2006. Format: Paperback, 438 pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-2100-2 ISBN 978-0-7864-2100-8
  • The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A biographical dictionary - W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Co., 1997. Format: Paperback, 295 pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-0304-7 ISBN 978-0-7864-0304-2
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