Harold Greiner was a restaurant entrepreneur, baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 and softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

 coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

.

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...

, Greiner was the owner of Bob Inn Restaurant and Bakery. He also coached

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

 softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

 for ten years and sponsored a women's team that won state fastpitch softball

Fastpitch softball

Fast-pitch softball is a form of softball played commonly by women and men, though coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. The International Softball Federation is the international governing body of softball...

 titles in 1944 and 1945.

In addition, Greiner scouted

Scout (sport)

In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...

 for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a women's professional baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. During the league's history, over 600 women played ball.-History:...

 and contributed bring the Fort Wayne Daisies

Fort Wayne Daisies

The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...

 to his hometown in 1945. He later became part of the AAGPBL board of directors and then managed the Daisies during the 1949 season. Some of the players recruited by Greiner for the league include Maxine Kline

Maxine Kline

Maxine Kline [Randall] is a former female starting pitcher who played from through with the Fort Wayne Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...

, June Peppas

June Peppas

June Peppas is a former first basewoman and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 145 lb., she batted and threw left-handed.-Early life:...

 and Kathryn Vonderau

Kathryn Vonderau

Kathryn E. Vonderau was a catcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 155 lb., she batted and threw right handed....

, among others.

Greiner appears in the documentary A League of Their Own, aired on PBS

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

in 1987, which inspired a film with the same title

A League of Their Own

A League of Their Own is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell...

released in 1992. Both the documentary and the film brought a rejuvenated interest to the extinct baseball circuit. Then, the AAGPBL received their long overdue recognition in 1988, when the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum dedicated a permanent display in Cooperstown, New York

Cooperstown, New York

Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...

to honor the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities.

Sources