Jane Stoll
Encyclopedia
Jane Stoll (August 8, 1928 – May 27, 2000) was an outfielder
who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
. Listed at 5' 2", 135 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
An All-Star and veteran of three-champion clubs, Jane Stoll was a steady player whom managers could use as a starter, utility, or as a pinch-hitter. She had the ability to play well all three outfield
positions, mainly at center field, and was noted by her enthusiastic, positive, and hard team working. She made the most of her opportunities and averaged .247 lifetime during her nine-year career in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A .140 hitter in her rookie season, she gradually improved her hitting to go along with her defense, batting over .300 in each of her last three years in the league. In addition, her career 312 runs batted in ties her with Joanne Weaver
for 12th on the all-time list.
In 1942, chewing gum magnate and Chicago Cubs
owner Philip K. Wrigley
started a women's professional baseball league, concerned that the 1943
Major League Baseball
season might be canceled because of World War II
. Since the only organized ball for women in the country was softball, the league created a hybrid game which included both softball and baseball. In its twelve years of history the AAGPBL evolved through many stages, progressing far enough to become a regulation baseball game. These differences varied from the beginning of the league in 1943, progressively changing the pitching style, extending the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreasing the size of the ball until the final season of play in 1954. Incidentally, the relatively low batting averages from the 1943 season through 1947, before a smaller ball was introduced in 1948, reflect mainly the high quality of AAGPBL pitchers, rather than a lack of skills by the hitters.
, Stoll played softball in the local teams during her high school years, where an AAGPBL scout
spotted her and decided to talk to her parents about joining the league. She attended to spring training
in 1946 after graduating from school and was rewarded with a contract to play with the Peoria Redwings
.
For the first time in 1946, league pitching rules were relaxed sufficiently to allow for a limited side-arm pitch from an underhand delivery with certain restrictions and the season saw the rapid development of many pitchers as the adoption of the new style of pitching became general. Stoll struggled in her rookie season, hitting .164 in 58 games for last-place Peoria (33-79) in the eight-team league.
In 1947 the AAGPBL moved its spring training
camp to Havana, Cuba, and Stoll was one of the two hundred girls who made the trip, this time as a member of the Grand Rapids Chicks
. The girls trained, played eight days of exhibitions, and were cheered by more than 75,000 fans during games at games at the Gran Stadium
. The new rules applied during the regular season permitted a full sidearm pitching delivery, and many players who developed hitting underhand pitching had problems adjusting to the new pitching style. As a result of the pitching domination, Dorothy Kamenshek
was the champion bat with a significant .306 average, Audrey Wagner
was the leader with seven home run
s, and Elizabeth Mahon
topped all hitters with 53 runs batted in. That season, Stoll collected a .163 average with 16 runs
and 12 RBI in 71 games, while Grand Rapids finished second (65-47) and advanced to playoffs. In the first round, the Chicks disposed of the South Bend Blue Sox
in five games, and beat the Racine Belles
in seven games, to clinch the championship.
The AAGPBL grew to an all-time peak of ten teams in 1948, representing Eastern and Western zones, just in the first year the circuit shifted to overhand pitching. At the time, the league shifted players as needed to help teams stay afloat, and Stoll was involved in the move. She was allocated to the Springfield Sallies
, in an effort to bolster the new squad. But the helpless Sallies finished as the worst team in the league, getting roughed up as a last-place expansion club with a 41-84 record, ending 35 and a half games behind Racine in the Western Division. The only regular to have a significant year for them was Evelyn Wawryshyn
, who tied for sixth place in the league with a .266 batting average, while ranking among the top ten hitters in stolen base
s, hits
and 126 total bases
. The pitching staff was led by the durable Doris Barr
, who posted a decent 2.68 ERA
with a career-high 116 strikeout
s despite her 7-19 record. In her first shot as an everyday outfielder, Stoll hit .191 with 18 RBI and set career-highs with 61 runs scored and 116 games. The ill-fated Sallies folded at the end of the season, and Stoll was dealt to the South Bend team.
When Stoll joined the Blue Sox in 1949 she took advantage of his new environment from the very beginning, raising her average to .232, while scoring 50 runs with 28 RBI in 99 games appearances. Throughout the regular season, South Bend waged an up-and-down battle with Rockford for first place. Although South Bend had a four-game lead in August, both clubs tied with identical records of 75-36 at the end of the year. On September 3, in the final home game of the regular season, Jean Faut
of South Bend hurled a no-hitter
, a 2–0 victory against the Fort Wayne Daisies
, advancing her team to a tie for first place. In the first round of the playoffs, Grand Rapids defeated Fort Wayne in three games, and the Kenosha Comets
were swept by the Muskegon Lassies
. Then, in the semi-finals South Bend beat Muskegon (3-0) and Rockford did the same with Grand Rapids (3-1). The best-of-seven-series was clinched by Rockford, who eliminated South Bend in four straight games. By edict of league president Max Carey
, the playoff victory also made Rockford the regular season champion.
In 1950 Stoll continued her batting progress, raising her average to .271 while driving in 50 runs and scoring 40 times in 91 games. South Bend finished fifth with a 55-55 record, out of contention.
By the time the 1951 season rolled around, Stoll was one of the established starters in the South Bend outfield, appearing in 101 of the 111 games of her team. She posted a .268 average with 46 runs and 47 RBI, while sharing outfield duties with Elizabeth Mahon
and Betty Wagoner
. While South Bend placed third in the first-half standings, the team finished first in the second half, thus giving them a playoff berth. Their complete season record of 75 and 36 was best in the league that year. South Bend defeated Fort Wayne in the first round of the playoffs, two games to one, while Rockford swept Grand Rapids in two games. In the best-of-five championship round, defending AAGPBL champion Rockford won the first two games over the visiting South Bend, who won the next three games. In the 10–2 finale, Wagoner paced the Blue Sox with four hits and Faut earned the victory in a seven-inning relief, while Charlene Pryer
and Stoll contributed three hits each. Considering that Rockford had won nine straight games, including the first two games in the championship series, South Bend came away a surprise winner to clinch the club's first AAGPBL title in the league.
In 1952 Stoll topped the .300 mark for the first time, hitting .301 with 45 and 60 RBI, though she appeared in only 86 games. South Bend finished second (64-45) in the six-team league, but dissension within the Blue Sox peaked just before the season ended, when infielder Pryer was disciplined following a dispute with manager Karl Winsch
. In support of Pryer, five South Bend teammates, including Mahon and Stoll, joined her in a walkout, leaving Winsch's team short-handed for the playoffs with only twelve players. Nonetheless, South Bend beat Grand Rapids in two games and later defeated Rockford in five games, to win a second consecutive title in the league.
Stoll played with the Kalamazoo Lassies
for the rest of her career. Her most productive season came in 1953, when she hit a career-high .308 with 38 runs in 110 games and also posted career numbers in at-bats (396), hits (122) and RBI (65), being selected for the All-Star Team
. In the end, Kalamazoo finished in third place with 56-50 mark and advanced to the playoffs, thanks to an improved lineup boosted by a good mixture of veteran players like Doris Sams
, Dorothy Schroeder
, Fern Shollenberger
and the newcomer Stoll, along with younger players like Jean Lovell
and Nancy Mudge
. Gloria Cordes
and June Peppas
were the top pitchers of the team. In the first round, Kalamazoo beat Fort Wayne in three games, but was swept in two games by Grand Rapids in the final series.
Stoll saw reduced playing time in 1954, but she responded with a .302 average in just 34 games, while Kalamazoo would win the only AAGPBL Championship in five years of team history. With the league reduced to five teams, due partly to financial problems and the difficulty of recruiting new players, the Lassies posted a fourth-place record of 48-49. In the first round of the playoffs, Kalamazoo defeated the second-place South Bend (48-44), two to one games, behind the strong pitching of Nancy Warren
and Elaine Roth
. In the final round, Kalamazoo surprised the heavily favored Fort Wayne, three to two games, thanks to a clutch hitting of Chris Ballingall
and Carol Habben
, appropriately dubbed the Home Run Twins, and a nice hurling performance by Peppas in decisive Game 5, during what turned out to be the league's final season.
, Illinois
for many years. She then moved to Phoenix, Arizona
in 1984, where she worked for AT&T
until her retirement in 1995. She is part of Women in Baseball, the AAGPBL permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York
, which was unveiled on November 5, in honor of the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities. It was a neglected chapter of sports history, at least until 1992
, when filmmaker Penny Marshall
premiered her film A League of Their Own
, which was a fiction
alized account of activities in the AAGPBL. Starring Geena Davis
, Tom Hanks
, Madonna
, Lori Petty
and Rosie O'Donnell
, this film brought a rejuvenated interest to the extinct league.
Jane Stoll died in her home in Arizona at the age of 71.
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
who played from through in 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:...
. Listed at 5' 2", 135 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
An All-Star and veteran of three-champion clubs, Jane Stoll was a steady player whom managers could use as a starter, utility, or as a pinch-hitter. She had the ability to play well all three outfield
Outfield
The outfield is a sporting term used in cricket and baseball to refer to the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield...
positions, mainly at center field, and was noted by her enthusiastic, positive, and hard team working. She made the most of her opportunities and averaged .247 lifetime during her nine-year career in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A .140 hitter in her rookie season, she gradually improved her hitting to go along with her defense, batting over .300 in each of her last three years in the league. In addition, her career 312 runs batted in ties her with Joanne Weaver
Joanne Weaver
Joanne Weaver [″Joltin' Jo″] was a right fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
for 12th on the all-time list.
In 1942, chewing gum magnate and Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
owner Philip K. Wrigley
Philip K. Wrigley
Philip Knight Wrigley , sometimes also called P.K. or Phil. Born in Chicago, he was an American chewing gum manufacturer and executive in Major League Baseball, inheriting both those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant father, William Wrigley Jr. After his father died in 1932, Philip...
started a women's professional baseball league, concerned that the 1943
1943 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over St. Louis Cardinals *All-Star Game, July 13 at Shibe Park: American League, 5-3-Other champions:*Negro League World Series: Homestead Grays over Birmingham Black Barons...
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
season might be canceled because of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Since the only organized ball for women in the country was softball, the league created a hybrid game which included both softball and baseball. In its twelve years of history the AAGPBL evolved through many stages, progressing far enough to become a regulation baseball game. These differences varied from the beginning of the league in 1943, progressively changing the pitching style, extending the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreasing the size of the ball until the final season of play in 1954. Incidentally, the relatively low batting averages from the 1943 season through 1947, before a smaller ball was introduced in 1948, reflect mainly the high quality of AAGPBL pitchers, rather than a lack of skills by the hitters.
Early life
A native of West Point, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, Stoll played softball in the local teams during her high school years, where an AAGPBL scout
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...
spotted her and decided to talk to her parents about joining the league. She attended to spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
in 1946 after graduating from school and was rewarded with a contract to play with the Peoria Redwings
Peoria Redwings
The Peoria Redwings were a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the season. The team represented Peoria, Illinois....
.
For the first time in 1946, league pitching rules were relaxed sufficiently to allow for a limited side-arm pitch from an underhand delivery with certain restrictions and the season saw the rapid development of many pitchers as the adoption of the new style of pitching became general. Stoll struggled in her rookie season, hitting .164 in 58 games for last-place Peoria (33-79) in the eight-team league.
In 1947 the AAGPBL moved its spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
camp to Havana, Cuba, and Stoll was one of the two hundred girls who made the trip, this time as a member of the Grand Rapids Chicks
Grand Rapids Chicks
The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winning championships in 1947 and 1953....
. The girls trained, played eight days of exhibitions, and were cheered by more than 75,000 fans during games at games at the Gran Stadium
Estadio Latinoamericano
The Estadio Latinoamericano is a stadium in Havana, Cuba. It is primarily used for baseball. Gran Stadium, a spacious pitchers' park with prevailing winds blowing in and boasting a playing surface and lighting system of major-league quality, was built in 1946 as the top baseball park in Latin...
. The new rules applied during the regular season permitted a full sidearm pitching delivery, and many players who developed hitting underhand pitching had problems adjusting to the new pitching style. As a result of the pitching domination, Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy "Dottie" Kamenshek was an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She batted and threw left-handed....
was the champion bat with a significant .306 average, Audrey Wagner
Audrey Wagner
Genevieve Wagner [Audrey] was an outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 145 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.-Brief profile:...
was the leader with seven home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s, and Elizabeth Mahon
Elizabeth Mahon
Elizabeth B. Mahon [″Lib″] was a female outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 135 lb., Mahon batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Greenville, South Carolina.-Early life:Lib Mahon was one of six children of David...
topped all hitters with 53 runs batted in. That season, Stoll collected a .163 average with 16 runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
and 12 RBI in 71 games, while Grand Rapids finished second (65-47) and advanced to playoffs. In the first round, the Chicks disposed of the South Bend Blue Sox
South Bend Blue Sox
The South Bend Blue Sox were a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
in five games, and beat the Racine Belles
Racine Belles
The Racine Belles were one of the original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing from through out of Racine, Wisconsin. The team played its home games at Horlick Field.-History:...
in seven games, to clinch the championship.
The AAGPBL grew to an all-time peak of ten teams in 1948, representing Eastern and Western zones, just in the first year the circuit shifted to overhand pitching. At the time, the league shifted players as needed to help teams stay afloat, and Stoll was involved in the move. She was allocated to the Springfield Sallies
Springfield Sallies
The Springfield Sallies were a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the season. The team represented Springfield, Illinois, and played their games at Lanphier Ball Park....
, in an effort to bolster the new squad. But the helpless Sallies finished as the worst team in the league, getting roughed up as a last-place expansion club with a 41-84 record, ending 35 and a half games behind Racine in the Western Division. The only regular to have a significant year for them was Evelyn Wawryshyn
Evelyn Wawryshyn
Evelyn Wawryshyn [Litwin/Moroz] is a former Canadian second basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 3", 130 lb., Wawryshyn batted and threw right-handed...
, who tied for sixth place in the league with a .266 batting average, while ranking among the top ten hitters in stolen base
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...
s, hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
and 126 total bases
Total bases
In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....
. The pitching staff was led by the durable Doris Barr
Doris Barr
Doris Barr [Dodie] was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 145 lb., Barr batted and threw left-handed...
, who posted a decent 2.68 ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
with a career-high 116 strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
s despite her 7-19 record. In her first shot as an everyday outfielder, Stoll hit .191 with 18 RBI and set career-highs with 61 runs scored and 116 games. The ill-fated Sallies folded at the end of the season, and Stoll was dealt to the South Bend team.
When Stoll joined the Blue Sox in 1949 she took advantage of his new environment from the very beginning, raising her average to .232, while scoring 50 runs with 28 RBI in 99 games appearances. Throughout the regular season, South Bend waged an up-and-down battle with Rockford for first place. Although South Bend had a four-game lead in August, both clubs tied with identical records of 75-36 at the end of the year. On September 3, in the final home game of the regular season, Jean Faut
Jean Faut
Jean Anna Faut [Winsch/Eastman] is a former female starting pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 137 lb., she batted and threw right handed....
of South Bend hurled a no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
, a 2–0 victory against 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...
, advancing her team to a tie for first place. In the first round of the playoffs, Grand Rapids defeated Fort Wayne in three games, and the Kenosha Comets
Kenosha Comets
Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Kenosha Comets were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team played their home games at Kenosha's Lake Front Stadium, but later moved to Simmons Field.The Kenosha Comets were one...
were swept by the Muskegon Lassies
Muskegon Lassies
The Muskegon Lassies were one of the expansion teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in , representing Muskegon, Michigan. The team played their home games at Marsh Field....
. Then, in the semi-finals South Bend beat Muskegon (3-0) and Rockford did the same with Grand Rapids (3-1). The best-of-seven-series was clinched by Rockford, who eliminated South Bend in four straight games. By edict of league president Max Carey
Max Carey
Max George Carey was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who starred for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961...
, the playoff victory also made Rockford the regular season champion.
In 1950 Stoll continued her batting progress, raising her average to .271 while driving in 50 runs and scoring 40 times in 91 games. South Bend finished fifth with a 55-55 record, out of contention.
By the time the 1951 season rolled around, Stoll was one of the established starters in the South Bend outfield, appearing in 101 of the 111 games of her team. She posted a .268 average with 46 runs and 47 RBI, while sharing outfield duties with Elizabeth Mahon
Elizabeth Mahon
Elizabeth B. Mahon [″Lib″] was a female outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 135 lb., Mahon batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Greenville, South Carolina.-Early life:Lib Mahon was one of six children of David...
and Betty Wagoner
Betty Wagoner
Betty Ann Wagoner was a right fielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
. While South Bend placed third in the first-half standings, the team finished first in the second half, thus giving them a playoff berth. Their complete season record of 75 and 36 was best in the league that year. South Bend defeated Fort Wayne in the first round of the playoffs, two games to one, while Rockford swept Grand Rapids in two games. In the best-of-five championship round, defending AAGPBL champion Rockford won the first two games over the visiting South Bend, who won the next three games. In the 10–2 finale, Wagoner paced the Blue Sox with four hits and Faut earned the victory in a seven-inning relief, while Charlene Pryer
Charlene Pryer
Charlene Barbara Pryer [Mayer] was a female utility in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, playing mainly at second base and center field from through . Listed at 5' 1", 105 lb., Pryer batted and threw right-handed...
and Stoll contributed three hits each. Considering that Rockford had won nine straight games, including the first two games in the championship series, South Bend came away a surprise winner to clinch the club's first AAGPBL title in the league.
In 1952 Stoll topped the .300 mark for the first time, hitting .301 with 45 and 60 RBI, though she appeared in only 86 games. South Bend finished second (64-45) in the six-team league, but dissension within the Blue Sox peaked just before the season ended, when infielder Pryer was disciplined following a dispute with manager Karl Winsch
Karl Winsch
Karl Edgar Winsch was a pitcher and manager in Minor league baseball. Listed at 5' 10", 180 lb., Winsch batted and threw right-handed....
. In support of Pryer, five South Bend teammates, including Mahon and Stoll, joined her in a walkout, leaving Winsch's team short-handed for the playoffs with only twelve players. Nonetheless, South Bend beat Grand Rapids in two games and later defeated Rockford in five games, to win a second consecutive title in the league.
Stoll played with the Kalamazoo Lassies
Kalamazoo Lassies
The Kalamazoo Lassies were a team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team represented Kalamazoo, Michigan. Home games were initially played at Lindstrom Field, but later games were played at the Catholic Athletic Association Field, now the...
for the rest of her career. Her most productive season came in 1953, when she hit a career-high .308 with 38 runs in 110 games and also posted career numbers in at-bats (396), hits (122) and RBI (65), being selected for the All-Star Team
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League All-Star Team
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a women's professional baseball circuit which existed for twelve seasons from through ....
. In the end, Kalamazoo finished in third place with 56-50 mark and advanced to the playoffs, thanks to an improved lineup boosted by a good mixture of veteran players like Doris Sams
Doris Sams
Doris Jane Sams [Sammye] is a former female outfielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 9", 145 lbs., she batted and threw right handed....
, Dorothy Schroeder
Dorothy Schroeder
Dorothy Schroeder [″Dottie″] was a shortstop who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 150 lb., Schroeder batted and threw right-handed...
, Fern Shollenberger
Fern Shollenberger
Fern Shollenberger [Shelly] was a third basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 125 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.-Brief profile:...
and the newcomer Stoll, along with younger players like Jean Lovell
Jean Lovell
Jean Lovell [″Grumpy″] was a female catcher and pitcher who played for three different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the and seasons. Lovell batted and threw right-handed...
and Nancy Mudge
Nancy Mudge
Nancy Mudge [Cato] is a former second basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 120 lb., Mudge batted and threw right handed. She was nicknamed ″Smudgie″....
. Gloria Cordes
Gloria Cordes
Gloria Cordes [Elliott] is a former starting pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
and 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:...
were the top pitchers of the team. In the first round, Kalamazoo beat Fort Wayne in three games, but was swept in two games by Grand Rapids in the final series.
Stoll saw reduced playing time in 1954, but she responded with a .302 average in just 34 games, while Kalamazoo would win the only AAGPBL Championship in five years of team history. With the league reduced to five teams, due partly to financial problems and the difficulty of recruiting new players, the Lassies posted a fourth-place record of 48-49. In the first round of the playoffs, Kalamazoo defeated the second-place South Bend (48-44), two to one games, behind the strong pitching of Nancy Warren
Nancy Warren (baseball)
Nancy Warren was a pitcher and infielder who played from through for six different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 130 lb., she batted and threw right handed...
and Elaine Roth
Elaine Roth
Elaine Roth [E] was a female pitcher and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
. In the final round, Kalamazoo surprised the heavily favored Fort Wayne, three to two games, thanks to a clutch hitting of Chris Ballingall
Chris Ballingall
Chris Ballingall is a former female catcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5'6", 145 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed....
and Carol Habben
Carol Habben
Carol Habben was a center fielder and backup catcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 135 lb., she batted and threw right-handed....
, appropriately dubbed the Home Run Twins, and a nice hurling performance by Peppas in decisive Game 5, during what turned out to be the league's final season.
Life after baseball
After the league folded, Stoll owned her own dog grooming business in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
for many years. She then moved to Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
in 1984, where she worked for AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
until her retirement in 1995. She is part of Women in Baseball, the AAGPBL permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at 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...
, which was unveiled on November 5, in honor of the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities. It was a neglected chapter of sports history, at least until 1992
1992 in film
The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...
, when filmmaker Penny Marshall
Penny Marshall
Penny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...
premiered her film A League of Their Own
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...
, which was a fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
alized account of activities in the AAGPBL. Starring Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
, Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Lori Petty
Lori Petty
Lori Petty is an American film and television actress best known for playing "Tyler Endicott" in Point Break in 1991, "Kit Keller" in A League of Their Own in 1992, and the title role in Tank Girl in 1995.-Early life:...
and Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
, this film brought a rejuvenated interest to the extinct league.
Jane Stoll died in her home in Arizona at the age of 71.