Jean Cione
Encyclopedia
Jean S. Cione [″Cy″] was a pitcher
who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
. Listed at 5' 8", 143 lb., She batted and threw left-handed
.
was softball
, the league oficcials created a hybrid game which included both fast-pitch
softball and baseball
. Compared to softball, the crucial differences were that nine (not ten) players were used, and runners could lead off, slide and steal bases
. In its twelve years of history the AAGPBL evolved through many stages. These differences varied from the beginning of the league, progressively extending the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreasing the size of the ball
until the final year of play in 1954. For the first five years the circuit used a fastpitch underhand motion, shifted to sidearm
in 1947, and never really became baseball until overhand pitching began in 1948.
, Jean Cione was a dominant lefty pitcher who enjoyed a prolific career over ten seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Cione is regarded one of the few pitchers to make the successful transition from underhand to overhand through the many stages of the league, although she hurled on awful expansion teams that did not give her much run support. An All-Star, she posted a 76-65 record with a 2.33 earned run average
in 169 career games and pitched three no-hitter
s. In addition, she was a member of a champion team and turned in an unassisted triple play
. Interestingly, from through there have only been 15 unassisted triple plays in Major League Baseball
history. After the league folded in 1954, Cione taught sports medicine
and physical education
at the university level for 29 years, earning inductions into several halls of fame
across the United States
.
. In third grade she joined the boys' softball team, and when she reached eighth grade became to play on the Rock River School Boy's softball team, which competed with other league schools. In 1942, at age 14, she earned the first letter ever awarded to a girl by Rock River School. Cione later worked at J. L. Clarke, where she played on the company's girls team. She also taught herself the accordion
, after being motivated by the piano music of Frankie Carle
.
As she grew up, Cione showed an intense interest in athletics and outdoor activities, developing a practice that was to continue throughout the rest of his life. When she turned seventeen, she attended an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League tryout held at Racine under the direction of Max Carey
. She passed the test and was offered a contract to play in the league.
, a team based in her hometown of Rockford which was managed
by Bill Allington
. Other five teams competed in the 110-game regular season: the Fort Wayne Daisies
, the Grand Rapids Chicks
, the Kenosha Comets
, the Racine Belles
, and the South Bend Blue Sox
.
The 1945 Peaches roster featured a perfect mix of experience and motivated young players, such as Mildred Deegan
(2B), Dorothy Ferguson
(3B
), Rose Gacioch
(P
/OF
), Dorothy Green
(C
), Dorothy Harrell
(SS
), Dorothy Kamenshek
(1B), Josephine Lenard
(OF), Olive Little
(P), Carolyn Morris
(P) and Margaret Wigiser
(OF). Cione was used as a reserve first sacker for Kamenshek. Eventually, she pitched and played at outfield.
Since the beginning, Cione showed her skills in the field and was alert and cooperative with her manager and teammates. During that first year with the Rockford Peaches, I sharpened those raw skills and learned the strategies of the game from a manager that I consider the best in the league, Bill Allington from Van Eyes CA. He was a student of the game, and held practice sessions for us rookies and bench warmers every day the team played at home. I attribute my 10-year longevity in the league to my first year under this outstanding manager, she proudly recalled in her autobiography.
Rockford took the AAGPBL pennant with a 67-43 record, surpassing Fort Wayne (62-47), Grand Rapids (60-50), Racine (50-60), South Bend (49-60) and Kenosha (41-69). In the best-of-five Series playoffs, runnerup Fort Wayne defeated fourth-place Racine in four games; first-place Rockford eliminated third-place Grand Rapids in four games, and Rockford won the league championship by beating Fort Wayne in five games.
The Muskegon Lassies
and Peoria Redwings
were added as expansion teams for the 1946 season. Cione was sent to the Redwings, as the AAGPBL shifted players as needed to help new teams stay afloat. In 1947 she returned to Rockford. It was clear she was back where she belonged.
By April 1947, all of the league’s players were flown to Havana, Cuba for spring training
. At the time, the Brooklyn Dodgers
trained in the Cuban capital because Jackie Robinson
, who would be the first Afro-American to play in the Major Leagues, was training with the Dodgers for the first time. By then, city ordinances in Vero Beach, Florida
, where the Dodgers normally trained, prevented blacks and whites players from competing on the same field against each other. Notably, newspaper stories from Havana indicate that the All-American girls drew larger crowds for their exhibition games at Estadio Latinoamericano
than did the Dodgers. That year, Cione responded winning 19 games for the Peaches while posting a stingy 1.30 ERA in her first full pitching season. Besides Cione, the roster of the Peaches included top notch veterans as Deegan, Ferguson, Gacioch, Green, Harrell and Kamenshek, as well as the newly arrived Lois Florreich
(P) and Alice Pollitt
(3B). Unfortunately, Rockford finished in sixth place with a 48-63 mark, out of contention. During the postseason, Grand Rapids defeated South Bend in five games while Racine ousted Muskegon in four games. In the final Series, Grand Rapids dispossed of Racine in seven games.
The next year Cione then found herself on the move again, this time to Kenosha (1948–1951), and then the Battle Creek Belles
(1952) and Muskegon Belles
(1953), before returning to Rockford in the league's final year (1954). Her most productive season came in 1950, when she won 18 games and hurled a pair of no-hitters. In 1952 she went 2-5, but sported a 3.24 ERA and made the All-Star team.
In between seasons, Cione graduated from high school and went on to study at Eastern Michigan University
, University of Illinois
and University of Michigan
.
from Eastern Michigan University before earning her master's degree
at the University of Illinois. From there, Cione took up teaching physical education in elementary school for a decade and then returned to EMU, where she taught sports medicine
for nearly three decades. She was EMU's first women's athletic director as her alma mater established a women's athletic program, attaining gender equity in the sports programs there.
. The exhibition was unveiled on November 5, , to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than individual baseball personalities. She gained inductions into the Eastern Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame (1986) and the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (2003), and also served as vice president of the AAGPBL Players Association while supervizing the organization's website.
was released. The film kindled a renewed interest in these trailblazers who have their own places in American history. While the film does not use real names, filmmaker Penny Marshall
seemed to be aiming for realism, as her work includes fake newsreel footage and pseudo-documentary present day scenes at the beginning and end of the fictitious
story. Since then, Cione and her teammates have become the darlings of the media. They have been honored several times for their significant contributions, responding to request for autographs and corresponding with young athletes interested in hearing of their days in the AAGPBL.
Jean Cione died at the age of 82 in Bozeman, Montana
, where she had moved after retiring in 1992.
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
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' 8", 143 lb., She batted and threw left-handed
Left-handed
Left-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. In ancient times it was seen as a sign of the devil, and was abhorred in many cultures...
.
AAGPBL rules of play
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a circuit that began to operate in 1943. Since the only organized ball for women in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was 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...
, the league oficcials created a hybrid game which included both fast-pitch
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...
softball and 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...
. Compared to softball, the crucial differences were that nine (not ten) players were used, and runners could lead off, slide and steal bases
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...
. In its twelve years of history the AAGPBL evolved through many stages. These differences varied from the beginning of the league, progressively extending the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreasing the size of the ball
Baseball (object)
A baseball is a ball used primarily in the sport of the same name, baseball. The ball features a rubber or cork center, wrapped in yarn and covered in leather. It is in circumference . The yarn or string used to wrap the baseball can be up to one mile in length...
until the final year of play in 1954. For the first five years the circuit used a fastpitch underhand motion, shifted to sidearm
Sidearm
In baseball, sidearm describes balls thrown along a low, approximately horizontal axis rather than a high, mostly vertical axis ....
in 1947, and never really became baseball until overhand pitching began in 1948.
Brief profile
Born in Rockford, IllinoisRockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
, Jean Cione was a dominant lefty pitcher who enjoyed a prolific career over ten seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Cione is regarded one of the few pitchers to make the successful transition from underhand to overhand through the many stages of the league, although she hurled on awful expansion teams that did not give her much run support. An All-Star, she posted a 76-65 record with a 2.33 earned run average
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...
in 169 career games and pitched three 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"...
s. In addition, she was a member of a champion team and turned in an unassisted triple play
Unassisted triple play
In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three putouts by himself in one continuous play, without any teammates touching the ball . In Major League Baseball , it is one of the rarest of individual feats, along with hitting four home runs in one game and the...
. Interestingly, from through there have only been 15 unassisted triple plays in 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...
history. After the league folded in 1954, Cione taught sports medicine
Sports medicine
Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise...
and physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
at the university level for 29 years, earning inductions into several halls of fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early years
Cione attended grades 1-12 in the Rockford Public School System, where she graduated in 1946. At school she used to play softballSoftball
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...
. In third grade she joined the boys' softball team, and when she reached eighth grade became to play on the Rock River School Boy's softball team, which competed with other league schools. In 1942, at age 14, she earned the first letter ever awarded to a girl by Rock River School. Cione later worked at J. L. Clarke, where she played on the company's girls team. She also taught herself the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, after being motivated by the piano music of Frankie Carle
Frankie Carle
Frankie Carle – , born Francis Nunzio Carlone, was a American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard"."Sunrise Serenade," however, was Carle's best-known composition, rising to No...
.
As she grew up, Cione showed an intense interest in athletics and outdoor activities, developing a practice that was to continue throughout the rest of his life. When she turned seventeen, she attended an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League tryout held at Racine under the direction of 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...
. She passed the test and was offered a contract to play in the league.
AAGPBL career
Cione entered the AAGPBL in 1945 with the Rockford PeachesRockford Peaches
The Rockford Peaches were a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing out of Rockford, Illinois for the entire existence of the league from 1943 to 1954....
, a team based in her hometown of Rockford which was managed
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...
by Bill Allington
Bill Allington
William Baird Allington was an American Minor league baseball player and manager. Listed at 5' 9" , 160 lb., Allington batted and threw right-handed. He was born in St. Clair County, Michigan....
. Other five teams competed in the 110-game regular season: 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...
, 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 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...
, 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:...
, and 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...
.
The 1945 Peaches roster featured a perfect mix of experience and motivated young players, such as Mildred Deegan
Millie Deegan
Mildred Eleanor Deegan was an American pitcher and second baseman who played ten seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, from to .-Background:...
(2B), Dorothy Ferguson
Dorothy Ferguson
Dorothy B. Ferguson Key [Dottie] was an infielder and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
(3B
Third Base
is a 1978 Japanese film directed by Yōichi Higashi.-External links:...
), Rose Gacioch
Rose Gacioch
Rose M. Gacioch [gay'-sotch] was a right fielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 160 lb., Gacioch batted and threw right-handed...
(P
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
/OF
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...
), Dorothy Green
Dottie Green
Dorothy M. Green was a female catcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 10" & 150 lbs., she batted and threw right-handed.-Overview profile:...
(C
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
), Dorothy Harrell
Dorothy Harrell
Dorothy Harrell was a shortstop who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 4", 127 lb., Harrell batted and threw right-handed...
(SS
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
), Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy "Dottie" Kamenshek was an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She batted and threw left-handed....
(1B), Josephine Lenard
Josephine Lenard
Veronica Josephine Lenard [″Bubblegum″] was a center fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 130 lb., she batted and threw right-handed....
(OF), Olive Little
Olive Little
Olive Bend Little [Ollie] was a female pitcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the and seasons. Listed at 5' 3", 135 lb., Little batted and threw right-handed...
(P), Carolyn Morris
Carolyn Morris
Carolyn E. Morris was a female pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 157 lb., Morris batted and threw right handed...
(P) and Margaret Wigiser
Margaret Wigiser
Margaret M. Wigiser [Wiggie] is a former center fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
(OF). Cione was used as a reserve first sacker for Kamenshek. Eventually, she pitched and played at outfield.
Since the beginning, Cione showed her skills in the field and was alert and cooperative with her manager and teammates. During that first year with the Rockford Peaches, I sharpened those raw skills and learned the strategies of the game from a manager that I consider the best in the league, Bill Allington from Van Eyes CA. He was a student of the game, and held practice sessions for us rookies and bench warmers every day the team played at home. I attribute my 10-year longevity in the league to my first year under this outstanding manager, she proudly recalled in her autobiography.
Rockford took the AAGPBL pennant with a 67-43 record, surpassing Fort Wayne (62-47), Grand Rapids (60-50), Racine (50-60), South Bend (49-60) and Kenosha (41-69). In the best-of-five Series playoffs, runnerup Fort Wayne defeated fourth-place Racine in four games; first-place Rockford eliminated third-place Grand Rapids in four games, and Rockford won the league championship by beating Fort Wayne in five games.
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....
and 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....
were added as expansion teams for the 1946 season. Cione was sent to the Redwings, as the AAGPBL shifted players as needed to help new teams stay afloat. In 1947 she returned to Rockford. It was clear she was back where she belonged.
By April 1947, all of the league’s players were flown to Havana, Cuba for 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...
. At the time, the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
trained in the Cuban capital because Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, who would be the first Afro-American to play in the Major Leagues, was training with the Dodgers for the first time. By then, city ordinances in Vero Beach, Florida
Vero Beach, Florida
Vero Beach is a city in Indian River County, Florida, USA. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 16,939. It is the county seat of Indian River County...
, where the Dodgers normally trained, prevented blacks and whites players from competing on the same field against each other. Notably, newspaper stories from Havana indicate that the All-American girls drew larger crowds for their exhibition games at Estadio Latinoamericano
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...
than did the Dodgers. That year, Cione responded winning 19 games for the Peaches while posting a stingy 1.30 ERA in her first full pitching season. Besides Cione, the roster of the Peaches included top notch veterans as Deegan, Ferguson, Gacioch, Green, Harrell and Kamenshek, as well as the newly arrived Lois Florreich
Lois Florreich
Kathleen Lois Florreich [Flash] was a pitcher and utility who played from through for three different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 140 lb., Florreich batted and threw right-handed...
(P) and Alice Pollitt
Alice Pollitt
Alice Pollitt [Deschaine] is a former infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 3", 150 lb., she batted and threw right-handed....
(3B). Unfortunately, Rockford finished in sixth place with a 48-63 mark, out of contention. During the postseason, Grand Rapids defeated South Bend in five games while Racine ousted Muskegon in four games. In the final Series, Grand Rapids dispossed of Racine in seven games.
The next year Cione then found herself on the move again, this time to Kenosha (1948–1951), and then the Battle Creek Belles
Battle Creek Belles
The Battle Creek Belles were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
(1952) and Muskegon Belles
Muskegon Belles
The Muskegon Belles were a women's professional baseball team that played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season....
(1953), before returning to Rockford in the league's final year (1954). Her most productive season came in 1950, when she won 18 games and hurled a pair of no-hitters. In 1952 she went 2-5, but sported a 3.24 ERA and made the All-Star team.
In between seasons, Cione graduated from high school and went on to study at Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...
, University of Illinois
University of Illinois College of Medicine
The University of Illinois College of Medicine offers a four-year program leading to the MD degree at four different sites in Illinois: Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, and Urbana–Champaign....
and University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Life after baseball
Following her baseball retirement, Cione received a bachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Eastern Michigan University before earning her master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
at the University of Illinois. From there, Cione took up teaching physical education in elementary school for a decade and then returned to EMU, where she taught sports medicine
Sports medicine
Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise...
for nearly three decades. She was EMU's first women's athletic director as her alma mater established a women's athletic program, attaining gender equity in the sports programs there.
Honors and awards
Jean Cione is part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New YorkCooperstown, 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...
. The exhibition was unveiled on November 5, , to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than individual baseball personalities. She gained inductions into the Eastern Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame (1986) and the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (2003), and also served as vice president of the AAGPBL Players Association while supervizing the organization's website.
A League of Their Own
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954. Lady pitchers, catchers, and fielders drifted into obscurity until 1992 when the film A League of Their OwnA 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...
was released. The film kindled a renewed interest in these trailblazers who have their own places in American history. While the film does not use real names, 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...
seemed to be aiming for realism, as her work includes fake newsreel footage and pseudo-documentary present day scenes at the beginning and end of the fictitious
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,...
story. Since then, Cione and her teammates have become the darlings of the media. They have been honored several times for their significant contributions, responding to request for autographs and corresponding with young athletes interested in hearing of their days in the AAGPBL.
Jean Cione died at the age of 82 in Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, where she had moved after retiring in 1992.