Jean Faut
Encyclopedia
Jean Anna Faut [Winsch/Eastman] (born November 17, 1925) 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.
Jean Faut is considered by baseball historians and researchers as the greatest overhand pitcher in AAGPBL history. From 1946 through 1953, Faut set several all-time and single-season records. She compiled a lifetime record of 140–64 with a 1.23 earned run average
in 235 pitching appearances
, registering the lowest career ERA for any pitcher in the league. Besides hurling two perfect games, her league achievements include pitching two no-hitter
s, twice winning the Triple Crown and collecting three 20-win seasons. She also led in wins and strikeout
s three times, set the league record for single-season winning percentage
at .909 (20–2), and led the South Bend Blue Sox
to consecutive championships in 1951 and 1952. Faut never had a losing season or an ERA above 1.51, being surpassed only by Helen Nicol
for the most career wins (163). A four-time member of the All-Star Team, Faut was named Player of the Year in two out of eight possible seasons. Her baseball career, which spanned eight years, reflects the experiences of many girls who played in the competitive era of overhand pitching in the AAGPBL. But like several other players from the league, she coupled her professional playing career with a more traditional lifestyle as a wife and mother.
and baseball
that never really became baseball until overhand pitching began in . Women's softball was enormously popular in the early 1940s, and often drew good crowds. In June 1943, Time
magazine estimated there were 40,000 women's softball teams in the U.S., including popular touring clubs such as Barney Ross' Adorables and Slapsie Maxie's Curvaceous Cuties. The new league was conceived by chewing gum magnate and Chicago Cubs
owner Philip K. Wrigley
, who decided in 1942 to start a women's professional softball league, concerned that the 1943 major-league season might be canceled because of World War II
. The circuit would eventually shift gears and become the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and was dissolved at the end of the season. About 500 girls attended the initial call. Of these, only 280 were invited to the final try-outs at Wrigley Field
in Chicago
, where 60 of them were chosen to become the first women to ever play professional baseball. The 60 players were placed on the rosters of four fifteen-player teams: the Rockford Peaches
, the South Bend Blue Sox
, the Racine Belles
and the Kenosha Comets
.
In its twelve-year history, the AAGPBL evolved through many stages, which started with baseball rules
, including leading off bases. The pitching distance and the base paths were, however, longer than regulation softball. In 1943 the AAGPBL began by using a speeded-up game of fastpitch softball
, with a ball 12 inches in circumference. The league introduced an 11½-inch ball in 1944 and 1945, switched to an 11-inch ball in 1946 and 1947, and a 10⅜ inch-ball in 1948. Midway through the 1949 season, a 10-inch ball was employed. In the final season of 1954, the AAGPBL's ball switched to 9¼ inches, the size of a regulation Major League baseball
. After four years of fast-pitch motion, the circuit shifted to limited sidearm in 1946, which was modified to full sidearm in 1947, until overhand pitching became effective in 1948. During that time, only five perfect game
s occurred out of 9,578 opportunities (or once in every 1,916 chances), three of them during the underhand pitching period (1943–47), and two when overhand pitching style was adopted throughout the last seasons (1948–54). Notably, both of these latter games were hurled by Jean Faut.
Since the founding of the National League
in to , opposing pitchers have had over 341,000 opportunities (170,500 games) to throw perfect games during a regular season, a feat accomplished by only twenty players in more than a century of Major League Baseball
play. That equates to approximately one perfect game in every 17,050 opportunities, but no Major League pitcher has ever been perfect twice in his professional career, while many of the greatest have never done so even once. The feat is, indeed, one of the rarest of any athletic accomplishment. Some would argue that it is more difficult to pitch a perfect game in the Major Leagues than it was in the AAGPBL. However, considering the conditions under which the All-American girls played, Faut's two perfect games are all the more remarkable. As mentioned previously, the dimensions of the field they played were smaller and the hitters less powerful and skilled with the bat, while equipment and rules changed continually throughout the existence of the league, often from year to year, sometimes even in midseason.
, Faut grew up in the home of a working-class family. She was the second oldest daughter of Robert Faut, an automobile plant worker and park guard, and Eva (nee Gebert) Faut, a housewife. The young Jean, along with her two sisters and three brothers, were raised during the Great Depression
era. The children were instructed by their parents to live frugally, save, and avoid debt. Unlike most AAGPBL players, Faut never played softball while growing up and had no previous professional experience. She attended East Greenville High School, where she excelled in track and field
, basketball
and field hockey
. She also pitched batting practice for the school baseball team and hurled in exhibition games against the Cubs, a semiprofessional team in her hometown. In the process, she learned how to throw different pitches. After graduating from EGHS in 1942, Faut worked in a clothing factory until the spring of 1946, when she attended a tryout for the AAGPBL in Pascagoula, Mississippi
.
As a result of the success of the league in its first year, two new teams were added in : the Milwaukee Chicks
and the Minneapolis Millerettes
. But both teams lost their franchises by the end of that season and were replaced by the Grand Rapids Chicks
and the Fort Wayne Daisies
in 1945. The league added two more teams in 1946, the Muskegon Lassies
and the Peoria Redwings
. During spring training
in the AAGPBL's early years the players were selectively allocated to teams for the purpose of maintaining a competitive balance. Faut was rewarded with a contract to play in the eight-team league and was assigned to the established South Bend Blue Sox, by then managed
by Chet Grant
, a former Notre Dame
football
player and the sports editor for the South Bend Tribune
.
In 1946 the AAGPBL made significant changes in its rules, extending the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreasing the size of the ball. Later in the season the league allowed a sidearm pitching delivery, permitting the pitchers to add a curveball
or sinker
to their repertoire of fastball
and changeup
, all of which Faut had hurled before joining the league. All of these rules changes were designed to make the game more exciting and more like men's baseball. In her rookie season Faut appeared in 101 games, mostly at third base
, hitting a .177 (61-for-344) average
with 40 runs batted in while scoring 37 runs
. She committed 60 errors
at third for a .893 fielding percentage
. When the sidearm motion was approved, Blue Sox manager Grant included her on the pitching staff for the rest of season. Faut posted an 8–3 record with 21 strikeouts and a 1.32 earned run average in 12 outings, including nine starts
, eight complete game
s, and a pair of two-hitters in 81 innings of work
, ranking third in ERA and winning percentage (.727).
That season, South Bend led the circuit in team batting with a .220 average, while finishing third in fielding with an average of .943. While her batting average seems low, Faut had never faced underhand pitching, which gave a clear advantage to the faster underhand pitchers of the league. Grand Rapids' star Connie Wisniewski
led the circuit in ERA (0.96) and shared with Racine's Joanne Winter
the wins title (33), while Fort Wayne's Dorothy Collins
topped in strikeouts (294) and shutouts (17). More than half of the batters averaged under .200, while the highest marks were recorded by Rockford's Dorothy Kamenshek
(.316), South Bend's Bonnie Baker
(.286), Racine's Sophie Kurys
(.286), Grand Rapids' Merle Keagle
(.284) and Kenosha's Audrey Wagner
(.281). The Blue Sox finished in third place with a 70–42 mark but lost in the semifinal round to Rockford, three games to one. In her first post-season, Faut went 0-2 with a 1.13 ERA against Racine. In Game 1 of the playoffs, she suffered the loss in a 17-inning pitching duel against Anna Mae Hutchison
, when Maddy English
knocked in the winning run in a 3–2 game.
Faut was an intelligent, smart pitcher with an analytical mind that allowed her to remember pitching sequences from batter to batter and game to game. In pre-game team meetings, she would memorize the weakness of the opposite hitters and during the game vary the rotation of pitches she used. "Part of my success", she once reflected, "was that in my mind I could record the order of pitches I threw to each girl, so they never saw the same thing twice". She added "I was a mathematical whiz in school. They’d never know what was coming, so they’d start guessing".
After playing in 1946 for $65 a week, Faut signed in 1947 for $85. The average full-time worker made $1,299 a year in the 1940s, according to one estimate – or about $25 a week. Players in the AAGBBL made between $50 and $125 a week during a three-month, 108-game season.
The first AAGPBL spring training
outside the United States
was held in 1947 in Havana, Cuba, as part of a plan to create an International League of Girls Baseball. The All-Americans stayed at the Seville-Biltmore Hotel, and they played their games at the Gran Stadium
. On the other hand, they trained, played eight days of exhibitions, and were cheered by more than 75,000 baseball fanatics. All the teams were filmed for Fox News
going down the steps at the University of Havana
.
The AAGPBL made the transition from underhand to full side-arm pitching in 1947. Before starting the season, Faut married Karl Winsch
, a former Philadelphia Phillies
pitching prospect from East Greenville, near her hometown. The couple established residence in South Bend, Indiana
, where she worked in the off-season for Ball-Band, a local division of the United States Rubber Company
. Pitching in 44 games, Faut came through with a 1.15 ERA to go with her 19–13 record, allowing 56 runs (38 earned) on just 179 hits in a career-high 298 innings. She walked 67 batters and struck out 97, ending third in innings, fifth in ERA and eighth in strikeouts, while tying for fifth in wins. She also posted a .236 average in 56 games, ranking 19th in the league behind Kamenshek, who won her second consecutive title with a .306 mark. Her most durable performance came on July 31, when she defeated Eleanor Dapkus
and the Belles in 22 innings by a 4–3 score. Faut spaced 16 hits, walked five, struck out eleven, and contributed two hits to her own cause
In 1947 South Bend earned a respectable fourth place in the eight-team league with a 57-54 record, but was beaten by Grand Rapids in the first round of the playoffs, three to two games. Faut went 1-1 with one save
and a 2.37 ERA in the postseason. At the time she was two months pregnant and gave birth to her first son, Larry, in March 1948.
The league moved fully to overhand pitching in 1948, which made the game close to regulation baseball. Such change adversely affected the performance of underhand pitchers, because many of them were experienced submariners
who could not make the transition to the new pitching style. Consequently, many teams converted their outfielder
s to pitchers since they were used to throwing the ball overhand with power. Batters, too, had to make adjustments, since underhand pitches tend to rise, overhand to drop. In that season also were incorporated the Chicago Colleens
and the Springfield Sallies
, and the AAGPBL expanded to a historical peak of ten teams divided into Eastern and Western Divisions.
In 1948, Faut missed the spring training camp to be held in March and reported to the Blue Sox after her postnatal period. She recovered her old form in mid-June, determined to adjust her arm angle on her pitching deliveries. This change to overhand pitching did not mean that a pitcher could not drop down in her delivery. Occasionally, Faut threw a pitch below sidearm to keep opposing hitters off balance with an array of five quality pitches. She still produced a fine season, fashioning a 16-11 record with 165 strikeouts and a 1.44 ERA in 34 games, hurling 250 innings, ranking seventh among pitchers with at least 45 or more innings, ending seventh in ERA and eighth in strikeouts. The smaller ball and overhand delivery made her curveball pitch more effective. That season, Grand Rapids' Alice Haylett
went 25-5 with a league-best 0.77 ERA, while Racine's Joanne Winter
finished 25-12 and led in strikeouts (248). On September 4, Faut pitched her first no-hitter, beating the host Racine Belles, 7–0. Her teammate Lillian Faralla
had thrown a no-hitter against Racine on May 11, so two Blue Sox pitchers defeated the Belles with two no-hitters in the same season.
South Bend, with Marty McManus
at the helm, ended third (57-69) and lost to Grand Rapids in the first round of the playoffs, three to two games. In Game 1, Faut pitched 20 innings to beat Haylett, 3–2, in the longest game in AAGPBL post-season history. The Chicks won Game 2 in 11 innings, 3–2, to tie the series, but Faralla hurled a four-hit, 2–1 victory in Game 3. In another extra-inning duel, Haylett took revenge in Game 4, defeating Faut and South Bend in 15 innings by a 1–0 score, while in decisive Game 5 Mildred Earp
silenced the South Bend hitters in a one-hit, 1–0 shutout, and Grand Rapids advanced to the finals. For the next year, the Colleens and the Sallies became rookie training teams that played exhibition games and recruited new talent as they toured through the South and East.
But Faut had mixed results in 1948, because she was forced to set aside from her teammates. Recently married, with a baby to care for, she began handling baseball like a professional job and could not socialize after games. As she recalled in an interview, "I had to go home, take care of my family, cook and clean, and all of those things". Nevertheless, in 1949 she recorded her best career season so far, considered by many historians to be the best individual season for any pitcher in AAGPBL history. Faut posted a 24–8 record with a 1.10 ERA in 34 games, allowing 47 runs (36 earned) on 136 hits and 118 walks, while striking out 120 in 261 innings of work. She led the league in wins and shutouts (12), finished second in innings and third in complete games (20). Only two pitchers gave up fewer earned runs, both of Rockford: Lois Florreich
, who finished 22-7 with a 0.67 ERA in 269 innings, and Helen Nicol
, who was 13-8 with a 0.98 ERA in 212 innings.
Often used as a pinch-hitter when she was not pitching, Faut paced league hitters with a .291 average (34-for-117) in 53 games, scoring 14 runs and driving in 21, even though her minimum at bats required did not qualify her for the batting championship. As an added value, she made her first All-Star team as a pitcher.
Throughout the 1949 season, South Bend, now managed by Dave Bancroft
, waged an up-and-down battle with Rockford for first place. The Rockford team, managed by Bill Allington
, was a perennial powerhouse populated with great players and winner of four league championships. First sacker
Dorothy Kamenshek
was a seven-time All-Star and won the league batting title twice; three-time All-Star outfielder Rose Gacioch
set several season-records as both a hitter and a pitcher; strong-armed Ruth Richard
made the All-Star team in six of her eight seasons and responded by gunning down more baserunners
than any catcher
in the league, while outfielder Eleanor Callow
was a three-time All-Star who holds the all-time career record for home runs (55) and triples (60). Undoubtedly, this lineup would have been a challenge for any pitcher in the league.
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, Faut hurled her second no-hitter, a 2–0 victory against Fort Wayne. She pitched flawlessly and faced the minimum 27 batters, but still did not qualify for a perfect game, allowing only an eighth-inning walk to Dorothy Schroeder
, who later was erased on a double play
. In the playoffs, Rockford eliminated South Bend in four straight games. Faut went 0-2 with a 2.58 ERA in two starts. By edict of league president Max Carey
, the playoff victory also made Rockford the regular season champion.
In 1950, the Muskegon team became the Kalamazoo Lassies
. By then the advantage began to shift toward the batter. Rookie Betty Foss
of Fort Wayne topped the loop with a .346 average, Rockford's Eleanor Callow
and Racine's Sophie Kurys
tied with seven home runs, and Grand Rapids' Pepper Paire
finished with 70 runs batted in. That year, most pitchers were still adjusting to the new 10-inch ball introduced the previous season. Also, the pitching distance, set at 43 feet before 1948 and increased to 50 feet in 1949, was augmented to 55 feet in 1950.
But the new rule did not disrupt Faut, because she finished 21-9 behind a 1.12 ERA in 36 games, allowing 64 runs (36 earned) on 175 hits and 104 walks while striking out 118 over 290 innings. She paced the circuit in ERA, edging Rockford's Lois Florreich
by a minuscule 0.06%, and trailed Fort Wayne's Maxine Kline
in wins (23) and Florreich in strikeouts (171). Faut also led in innings pitched and complete games (29), and joined the All-Star team for the second consecutive year. She contributed at the plate as well, hitting .217 (43-for-198) with 23 runs, 26 RBI and 15 stolen base
s. Besides her accomplishments, it would almost be a lost effort for Faut, because South Bend finished in fifth place with a 55-55 mark and dropped out of the playoffs. The Racine team would change its name to Battle Creek Belles
for the next year.
By the time the 1951 season rolled around, Faut was a successful and established pitcher. That year, her husband Karl Winsch
took over as manager of South Bend. It was to be a breakthrough year for the Blue Sox as well. Faut finished 15-7 with a 1.33 ERA in 23 games, striking out 135, while giving up 43 runs (28 earned) on 121 hits and 65 walks in 190 innings. She led the league in strikeouts, tied for seventh in wins, and ranked third in ERA and in shutouts (seven). Meanwhile, Winsch enjoyed an auspicious managerial debut, Nevertheless, when he became manager of the team, it made the situation even stickier and increased Faut’s isolation from her teammates. Perhaps to avoid charges of favoritism, Winsch reduced significantly the number of games and innings pitched by Faut in 1950. Most girls in the league were unmarried, making Faut odd-woman-out on her team.
Faut reached her peak of the season on July 21, when she hurled a perfect game against the visiting Rockford Peaches at Playland Park. Ahead 2–0, Faut struck out five of the last nine hitters, including pitching ace Helen Nicol
to end the game. The season started inauspiciously enough for Faut, though her record in the first half was a good, but unremarkable, a 8-5 mark. Notably, all five losses were by one run. This historic victory set the tone for the rest of the season. 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. The competition she faced in that special game was among the best highlights of her career, because Rockford would end the season battling South Bend for the league championship.
South Bend defeated Fort Wayne in the first round of the playoffs, two games to one. Faut won two complete games by identical scores of 2 to 1 in the first and third contests. In Game 1, she allowed six hits, three walks and one earned run, while in the clincher Game 3, she struck out nine batters and gave up eight eights in a 10-inning effort. She finally was part of a club that advanced to the finals. In the other series, 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. In Game 1 the Peaches beat the Blue Sox, 5-4, behind the pitching of Helen Nicol
. South Bend rallied to score two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth, but fell short. Following a rainout, Rose Gacioch
pitched a six-hitter and slugged a solo home run in Game 2 to help the Peaches win, 7–1. Rockford led all the way, clinching the victory with three runs in the eighth inning.
The final series moved to South Bend for the rest of the event. Faut started Game 3 with her team against the wall, 2 to 0. She responded with a 3–2 victory over Rockford, striking out 11 batters and walking two. The Blue Sox won Game 4 by a 6–3 score, in a contest shorted to seven innings by rain. The series was evened at 2-2.
In decisive Game 5, what was supposed to be a pitchers' duel between Lillian Faralla
and Rose Gacioch
turned out to be a hard-fought slugfest. Rockford scored one run in the top the first inning, but South Bend bounced back with five runs in the bottom half. Faralla felt tired after two innings and was replaced by Faut, who pitched the reminder of the game, earning credit for the final 10–2 victory. 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, by combining deep pitching with an opportune hitting. In addition to her 15 victories during the regular season, Faut won four more in the two playoffs. She earned the Player of the Year Award
and made her third All-Star team in a row.
By 1952 only six teams remained in the league after Kenosha and Peoria were disbanded. That season was to see Winsch become more demanding of his players, in an extremely heavy handed way and a close scrutiny of each player. On the other hand, Faut again led the league in several pitching categories, but the fact that her husband managed the team created friction between Faut and many of her teammates. Some of the girls bristled under Winsch's leadership, so many refused to speak to either the manager or their star pitcher. Nevertheless, Faut overcame internal conflicts to command the circuit with a 20-2 mark in 23 starts for a .909 winning percentage, setting the all-time single season for this category. She allowed 31 runs—only 19 earned—on 111 hits and 42 walks while striking out 114 in 184 innings for a career-best 0.93 ERA. In addition, she led all pitchers in ERA, 0.51 ahead of Battle Creek's Gloria Cordes
, and also in strikeouts, 23 ahead of Fort Wayne's Nancy Warren
, while tying Fort Wayne's Rose Gacioch
for the most wins, which was enough to win the pitching Triple Crown
. At the plate, she hit a solid .291 average to finish in seventh place.
Faut missed the Player of the Year Award (by one vote) to Fort Wayne's first-bagger Betty Foss
, who led the batters in runs (81), hits (137), doubles (26), triples (17) and RBI (74), was second in stolen bases (80), and hit .331 to finish second in the batting race behind her sister and teammate Joanne Weaver
(.344). Faut failed to make the All-Star team, but pitched in the All-Star Game with South Bend as the host team.
Dissension within the South Bend team peaked just before the season ended, when infielder Charlene Pryer
was disciplined following a dispute with Winsch. The incident occurred when he suspended Pryer from the team after she responded slowly to his order to pinch-run
late in a game. In protest, five South Bend teammates joined Pryer in a walkout, leaving Winsch's team short-handed for the playoffs. Pryer was reinstated at the club, but she decided to retire for good. South Bend finished with a league-best record of 76-36, then eliminated Grand Rapids in the best-of-three series (2-0). Faut was the winning pitcher in the first contest in a 2–1 complete game, in which she got out of a no-outs, bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning, surrendering just one unearned run. South Bend handily defeated the Chicks in the second game, 6–1, with Faut delivering two RBI and relieving in the ninth to seal the victory. Rockford disposed of Fort Wayne in the other series, two games to one.
The 1952 championship series was a repeat of the previous year with South Bend again facing Rockford. It was a contest rocked by controversy. Faut loss the first game, delivering a sub-par performance when she surrendered an uncharacteristic seven runs on 13 hits. She was pulled in the seventh inning after giving up a two-run homer. The second game ended in another Rockford victory and a South Bend protest. Because their playing field was being readied for football, the Peaches had moved the right field fence in to 190 feet, 20 feet shorter than the league minimum. Consequently, the league disallowed the victory and forced a replay of Game 2. South Bend won it in 12 innings with Faut getting the victory when she pitched a scoreless final four innings in relief. As in the previous season, Faut was the winning pitcher in the decisive Game 5, hitting two triples and driving in two runs while turning in a 6–3 complete game performance. She was 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA in the playoffs, allowing over a hit per inning. It was the second league championship for South Bend and the second time Faut pitched the deciding game.
In 1953, the Battle Creek team became the Muskegon Lassies
, and by the end of the season, it too, folded. Faut came back for her final year in the AAGPBL. Her team was weakened considerably by the player losses at the end of the previous season, and Faut was worn down from all the dissension. South Bend would finish the season second from last, compiling a 45–65 record. In spite of everything that had gone wrong, Faut still turned to post a 17-11 record and produced a league-best 1.51 ERA in 29 games, though league offensive levels were increasing. By her final season, only overhand pitching was allowed, the ball was a lively cork-centered ten inches, and the basepaths were seventy-five feet. More importantly from a pitching perspective, the pitching rubber was moved back to fifty-six feet, thirteen feet farther away than in 1946. At the same time, fences were moved in to allow for more home runs.
In her last season, Faut led all pitchers in ERA for the fourth year in a row and tied for the most wins with Eleanor Moore
of Grand Rapids, who went 17-7 with a 2.00 ERA. In addition, Faut topped the league with 143 strikeouts to win the Triple Crown pitching for a second time. She also finished third in shutouts (5), seventh in innings (226), and tied for the third in complete games (24). On September 3 of that year, she hurled a perfect game against the Kalamazoo Lassies, 4–0, to become the only pitcher in the league's history to throw two perfect games. She helped herself with the bat as well, hitting a solid .275 (87-for-316) with 11 doubles, one triple, and a career-high four home runs, while driving in 38 runs and scoring 33 times in 98 games. In addition, she was included in the All-Star team for the fourth time, and once again won the Player of the Year honors, although South Bend finished fifth and missed the playoffs. Making that, she joined Doris Sams
as the only two-time Player of the Year winners in AAGPBL history.
On September 6, 1953, the Blue Sox management and around 1,500 fanatics honored their longtime diamond ace with a Jean Faut Night before a game at Playland Park. After collecting four hundred dollars in gifts, Faut ended her baseball career that evening with a 3–0, nine-hit defeat to the visiting Grand Rapids Chicks.
Faut retired from baseball, frustrated by the tension caused by her husband being the team's manager. The 1954 season ended with only five teams remaining: Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Rockford and South Bend. The AAGPBL folded at the end of the season.
after her baseball retirement. Divorced from Winsch in 1968, she married again in 1977 to Charles Eastman, a resident of Rock Hill, South Carolina
who worked as a salesman for Textron Corporation
. He died in 1993 after 26 years of marriage. After that, Faut excelled as a recreational golfer
. An active grandmother with four grandchildren, she still lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Jean Faut is part of the AAGPBL permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York
, which was opened in in honor of the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities.
Batting
Collective fielding
Starting pitcher
In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....
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' 4", 137 lb., she batted and threw right handed.
Jean Faut is considered by baseball historians and researchers as the greatest overhand pitcher in AAGPBL history. From 1946 through 1953, Faut set several all-time and single-season records. She compiled a lifetime record of 140–64 with a 1.23 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 235 pitching appearances
Games pitched
In baseball statistics, games pitched is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although exceptions are made if the pitcher announced in the starting lineup is injured before facing a batter, perhaps while...
, registering the lowest career ERA for any pitcher in the league. Besides hurling two perfect games, her league achievements include pitching two 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, twice winning the Triple Crown and collecting three 20-win seasons. She also led in wins and 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 three times, set the league record for single-season winning percentage
Winning percentage
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win...
at .909 (20–2), and led 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...
to consecutive championships in 1951 and 1952. Faut never had a losing season or an ERA above 1.51, being surpassed only by Helen Nicol
Helen Nicol
Helen Nicol is a Canadian former baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Listed at 5' 3", 120 lb., Nicol batted and threw right-handed...
for the most career wins (163). A four-time member of the All-Star Team, Faut was named Player of the Year in two out of eight possible seasons. Her baseball career, which spanned eight years, reflects the experiences of many girls who played in the competitive era of overhand pitching in the AAGPBL. But like several other players from the league, she coupled her professional playing career with a more traditional lifestyle as a wife and mother.
AAGPBL history
By a new All-American Girls Softball League was formed, playing a hybrid form of 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...
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...
that never really became baseball until overhand pitching began in . Women's softball was enormously popular in the early 1940s, and often drew good crowds. In June 1943, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine estimated there were 40,000 women's softball teams in the U.S., including popular touring clubs such as Barney Ross' Adorables and Slapsie Maxie's Curvaceous Cuties. The new league was conceived by 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...
, who decided in 1942 to start a women's professional softball league, concerned that the 1943 major-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...
. The circuit would eventually shift gears and become the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and was dissolved at the end of the season. About 500 girls attended the initial call. Of these, only 280 were invited to the final try-outs at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
in Chicago
Chicago
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...
, where 60 of them were chosen to become the first women to ever play professional baseball. The 60 players were placed on the rosters of four fifteen-player teams: the Rockford Peaches
Rockford 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....
, 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 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 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...
.
In its twelve-year history, the AAGPBL evolved through many stages, which started with baseball rules
Baseball rules
The rules of baseball differ slightly from league to league, but in general share the same basic gameplay.-Codes:There are several major rules codes, which differ only slightly....
, including leading off bases. The pitching distance and the base paths were, however, longer than regulation softball. In 1943 the AAGPBL began by using a speeded-up game of 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...
, with a ball 12 inches in circumference. The league introduced an 11½-inch ball in 1944 and 1945, switched to an 11-inch ball in 1946 and 1947, and a 10⅜ inch-ball in 1948. Midway through the 1949 season, a 10-inch ball was employed. In the final season of 1954, the AAGPBL's ball switched to 9¼ inches, the size of a regulation Major League baseball
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...
. After four years of fast-pitch motion, the circuit shifted to limited sidearm in 1946, which was modified to full sidearm in 1947, until overhand pitching became effective in 1948. During that time, only five perfect game
Perfect game
A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any...
s occurred out of 9,578 opportunities (or once in every 1,916 chances), three of them during the underhand pitching period (1943–47), and two when overhand pitching style was adopted throughout the last seasons (1948–54). Notably, both of these latter games were hurled by Jean Faut.
Since the founding of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
in to , opposing pitchers have had over 341,000 opportunities (170,500 games) to throw perfect games during a regular season, a feat accomplished by only twenty players in more than a century of 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...
play. That equates to approximately one perfect game in every 17,050 opportunities, but no Major League pitcher has ever been perfect twice in his professional career, while many of the greatest have never done so even once. The feat is, indeed, one of the rarest of any athletic accomplishment. Some would argue that it is more difficult to pitch a perfect game in the Major Leagues than it was in the AAGPBL. However, considering the conditions under which the All-American girls played, Faut's two perfect games are all the more remarkable. As mentioned previously, the dimensions of the field they played were smaller and the hitters less powerful and skilled with the bat, while equipment and rules changed continually throughout the existence of the league, often from year to year, sometimes even in midseason.
Professional career
A native of East Greenville, PennsylvaniaEast Greenville, Pennsylvania
East Greenville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,951 at the 2010 census.It is part of the Upper Perkiomen School District....
, Faut grew up in the home of a working-class family. She was the second oldest daughter of Robert Faut, an automobile plant worker and park guard, and Eva (nee Gebert) Faut, a housewife. The young Jean, along with her two sisters and three brothers, were raised during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
era. The children were instructed by their parents to live frugally, save, and avoid debt. Unlike most AAGPBL players, Faut never played softball while growing up and had no previous professional experience. She attended East Greenville High School, where she excelled in track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
. She also pitched batting practice for the school baseball team and hurled in exhibition games against the Cubs, a semiprofessional team in her hometown. In the process, she learned how to throw different pitches. After graduating from EGHS in 1942, Faut worked in a clothing factory until the spring of 1946, when she attended a tryout for the AAGPBL in Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
.
As a result of the success of the league in its first year, two new teams were added in : the Milwaukee Chicks
Milwaukee Chicks
The Milwaukee Chicks were a women's professional baseball team which played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season. They were managed by Max Carey, former star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Robins and a future Hall of Famer.-History:By 1944 the...
and the Minneapolis Millerettes
Minneapolis Millerettes
The Minneapolis Millerettes were an expansion All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team that played for one season in 1944. They played their home games in Nicollet Park, home of the men's minor league team the Minneapolis Millers...
. But both teams lost their franchises by the end of that season and were replaced by 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....
and 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...
in 1945. The league added two more teams in 1946, 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 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....
. During 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 the AAGPBL's early years the players were selectively allocated to teams for the purpose of maintaining a competitive balance. Faut was rewarded with a contract to play in the eight-team league and was assigned to the established South Bend Blue Sox, by then 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 Chet Grant
Chet Grant
Donald Chester Grant was an American football player, coach and sportswriter....
, a former Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and the sports editor for the South Bend Tribune
South Bend Tribune
The South Bend Tribune is a newspaper distributed in the Michiana region. There are five editions for distribution in southwestern lower Michigan, Mishawaka , Marshall County, and the South Bend Metro area. The South Bend Tribune has a daily circulation of 70,703 and Sunday circulation of...
.
In 1946 the AAGPBL made significant changes in its rules, extending the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreasing the size of the ball. Later in the season the league allowed a sidearm pitching delivery, permitting the pitchers to add a curveball
Curveball
The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. Its close relatives are the slider and the slurve. The "curve" of the ball varies from pitcher to...
or sinker
Sinker (baseball)
In baseball, a sinker , is a type of fastball pitch which has significant downward and horizontal movement. The sinker is known for inducing a lot of ground balls...
to their repertoire of fastball
Fastball
The fastball is the most common type of pitch in baseball. Some "power pitchers," such as Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, have thrown it at speeds of 95–106 mph and up to 108.1 mph , relying purely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit...
and changeup
Changeup
A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball. Other names include change-of-pace, Bugs Bunny change-up, the dreaded equalizer, and simply change. The changeup is sometimes called an off-speed pitch, although that term can also be used simply to mean any pitch that is slower than a fastball...
, all of which Faut had hurled before joining the league. All of these rules changes were designed to make the game more exciting and more like men's baseball. In her rookie season Faut appeared in 101 games, mostly at third base
Third Base
is a 1978 Japanese film directed by Yōichi Higashi.-External links:...
, hitting a .177 (61-for-344) average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
with 40 runs batted in while scoring 37 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...
. She committed 60 errors
Error (baseball)
In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ...
at third for a .893 fielding percentage
Fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball...
. When the sidearm motion was approved, Blue Sox manager Grant included her on the pitching staff for the rest of season. Faut posted an 8–3 record with 21 strikeouts and a 1.32 earned run average in 12 outings, including nine starts
Starting pitcher
In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....
, eight complete game
Complete game
In baseball, a complete game is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher.As demonstrated by the charts below, in the early 20th century, it was common for most good Major League Baseball pitchers to pitch a complete game almost every start. Pitchers were...
s, and a pair of two-hitters in 81 innings of work
Innings pitched
In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two...
, ranking third in ERA and winning percentage (.727).
That season, South Bend led the circuit in team batting with a .220 average, while finishing third in fielding with an average of .943. While her batting average seems low, Faut had never faced underhand pitching, which gave a clear advantage to the faster underhand pitchers of the league. Grand Rapids' star Connie Wisniewski
Connie Wisniewski
Constance Wisniewski was a starting pitcher and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
led the circuit in ERA (0.96) and shared with Racine's Joanne Winter
Joanne Winter
Joanne Emily Winter [Jo] was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 8", 138 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.-Overview profile:...
the wins title (33), while Fort Wayne's Dorothy Collins
Dottie Wiltse Collins
Dorothy Wiltse Collins [Dottie] was an American pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was in existence from 1943–54....
topped in strikeouts (294) and shutouts (17). More than half of the batters averaged under .200, while the highest marks were recorded by Rockford's Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy "Dottie" Kamenshek was an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She batted and threw left-handed....
(.316), South Bend's Bonnie Baker
Bonnie Baker
Mary Geraldine Baker, née George was an all-star catcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1943 to 1952.-Career:...
(.286), Racine's Sophie Kurys
Sophie Kurys
Sophie Kurys is a former second basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 115 lb., Kurys batted and threw right-handed.-Career:...
(.286), Grand Rapids' Merle Keagle
Merle Keagle
Merle Patricia Keagle was a center fielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the and seasons. Listed at 5' 2", 144 lb., she batted and threw right-handed....
(.284) and Kenosha's 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:...
(.281). The Blue Sox finished in third place with a 70–42 mark but lost in the semifinal round to Rockford, three games to one. In her first post-season, Faut went 0-2 with a 1.13 ERA against Racine. In Game 1 of the playoffs, she suffered the loss in a 17-inning pitching duel against Anna Mae Hutchison
Anna Mae Hutchison
Anna Mae Hutchison [Hutch] was a female pitcher and catcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 149 lb., she batted and threw right-handed...
, when Maddy English
Maddy English
Madeline Catherine English [Maddy] was a third basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 130 lb., English batted and threw right-handed...
knocked in the winning run in a 3–2 game.
Faut was an intelligent, smart pitcher with an analytical mind that allowed her to remember pitching sequences from batter to batter and game to game. In pre-game team meetings, she would memorize the weakness of the opposite hitters and during the game vary the rotation of pitches she used. "Part of my success", she once reflected, "was that in my mind I could record the order of pitches I threw to each girl, so they never saw the same thing twice". She added "I was a mathematical whiz in school. They’d never know what was coming, so they’d start guessing".
After playing in 1946 for $65 a week, Faut signed in 1947 for $85. The average full-time worker made $1,299 a year in the 1940s, according to one estimate – or about $25 a week. Players in the AAGBBL made between $50 and $125 a week during a three-month, 108-game season.
The first AAGPBL 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...
outside the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was held in 1947 in Havana, Cuba, as part of a plan to create an International League of Girls Baseball. The All-Americans stayed at the Seville-Biltmore Hotel, and they played their 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...
. On the other hand, they trained, played eight days of exhibitions, and were cheered by more than 75,000 baseball fanatics. All the teams were filmed for Fox News
Movietone News
Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States, and from 1929 to 1979 in the United Kingdom.-History:It is known in the U.S. as Fox Movietone News, produced cinema, sound newsreels from 1928 to 1963 in the U.S., from 1929 to 1979 in the UK , and from 1929 to 1975 in...
going down the steps at the University of Havana
University of Havana
The University of Havana or UH is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest university in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas...
.
The AAGPBL made the transition from underhand to full side-arm pitching in 1947. Before starting the season, Faut married 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....
, a former Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
pitching prospect from East Greenville, near her hometown. The couple established residence in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
, where she worked in the off-season for Ball-Band, a local division of the United States Rubber Company
United States Rubber Company
The United States Rubber Company was founded in Naugatuck, Connecticut in 1892. It was one of the original 12 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and became Uniroyal Inc...
. Pitching in 44 games, Faut came through with a 1.15 ERA to go with her 19–13 record, allowing 56 runs (38 earned) on just 179 hits in a career-high 298 innings. She walked 67 batters and struck out 97, ending third in innings, fifth in ERA and eighth in strikeouts, while tying for fifth in wins. She also posted a .236 average in 56 games, ranking 19th in the league behind Kamenshek, who won her second consecutive title with a .306 mark. Her most durable performance came on July 31, when she defeated Eleanor Dapkus
Eleanor Dapkus
Eleanor Dapkus [Wolf] was a center fielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 160 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.-Women in baseball:...
and the Belles in 22 innings by a 4–3 score. Faut spaced 16 hits, walked five, struck out eleven, and contributed two hits to her own cause
In 1947 South Bend earned a respectable fourth place in the eight-team league with a 57-54 record, but was beaten by Grand Rapids in the first round of the playoffs, three to two games. Faut went 1-1 with one save
Save (sport)
In baseball, a save is credited to a pitcher who finishes a game for the winning team under certain prescribed circumstances. The number of saves, or percentage of save opportunities successfully converted, is an oft-cited statistic of relief pitchers...
and a 2.37 ERA in the postseason. At the time she was two months pregnant and gave birth to her first son, Larry, in March 1948.
The league moved fully to overhand pitching in 1948, which made the game close to regulation baseball. Such change adversely affected the performance of underhand pitchers, because many of them were experienced submariners
Submarine (baseball)
In baseball, a submarine pitch is one in which the ball is released underhand and just above the ground, with the torso bent at a right angle and shoulders tilted so severely that they rotate around a nearly horizontal axis...
who could not make the transition to the new pitching style. Consequently, many teams converted their outfielder
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...
s to pitchers since they were used to throwing the ball overhand with power. Batters, too, had to make adjustments, since underhand pitches tend to rise, overhand to drop. In that season also were incorporated the Chicago Colleens
Chicago Colleens
The Chicago Colleens were a women's professional baseball team who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team represented Chicago, Illinois and played their home games at Shewbridge Field....
and 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....
, and the AAGPBL expanded to a historical peak of ten teams divided into Eastern and Western Divisions.
In 1948, Faut missed the spring training camp to be held in March and reported to the Blue Sox after her postnatal period. She recovered her old form in mid-June, determined to adjust her arm angle on her pitching deliveries. This change to overhand pitching did not mean that a pitcher could not drop down in her delivery. Occasionally, Faut threw a pitch below sidearm to keep opposing hitters off balance with an array of five quality pitches. She still produced a fine season, fashioning a 16-11 record with 165 strikeouts and a 1.44 ERA in 34 games, hurling 250 innings, ranking seventh among pitchers with at least 45 or more innings, ending seventh in ERA and eighth in strikeouts. The smaller ball and overhand delivery made her curveball pitch more effective. That season, Grand Rapids' Alice Haylett
Alice Haylett
Alice Haylett [Al or Sis] was a female pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 155 lb., she batted and threw right-handed....
went 25-5 with a league-best 0.77 ERA, while Racine's Joanne Winter
Joanne Winter
Joanne Emily Winter [Jo] was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 8", 138 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.-Overview profile:...
finished 25-12 and led in strikeouts (248). On September 4, Faut pitched her first no-hitter, beating the host Racine Belles, 7–0. Her teammate Lillian Faralla
Lillian Faralla
Lillian Faralla [Lil] is a former female pitcher and utility who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed.-A brief history:...
had thrown a no-hitter against Racine on May 11, so two Blue Sox pitchers defeated the Belles with two no-hitters in the same season.
South Bend, with Marty McManus
Marty McManus
Martin Joseph "Marty" McManus was a Major League Baseball infielder who played principally as a second baseman and third baseman .-St. Louis Browns: 1920-1926:...
at the helm, ended third (57-69) and lost to Grand Rapids in the first round of the playoffs, three to two games. In Game 1, Faut pitched 20 innings to beat Haylett, 3–2, in the longest game in AAGPBL post-season history. The Chicks won Game 2 in 11 innings, 3–2, to tie the series, but Faralla hurled a four-hit, 2–1 victory in Game 3. In another extra-inning duel, Haylett took revenge in Game 4, defeating Faut and South Bend in 15 innings by a 1–0 score, while in decisive Game 5 Mildred Earp
Mildred Earp
Mildred Earp [Mid or Millie] is a former female pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 135 lb., she batted and threw right handed....
silenced the South Bend hitters in a one-hit, 1–0 shutout, and Grand Rapids advanced to the finals. For the next year, the Colleens and the Sallies became rookie training teams that played exhibition games and recruited new talent as they toured through the South and East.
But Faut had mixed results in 1948, because she was forced to set aside from her teammates. Recently married, with a baby to care for, she began handling baseball like a professional job and could not socialize after games. As she recalled in an interview, "I had to go home, take care of my family, cook and clean, and all of those things". Nevertheless, in 1949 she recorded her best career season so far, considered by many historians to be the best individual season for any pitcher in AAGPBL history. Faut posted a 24–8 record with a 1.10 ERA in 34 games, allowing 47 runs (36 earned) on 136 hits and 118 walks, while striking out 120 in 261 innings of work. She led the league in wins and shutouts (12), finished second in innings and third in complete games (20). Only two pitchers gave up fewer earned runs, both of Rockford: 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...
, who finished 22-7 with a 0.67 ERA in 269 innings, and Helen Nicol
Helen Nicol
Helen Nicol is a Canadian former baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Listed at 5' 3", 120 lb., Nicol batted and threw right-handed...
, who was 13-8 with a 0.98 ERA in 212 innings.
Often used as a pinch-hitter when she was not pitching, Faut paced league hitters with a .291 average (34-for-117) in 53 games, scoring 14 runs and driving in 21, even though her minimum at bats required did not qualify her for the batting championship. As an added value, she made her first All-Star team as a pitcher.
Throughout the 1949 season, South Bend, now managed by Dave Bancroft
Dave Bancroft
David James "Beauty" Bancroft was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1930. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame....
, waged an up-and-down battle with Rockford for first place. The Rockford team, managed 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....
, was a perennial powerhouse populated with great players and winner of four league championships. First sacker
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy Kamenshek
Dorothy "Dottie" Kamenshek was an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She batted and threw left-handed....
was a seven-time All-Star and won the league batting title twice; three-time All-Star outfielder 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...
set several season-records as both a hitter and a pitcher; strong-armed Ruth Richard
Ruth Richard
Ruth Richard [Richie] is a former female catcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 134 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed....
made the All-Star team in six of her eight seasons and responded by gunning down more baserunners
Baserunning
In baseball, baserunning is the act of running around the bases performed by members of the team at bat.In general, baserunning is a tactical part of the game with the goal of eventually reaching home to score a run. In fact, the goal of batting is generally to produce baserunners, or help move...
than any catcher
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...
in the league, while outfielder Eleanor Callow
Eleanor Callow
Eleanor Callow Squirt is a former Canadian female left fielder who played from through for three different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Callow was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed...
was a three-time All-Star who holds the all-time career record for home runs (55) and triples (60). Undoubtedly, this lineup would have been a challenge for any pitcher in the league.
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, Faut hurled her second no-hitter, a 2–0 victory against Fort Wayne. She pitched flawlessly and faced the minimum 27 batters, but still did not qualify for a perfect game, allowing only an eighth-inning walk to 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...
, who later was erased on a double play
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
. In the playoffs, Rockford eliminated South Bend in four straight games. Faut went 0-2 with a 2.58 ERA in two starts. 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, the Muskegon team became 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...
. By then the advantage began to shift toward the batter. Rookie Betty Foss
Betty Foss
Betty Foss [Fossey] was a infielder and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 10", 180 lb., she was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. She started her career as Betty Weaver but changed her last name to Foss after marrying...
of Fort Wayne topped the loop with a .346 average, Rockford's Eleanor Callow
Eleanor Callow
Eleanor Callow Squirt is a former Canadian female left fielder who played from through for three different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Callow was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed...
and Racine's Sophie Kurys
Sophie Kurys
Sophie Kurys is a former second basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 115 lb., Kurys batted and threw right-handed.-Career:...
tied with seven home runs, and Grand Rapids' Pepper Paire
Pepper Paire
Lavonne Paire Davis [″Pepper″] is a former catcher and infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 138 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.-Overview profile:...
finished with 70 runs batted in. That year, most pitchers were still adjusting to the new 10-inch ball introduced the previous season. Also, the pitching distance, set at 43 feet before 1948 and increased to 50 feet in 1949, was augmented to 55 feet in 1950.
But the new rule did not disrupt Faut, because she finished 21-9 behind a 1.12 ERA in 36 games, allowing 64 runs (36 earned) on 175 hits and 104 walks while striking out 118 over 290 innings. She paced the circuit in ERA, edging Rockford's 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...
by a minuscule 0.06%, and trailed Fort Wayne's 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...
in wins (23) and Florreich in strikeouts (171). Faut also led in innings pitched and complete games (29), and joined the All-Star team for the second consecutive year. She contributed at the plate as well, hitting .217 (43-for-198) with 23 runs, 26 RBI and 15 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. Besides her accomplishments, it would almost be a lost effort for Faut, because South Bend finished in fifth place with a 55-55 mark and dropped out of the playoffs. The Racine team would change its name to 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...
for the next year.
By the time the 1951 season rolled around, Faut was a successful and established pitcher. That year, her husband 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....
took over as manager of South Bend. It was to be a breakthrough year for the Blue Sox as well. Faut finished 15-7 with a 1.33 ERA in 23 games, striking out 135, while giving up 43 runs (28 earned) on 121 hits and 65 walks in 190 innings. She led the league in strikeouts, tied for seventh in wins, and ranked third in ERA and in shutouts (seven). Meanwhile, Winsch enjoyed an auspicious managerial debut, Nevertheless, when he became manager of the team, it made the situation even stickier and increased Faut’s isolation from her teammates. Perhaps to avoid charges of favoritism, Winsch reduced significantly the number of games and innings pitched by Faut in 1950. Most girls in the league were unmarried, making Faut odd-woman-out on her team.
Faut reached her peak of the season on July 21, when she hurled a perfect game against the visiting Rockford Peaches at Playland Park. Ahead 2–0, Faut struck out five of the last nine hitters, including pitching ace Helen Nicol
Helen Nicol
Helen Nicol is a Canadian former baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Listed at 5' 3", 120 lb., Nicol batted and threw right-handed...
to end the game. The season started inauspiciously enough for Faut, though her record in the first half was a good, but unremarkable, a 8-5 mark. Notably, all five losses were by one run. This historic victory set the tone for the rest of the season. 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. The competition she faced in that special game was among the best highlights of her career, because Rockford would end the season battling South Bend for the league championship.
South Bend defeated Fort Wayne in the first round of the playoffs, two games to one. Faut won two complete games by identical scores of 2 to 1 in the first and third contests. In Game 1, she allowed six hits, three walks and one earned run, while in the clincher Game 3, she struck out nine batters and gave up eight eights in a 10-inning effort. She finally was part of a club that advanced to the finals. In the other series, 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. In Game 1 the Peaches beat the Blue Sox, 5-4, behind the pitching of Helen Nicol
Helen Nicol
Helen Nicol is a Canadian former baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Listed at 5' 3", 120 lb., Nicol batted and threw right-handed...
. South Bend rallied to score two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth, but fell short. Following a rainout, 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...
pitched a six-hitter and slugged a solo home run in Game 2 to help the Peaches win, 7–1. Rockford led all the way, clinching the victory with three runs in the eighth inning.
The final series moved to South Bend for the rest of the event. Faut started Game 3 with her team against the wall, 2 to 0. She responded with a 3–2 victory over Rockford, striking out 11 batters and walking two. The Blue Sox won Game 4 by a 6–3 score, in a contest shorted to seven innings by rain. The series was evened at 2-2.
In decisive Game 5, what was supposed to be a pitchers' duel between Lillian Faralla
Lillian Faralla
Lillian Faralla [Lil] is a former female pitcher and utility who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed.-A brief history:...
and 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...
turned out to be a hard-fought slugfest. Rockford scored one run in the top the first inning, but South Bend bounced back with five runs in the bottom half. Faralla felt tired after two innings and was replaced by Faut, who pitched the reminder of the game, earning credit for the final 10–2 victory. 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, by combining deep pitching with an opportune hitting. In addition to her 15 victories during the regular season, Faut won four more in the two playoffs. She earned the Player of the Year Award
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Player of the Year Award
Starting on its third year of operation, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League honored with the Player of the Year Award the top performer in the circuit that year. The AAGPBL folded at the end of the 1954 season. This is the list of winners.-Winners:...
and made her third All-Star team in a row.
By 1952 only six teams remained in the league after Kenosha and Peoria were disbanded. That season was to see Winsch become more demanding of his players, in an extremely heavy handed way and a close scrutiny of each player. On the other hand, Faut again led the league in several pitching categories, but the fact that her husband managed the team created friction between Faut and many of her teammates. Some of the girls bristled under Winsch's leadership, so many refused to speak to either the manager or their star pitcher. Nevertheless, Faut overcame internal conflicts to command the circuit with a 20-2 mark in 23 starts for a .909 winning percentage, setting the all-time single season for this category. She allowed 31 runs—only 19 earned—on 111 hits and 42 walks while striking out 114 in 184 innings for a career-best 0.93 ERA. In addition, she led all pitchers in ERA, 0.51 ahead of Battle Creek's 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 also in strikeouts, 23 ahead of Fort Wayne's 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...
, while tying Fort Wayne's 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...
for the most wins, which was enough to win the pitching Triple Crown
Triple crown (baseball)
In Major League Baseball, a player earns the Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories. For batters, a player must lead the league in home runs, run batted in , and batting average; pitchers must lead the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average...
. At the plate, she hit a solid .291 average to finish in seventh place.
Faut missed the Player of the Year Award (by one vote) to Fort Wayne's first-bagger Betty Foss
Betty Foss
Betty Foss [Fossey] was a infielder and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 10", 180 lb., she was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. She started her career as Betty Weaver but changed her last name to Foss after marrying...
, who led the batters in runs (81), hits (137), doubles (26), triples (17) and RBI (74), was second in stolen bases (80), and hit .331 to finish second in the batting race behind her sister and teammate Joanne Weaver
Joanne Weaver
Joanne Weaver [″Joltin' Jo″] was a right fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
(.344). Faut failed to make the All-Star team, but pitched in the All-Star Game with South Bend as the host team.
Dissension within the South Bend team peaked just before the season ended, when infielder 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...
was disciplined following a dispute with Winsch. The incident occurred when he suspended Pryer from the team after she responded slowly to his order to pinch-run
Pinch runner
A pinch runner is a baseball player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing a player on base. In the typical case, the pinch runner is faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been substituted...
late in a game. In protest, five South Bend teammates joined Pryer in a walkout, leaving Winsch's team short-handed for the playoffs. Pryer was reinstated at the club, but she decided to retire for good. South Bend finished with a league-best record of 76-36, then eliminated Grand Rapids in the best-of-three series (2-0). Faut was the winning pitcher in the first contest in a 2–1 complete game, in which she got out of a no-outs, bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning, surrendering just one unearned run. South Bend handily defeated the Chicks in the second game, 6–1, with Faut delivering two RBI and relieving in the ninth to seal the victory. Rockford disposed of Fort Wayne in the other series, two games to one.
The 1952 championship series was a repeat of the previous year with South Bend again facing Rockford. It was a contest rocked by controversy. Faut loss the first game, delivering a sub-par performance when she surrendered an uncharacteristic seven runs on 13 hits. She was pulled in the seventh inning after giving up a two-run homer. The second game ended in another Rockford victory and a South Bend protest. Because their playing field was being readied for football, the Peaches had moved the right field fence in to 190 feet, 20 feet shorter than the league minimum. Consequently, the league disallowed the victory and forced a replay of Game 2. South Bend won it in 12 innings with Faut getting the victory when she pitched a scoreless final four innings in relief. As in the previous season, Faut was the winning pitcher in the decisive Game 5, hitting two triples and driving in two runs while turning in a 6–3 complete game performance. She was 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA in the playoffs, allowing over a hit per inning. It was the second league championship for South Bend and the second time Faut pitched the deciding game.
In 1953, the Battle Creek team became 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 by the end of the season, it too, folded. Faut came back for her final year in the AAGPBL. Her team was weakened considerably by the player losses at the end of the previous season, and Faut was worn down from all the dissension. South Bend would finish the season second from last, compiling a 45–65 record. In spite of everything that had gone wrong, Faut still turned to post a 17-11 record and produced a league-best 1.51 ERA in 29 games, though league offensive levels were increasing. By her final season, only overhand pitching was allowed, the ball was a lively cork-centered ten inches, and the basepaths were seventy-five feet. More importantly from a pitching perspective, the pitching rubber was moved back to fifty-six feet, thirteen feet farther away than in 1946. At the same time, fences were moved in to allow for more home runs.
In her last season, Faut led all pitchers in ERA for the fourth year in a row and tied for the most wins with Eleanor Moore
Eleanor Moore
Eleanor Moore [Warner] is a former pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 10", Moore batted and threw right-handed...
of Grand Rapids, who went 17-7 with a 2.00 ERA. In addition, Faut topped the league with 143 strikeouts to win the Triple Crown pitching for a second time. She also finished third in shutouts (5), seventh in innings (226), and tied for the third in complete games (24). On September 3 of that year, she hurled a perfect game against the Kalamazoo Lassies, 4–0, to become the only pitcher in the league's history to throw two perfect games. She helped herself with the bat as well, hitting a solid .275 (87-for-316) with 11 doubles, one triple, and a career-high four home runs, while driving in 38 runs and scoring 33 times in 98 games. In addition, she was included in the All-Star team for the fourth time, and once again won the Player of the Year honors, although South Bend finished fifth and missed the playoffs. Making that, she joined 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....
as the only two-time Player of the Year winners in AAGPBL history.
On September 6, 1953, the Blue Sox management and around 1,500 fanatics honored their longtime diamond ace with a Jean Faut Night before a game at Playland Park. After collecting four hundred dollars in gifts, Faut ended her baseball career that evening with a 3–0, nine-hit defeat to the visiting Grand Rapids Chicks.
Faut retired from baseball, frustrated by the tension caused by her husband being the team's manager. The 1954 season ended with only five teams remaining: Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Rockford and South Bend. The AAGPBL folded at the end of the season.
Life after baseball
Faut became a competitive bowlerBowler (ten-pin)
A bowler is someone participating in the sport of bowling, either as an amateur or professional. In American ten-pin bowling, a bowler is most commonly a member of a team of three to six people...
after her baseball retirement. Divorced from Winsch in 1968, she married again in 1977 to Charles Eastman, a resident of Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fourth-largest city in the state. It is also the third-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte and Concord, North Carolina. The population was 71,459 as of . Rock Hill has undergone rapid growth between...
who worked as a salesman for Textron Corporation
Textron
Textron is a conglomerate that includes Bell Helicopter, E-Z-GO, Cessna Aircraft Company, and Greenlee, among others. It was founded by Royal Little in 1923 as the Special Yarns Company, and is headquartered at the Textron Tower in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.With total revenues of...
. He died in 1993 after 26 years of marriage. After that, Faut excelled as a recreational golfer
Golfer
Golfer may refer to:* A person who plays golf according to the rules.* Professional golfer* "The Golfer", an episode of The Honeymooners...
. An active grandmother with four grandchildren, she still lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Jean Faut is part of 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 opened in in honor of the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities.
Career statistics
Pitching| GP Games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although exceptions are made if the pitcher announced in the starting lineup is injured before facing a batter, perhaps while... | W | L | W-L% | 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... | IP Innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two... | H 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.... | R 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... | ER 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... | BB Base on balls A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08... | SO 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.... | WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched In baseball statistics, walks plus hits per inning pitched is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. It is a measure of a pitcher's ability to prevent batters from reaching base... | SO/BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 235 | 140 | 64 | .686 | 1.23 | 1780 | 1093 | 483 | 243 | 589 | 913 | 0.94 | 1.55 |
Batting
| AB At bat In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance... | R 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... | H 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.... | 2B Double (baseball) In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice.... | 3B Triple (baseball) In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice.... | HR 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... | RBI Run batted in Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI... | SB 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... | BB Base on balls A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08... | SO 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.... | BA Batting average Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7830 | 180 | 1610 | 391 | 52 | 8 | 203 | 112 | 233 | 100 | .203 |
Collective fielding
| PO Putout In baseball statistics, a putout is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods:* Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base... | A Assist (baseball) In baseball, an assist is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is awarded to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional... | E Error (baseball) In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ... | TC Total chances In baseball statistics, total chances , also called chances offered, represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is calculated as follows: Total Chances = assists + putouts + errors. Chances accepted refers to the total of putouts and assists only. Fielding... | DP Double play In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two".... | FA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 467 | 1392 | 143 | 2002 | 34 | .929 |
AAGPBL perfect games
| Pitcher(s) | Season | Team | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annabelle Lee Annabelle Lee Annabelle Lee Harmon was a female pitcher who played from through with four different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 120 lb, Lee was a switch-hitter and threw left-handed... |
Minneapolis Millerettes Minneapolis Millerettes The Minneapolis Millerettes were an expansion All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team that played for one season in 1944. They played their home games in Nicollet Park, home of the men's minor league team the Minneapolis Millers... |
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... |
|
| 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... |
Rockford Peaches Rockford 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.... |
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... |
|
| 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.... |
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.... |
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... |
|
| Jean Faut | 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... |
Rockford Peaches Rockford 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.... |
|
| Jean Faut | 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... |
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... |