Veronica Josephine Lenard [″Bubblegum″] (September 2, 1921 – February 7, 2007) was a center fielder

Center fielder

A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball fielding position between left field and right field...

 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", 130 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

A native of 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...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, Jo Lenard grew up playing baseball with her brother and the other boys in the streets of her neighborhood. Playground ball was the next step, then into the high school league and on to a Chicago amateur girls softball team. Lenard was in school when she learned that there was a nation-wide effort to recruit women to play in a new Midwest professional softball/baseball league.

By the fall of 1942, many Minor league

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 teams disbanded due to 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...

 conflict, when young ballplayers were being drafted into the armed services. The fear that this pattern would continue prompted 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...

, a chewing gum magnate and owner of the 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...

 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...

 team, to search for a possible solution to this dilemma. When President Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 gave the order to continue baseball for the morale of the nation, Wrigley decided that it was time to do it. With the dedication of a group of Midwestern businessmen, and the financial support of Wrigley, the new league emerged in the spring of 1943.

Lenard attended a AAGPBL tryout and made the grade, starting a professional career that spanned ten years. A consistent line-drive

Line drive

In baseball, a line drive is a type of batted ball, sharply hit, and on a level trajectory. The threshold between a line drive and a fly ball can be subjective....

 hitter who used the entire field and excelled at slap bunt

Slap bunt

Slap bunting is an offensive baseball and softball technique described as "the idea behind the skill is to hit the ball to a place on the infield that's farthest from the place where the out needs to be made"....

ing for base hits, she was a skillful contact hitter with a near perfect eye for the strike zone

Strike zone

In baseball, the strike zone is a conceptual right pentagonal prism over home plate which defines the boundaries through which a pitch must pass in order to count as a strike when the batter does not swing.-Definition:...

 and seldom struck out

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....

. By the time her AAGPBL career ended in 1953, Lenard had driven in

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...

 351 runs to place her ninth on the career RBI list for the league, despite hitting only one home run

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

 in just over 3400 at bat

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...

s. She also collected 520 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 and walked

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...

 481 times against only 234 strikeouts for a 2.06 BB/K ratio

Walk-to-strikeout ratio

In baseball statistics, walk-to-strikeout ratio is a measure of a hitter's plate discipline and knowledge of the strike zone. Generally, a hitter with a good walk-to-strikeout ratio must exhibit enough patience at the plate to refrain from swinging at bad pitches and take a base on balls, but he...

. A natural center fielder, she possessed a strong and accurate throwing arm.

Lenard entered the league in 1944 with 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....

, playing for them two years before joining 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....

 (1946-'49), 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....

 (1949), 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...

 (1950-'51) and 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...

 (1952-'53). In her rookie season, she hit a .211 average and stole 68 bases, while leading the circuit with 10 triples

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....

. Her most productive season came in 1947, when she hit a career-high .261 with 38 RBI in 111 games and was selected for the All-Star team. She also made four trips to the playoffs with four different teams, including for the championship winners in 1945 and 1952.

Following her professional baseball career, Lenard went back to school and graduated from Chicago Teachers College, and then taught health and physical education for 25 years. Besides becoming an educator and coach, she was a strong advocate for the advancement of girls and women in sports. In 1968 she was assaulted and hit in the head, suffering eye damage that left her nearly blind.

Lenard 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...

, opened in , which is dedicated to the entire league rather than any individual player.

Jo Lenard died in her homeland of Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 85.

Career statistics

Batting

GP Games played Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...	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...	TB Total bases In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....	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 :...	OBP	SLG
1000	3420	465	756	73	31	1	351	481	894	481	23	.221	.317	.261

Fielding

GP Games played Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...	PO	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 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...
989	1467	90	64	1621	21	.961

Sources