In 1994, Ila Borders became the first woman to pitch in a collegiate baseball game, after being the first woman to receive a college scholarship to play baseball. Borders pitched for four years in college, for Southern California University (now known as Vangaurd University) and Whittier College. During her Senior year at Whittier, she was referred to as the team's most consistent starter. She was 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA against conference opponents, and 4-5 with a 5.22 ERA overall in her 1997 season.
After college, Borders signed with the Saint Paul Saints of the independent Northern League. She would only spend one month in Saint Paul before being traded to the Duluth-Superior Dukes. Her debut for the Saints was a rocky one -- she hit the first batter she faced, balked during the second batter's plate appearance, and ultimately gave up 3 runs without recording an out. Borders was primarily a starting pitcher until joining the Saints - learning a new role while also being under intense scrutiny certainly didn't make her job any easier.
Borders would pitch for the rest of the 1997 season for Duluth, and would find success in 1999 when her new team in Madison (Still part of the Northern League) began to use her as an "Opener" - a role that has just now caught on in the majors. She started 12 games for Madison, appearing in 15 games overall, and had a fantastic 1.67 ERA over 32 innings pitched. Borders was a control pitcher that would work the corners and lower half of the plate to attempt to induce ground balls.
After her playing days (She retired following the 2000 season) she became a firefighter and EMT in California, Arizona, and in Oregon. In recent years, she returned to baseball, as a pitching coach for the U.S. National Women's Team. In 2018, she made a comeback as a pitcher on the Women's National Team. She was named to the 20 player roster, but did not make an appearance in the 2018 Women's Baseball World Cup.
Bernice Gera worked as a secretary in the 1960s, but she loved baseball and wanted to find some way to contribute to the game she loved. She was an accomplished outfielder in her youth, and had even faced Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller in an exhibition game and tallied 3 hits off of him. In her Jackson Heights, NY neighborhood, she would teach the neighborhood kids how to play, often serving as the umpire. She knew that there were not many women coaching baseball, but believed firmly that her gender was a strength rather than a weakness, providing a measured and calming presence for the kids when the game could otherwise become unruly. In 1967, she was struck by the idea that she should try to become an umpire and enrolled in a umpire academy.
Despite the lack of facilities for women at the academy, Gera took up residence in a nearby hotel that she would have to use as living quarters and locker room. She completed the course without incident, and began sending out her resume trying to find an umpiring job. She focused in on the NYPENN League, due to the proximity to her family. She was signed to a contract for the 1969 season, but it was voided shortly thereafter by the NAPBL (what would later be known as the Minor Leagues) President, citing that there was a minimum size requirement for umpires (5'10", and 180 pounds). The 5'2" Gera jokingly offered to put on the weight, but the Minor League president wasn't laughing. Gera took her case to court, citing discrimination based on gender. In the meantime, Gera did get the opportunity to hone her skills at the Bridgeton Invitational Baseball Tournament. Bridgeton was at the time a new Tournament, founded in 1967 (and still going today). She would serve as an umpire there for 3 years.
In 1972, the long court battle was over and Gera had won the right to work for the NYPENN League. The victory would be short-lived however- she faced a hostile work environment, as the other umpires did not want to work with her, to say nothing of the environment of working as an umpire in general. In her first and only game, she was stationed at 2nd base when there was a close call on possible double play. She initially made a safe call as the Auburn Twins' runner was retreating to the bag, there was no tag applied. The runner should have been out, however, because the shortstop had caught the line drive before it hit the dirt, throwing to second for a force out. She reversed her call, and the Auburn manager came out to berate the rookie umpire. Varying accounts of what was said have been reported, but all agree that Gera admitted her mistake and the manager retorted that it was her second one-- the first being trying to become an umpire in the first place. The manager was ejected, but Gera was sick of it. She had been scheduled to be the home plate umpire in the next game, but instead she decided to retire, citing not the interaction with the manager, but the interaction with her fellow umpires. The crew chief and the rest of the umpires would not speak to her, and as the crowd and players from both teams taunted and tried to bait her into an outburst, the other umpires did nothing. She had made her point, and chose not to continue to absorb the abuse. She would go on to a job working for the New York Mets as a community relations and promotions specialist.
When the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened its Women in Baseball wing in 1992, Gera's umpire mask and broom were included in the exhibit.
"Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road."
-- Voltaire
Julie Croteau didn't ask to be at the center of controversy, but she wasn't going shrink from a fight, either. In 1988, Croteau was one of the last cuts from her High School's (all male) baseball team. Julie had tried out for the school's JV team as a Sophomore, making the team in a testament to her perseverance. The coach had suggested she try softball instead, but she would not be persuaded. She had been playing baseball since Little League at the age of 6. As a member of the JV team, Croteau was stuck on the bench for the season. Her Junior year, the JV team did not have a roster spot for her. So when she tried out for the Varsity team as a Senior, there was some amount of ammunition for the coach to say she wasn't ready to play on the varsity team. Despite the fact that Croteau had ample experience outside of the school team, and that the team itself had a terrible record and could have used more quality players, Croteau was not given a chance to prove it against live competition. Croteau's parents, both experienced lawyers, sued the school for discrimination, citing the landmark Title IX decision. Her would be teammates testified against her, as did her coach, and the judge ruled against her, adding there is no constitutional right to get to first base, a particularly distasteful turn of phrase.
One of the reporters covering the trial was also a coach for the semi-pro Fredericksburg Giants. The team is similar to the Cape Cod League, with pre-college and/or pre-minor league players competing for the attention of College and Pro scouts. While playing for the team, she was admitted to St. Mary's College of Maryland. She was assured that she would be judged on the merits of her playing ability only, and if she made the team, she would be allowed to play. St. Mary's Baseball team is a Division III NCAA program. She made the team, as the backup First Basewoman. Julie's first game was the first by any women to play for a Division III Men's baseball Team. In her first season for St. Mary's, she hit .222.
The Colorado Silver Bullets were an all-female franchise that played exhibition games throughout the United States for four seasons. Croteau played in the inaugural season for the team, then played in the MLB sanctioned Hawaiian Winter League for the Maui Stingrays, going 1-12. She continued playing for the Fredericksburg Giants and also started coaching for college teams. In 1995, she became the first woman to coach for Division I NCAA Baseball Program, at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. She also led the U.S. Women's National team to Gold Medal in 2006, after serving as the team's 3rd Base coach in a 2004 Gold Medal run.
She currently works at Stanford University as the Director of Communications in the Health Improvement Program of the Medical School.
Before the best-seller that came out this summer on Babe Ruth, Big Fella, Jane Leavy completed what can now be considered the definitive volume on the great Sandy Koufax. Leavy's book starts out with a preface that hints at the difficulties in writing a biography of such a private public figure - many of the friends and teammates and colleagues that Koufax met along the way were only willing to talk after first getting Sandy's o.k. But Leavy was able to get Koufax to cooperate, in his way, and the results are stunning.
The depth of research and volume of interviews that Leavy conducted for this book is evident from the very first chapter. Starting with the second chapter, the book comes back again and again to the perfect game that Koufax threw in September of 1965. First hand accounts from everyone the team trainer Bill Buhler, the Cubs' Byron Browne making his MLB debut, dozens of fans who were in the stands- - all come together with primary sources like newspaper clippings and the weather report to form a picture so vivid that you would more credibly be able to claim you were there yourself than all of the folks out there that pretend they were one of the 29,139 in attendance.
What makes the book work so well goes beyond the research - it's Leavy's prose that makes the book difficult to put down. Her mastery of the rhythms of the various locales in the book bring each to life. As you would expect from a biography, the early chapters delve into Sandy's childhood and teen years leading up to his signing with the Dodgers. And yet woven into the flashbacks are anecdotes that bring you back to the present (the book was published in 2002).
Leavy has also written a book about Mickey Mantle, The Last Boy, and a novel about baseball Squeeze Play. She was a staff writer for the Washington Post in the 80s. As you may have guessed from the subjects of her three biographies, Leavy grew up in New York. A fan of the Yankees, and Mickey Mantle in particular, Leavy also idolized the columnists of the New York Times Sports pages. Her Master's essay for the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism was on one of those columnists, the great Red Smith. I highly recommend this book on Sandy Koufax. Having been born well after his last pitch, I knew Koufax was a great pitcher, but the image was always fuzzy. This book makes his legacy much clearer to me.
Effa Manley was pissed. The Brooklyn Dodgers had done it again. They signed away Don Newcombe from her Newark Eagles without so much as a ¨thank you ma´am.¨ Branch Rickey had now taken Jackie Robinson from the Monarchs, Roy Campanella from Baltimore, and Don Newcombe with no payment or compensation of any kind. She had already lost Monte Irvin for just $5,000 to the Giants, and knew that it was only a matter of time before the rest of her Championship Team would be playing for MLB organizations, even though none had yet made the final leap to play in the Major Leagues. Larry Doby was a different story. While Bill Veeck writes in Veeck As In Wreck that he offered $10,000 for Doby, with another $10,000 if he made the team, and that Manley was ¨thrilled,¨ she was more resigned to losing Doby, and had been waiting for his call. The day before Veeck called, she was alerted to the fact that Veeck´s scouts had been following Doby in particular ever since Robinson had signed. In a 1977 interview, she explained that she really had no bargaining power in the negotiation, and basically had to take whatever was offered. The total amount paid was $15,000 -- $10,000 up front and $5,000 later when Doby made the minor league team. The last thing she said to him? She made Veeck promise that he would never pay Doby less than $5,000 per year, which is what he would have been making for Newark. The whole 2+ hour interview is posted below and worth a listen.
Born in Philadelphia, Effa was raised by her mother, who was white, and her step-father who was black. Her biological father was a white man from New York, all of her siblings were half white/half black. She talks about her childhood being raised ¨as a Negro,¨ and by growing up in a black neighborhood and with a black family she had a unique experience that shaped her world view. Shortly after marrying her husband Abe Manley, she helped lead boycotts in New York of local businesses that refused to employ black workers, and while operating the Newark Eagles, she organized ¨Anti-Lynching Day"at the ballpark in 1939, and became treasurer of the Newark Chapter of the NAACP.
The Newark Eagles were founded by Abe Manley and Effa - with Effa serving as the Chief Financial Officer, lead Spokesperson, and head of Promotions. For her team, Manley did the best she could to provide the best working conditions in the league. Following the 1946 Championship, she and Abe invested in a state-of-the-art team bus, which was the envy of the league. Each player was presented with a diamond championship ring, and throughout their ownership of the Eagles, Abe and Effa made every effort to keep the working conditions of the players at the forefront of their minds.
The team was sold in 1948, for just $15,000, and the new owner moved the team to Houston. Her husband Abe passed away not long after the team was sold. Afterwards, she focused again on the NAACP and moved out to Los Angeles, where she lived for most of the rest of her life. She also co-wrote a book with Leon Herbert Hardwick called Negro Baseball . . . Before Integration. Manley was inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously in 2006 - and is the only woman inducted the Hall to date.
Get your minds out of the gutter. I´m referring of course to the Curveball thrown by Minneapolis Millerettes´ lefty ace, Annabelle Lee Harmon. The title comes from a poem by K.C. Clapp, who in turn was channeling the memory of Edgar Allen Poe´s verses, after which our star pitcher is named. When you finish this post, or hey, even right now if you like, click over to this post by Sue Macy about Annabelle which includes the poem at the end.
In the history of the AAGBL, there were 5 perfect games thrown. The first of which was thrown by Annabelle Lee, while pitching for the Minneapolis Millerettes. The Millerettes only lasted one season - the league tried an ambitious expansion in all directions from their hub in Chicago. The distance to Minneapolis felt much further in the 40s compared to today. The travel expenses became too much for the franchise to sustain itself. But their one season did include that gem by Annabelle.
She would pitch for 6 seasons in the league, and despite the rules for pitchers changing three times (underhand only, sidearm allowed, overhand allowed), and the size of the ball changing each season, Annabelle still dominated. She tossed a no-hitter in her second season, now with the Fort Wayne Daisies, the team that replaced the Minneapolis franchise. Her ERA was a microscopic 1.56 in 243 innings pitched. Over her career, she pitched to a 2.25 ERA and struck out 281 batters (keeping in mind that early in her career, all pitchers had to throw underhand). Her pitch mix included a fastball, a curveball and a knuckler-- she would continue to demonstrate that pitch well into her seventies.
The City of Saint Paul declared March 6th, 1990 as ¨Toni Stone Day¨ in the city and in 1996 dedicated a field in her name near Concordia College on the corner of Griggs Street and Marshall Avenue.
Why name a field after Toni Stone? Marcenia Lyle Stone was born in Bluefield, West Virginia in 1921. When she was 10 years old, her family moved to Saint Paul, MN. She loved baseball and despite attempts by her parents to stop her from playing, she was persistent. The neighborhood kids nicknamed her Tomboy, and when her folks asked a priest to come to the house to talk her out of playing, she ended up joining the boys' team at the priest´s Church. By the age of 15, she was playing on local Girls softball teams and still played baseball on the side. I say ¨on the side" but it was with the semi-pro barnstorming team, the Twin Cities Colored Giants. She was the regular at second base, playing all over the Midwest and in Canada. According to newspaper reports from the time, Stone was also a pitcher for the team.
She would go on to play for several local teams in the Twin Cities, and depending on the source, may have gotten a boost from St. Paul Saints Manager Gabby Street, in form of a new pair of cleats and a spot in his baseball academy. I have my doubts about this story, in part because Gabby Street was a KKK Member, but also because there doesn´t seem to be a contemporary version of the account.
She would move to California in the mid 40s to be with her ailing sister, and would continue to play wherever she could find a roster spot. She would marry in 1949, and with the encouragement of her husband (there is some conflicting info on the level of support) she would join the local American Legion team coached by Al Love. Because of the American Legion rules, she claimed to be 17 instead of 27. She would later join up with another semi-pro team, the San Francisco Sea Lions. The Sea Lions were loosely affiliated with the Negro Leagues. Even though Major League Baseball had integrated with Jackie Robinson in 1947, the all women´s league, the AAGPBL, did not. Toni, as she was now known, didn´t care. Toni was still one of the best players on the men´s team.
Despite a pair of RBI in her first game with San Fran, she didn´t stay long, as the team did not pay her what they promised. She moved on to play in New Orleans for the Creoles, another minor league team. In the spring and summer, Toni would seek opportunities with teams in the Negro Leagues, then return to Oakland after the season ended. Her big break came in 1953 - the Indianapolis Clowns had just lost Hank Aaron to the Braves, and were in need of a replacement at second base. Call it a mix of publicity and skill, but Toni Stone was exactly the player the team was looking for. When she made her debut, she became the first woman to play in men´s professional game.
In her first season with Indianapolis, Stone played in over 50 games. She had to change into her uniform in broom closets, sometimes in the umpire´s dressing room if she was lucky. She would often start games but be pulled early so she could shower without the men in the locker room. With each new team, there would be a period of adjustment when she would endure catcalls and come ons from her teammates, spectators, and opponents - but her play on the field usually brought her teammates around to respect her as a ballplayer above all else. Her batting average in 1953 was .364, good for fourth best in the league.
She was traded to Kansas City before the 1954 season, Indianapolis signed another woman, Connie Morgan to play second base, as well as a pitcher Mamie ¨Peanut¨ Johnson. Toni once again had to play through the derision and disrespect from her own team and the rest of the league, and 1954 would be her last in the Negro Leagues. Following the season, she returned to Oakland. She would continue to play and coach on local semi-pro teams into her sixties.
She was inducted into the International Women´s Hall of Fame and the International Women´s Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. Shortly after her passing in 1996 a play about her life Tomboy Stone was performed in Saint Paul at the History Theater. A new play about her life, Toni Stone, will debut at the Roundabout Theater Company Off-Broadway this May.
March is Women's History Month. I don't have many cards featuring women that played or contributed to the history of baseball, but I'll make a few posts as the month goes on highlighting some of the women that have been a part of baseball's story over the years.
She was called "The Flint Flash" and "Tina Cobb." Sophie Kurys was born in Flint, Michigan in 1925, and excelled in track and field, basketball, tennis, swimming, and was an avid equestrian. Participating in the Flint, MI Pentathlon in 1939 (she was 14), she scored 4,693 points out of a possible 5,000. From a young age, Sophie was also the best softball and baseball player in Flint. In April of 1943, she heard about a tryout being held in Flint by a scout from Chicago, looking to form a new women's baseball league. Even though the cold and snowy conditions confined the tryout to a small gym, Kurys was able to demonstrate her hitting and fielding skills. She was invited to Wrigley Field in Chicago to attend the final tryouts. This time, there was room to run.
Kurys was far and away the greatest base stealer in professional baseball history. Rickey Henderson may have a valid argument for the greatest of All-Time, but before he came along it was Sophie by a country mile. Take 1946, for example. Sophie stole 201 bases in 203 attempts, a record for all professional leagues. That season, Sophie led the league in steals, obviously, but also set the all-time record. She also led the league in walks, runs scored, and fielding percentage at 2nd Base, leading to an MVP season. Her .286 batting average was 2nd best in the league. The balls used by the league were smaller than a softball, and would be modified each year. By the 50s, it would much more closely resemble a major league baseball. Until this time, the ball had a plastic core instead of cork, meaning that it did not travel as hard or as fast. This limited batting averages in the league throughout the 40s.
Her career record of 1,114 stolen bases is surpassed only by MLB Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, who played 25 seasons. Sophie stole hers in just 8. Only 3 people in the world have stolen over 1,000 bases - Henderson in MLB, Yutaka Fukamoto in NPB, and Sophie Kurys.
She led the AAGPBL in Runs Scored 6 times, stolen bases 7 times (every year except her rookie season), and is the All-Time Career leader in both categories in league history. She finished 3rd All-Time in Hits and 2nd in Walks. She was a 4-time All-Star (they only held 5 All-Star Games during her playing career), in 2013 she was elected to the National Women's Baseball Hall of Fame.
