The Chicago Colleens were a women's professional baseball team who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1948 to 1951, evolving into a development team. The team was based Chicago , Illinois and played their home games at Shewbridge Field.
21-616: The Colleens joined the strong Eastern Division in the 1948 season and were managed by former Major League player Dave Bancroft . The team was the worst in the league, getting roughed up as a last-place expansion club with a 47–76 record, ending twenty nine and a half games out of the first place spot in the division. The only team to do worse, the Springfield Sallies of the Western Division, ended 41–84 in last place, 35.5 games out of 1st place. Both teams lost their franchises by
42-482: A new team, maybe a new manager and, specially, a new location. Overall, Dapkus hit .229 with 30 home runs and 317 runs batted in 775 games, and posted a 53–34 record with 397 strikeouts and a 1.97 earned run average in 102 pitching appearances . She is seventh lifetime in home runs and ranks eleventh in runs batted in. Both before and after she joined the AAGPBL, Dapkus worked in a variety of jobs. Most of her early work
63-456: A result of holding spring training there the year before. A total of 21 players had been in the league since its foundation in 1943. The fact of two divisions resulted in the Shaughnessy system adding another round of playoffs to decide the championship between eight teams. The first round faced the top teams of each division in a best-of-three series, with the first place team playing against
84-562: The AAGPBL Player of the Year Award . The Grand Rapids and Racine teams won their respective division. In the first round, Grand Rapids, Fort Wayne, Racine and Rockford swept South Bend, Muskegon, Peoria and Kenosha, respectively. In the divisional playoffs, Fort Wayne swept Grand Rapids and Rockford did the same with Racine. Then, Rockford jumped out to a three-game lead in the final series and defeated Fort Wayne four games to one. Helen Nicol
105-608: The World War II military draft was depleting Major League rosters of first-line players. Ann Harnett became the first girl to sign with the All-American, being followed by Claire Schillace , Edythe Perlick and Shirley Jameson . The first AAGPBL spring training was set for May 17, 1943, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Since the only organized ball for women in the country was softball,
126-509: The club playing in Racine, Wisconsin . Before the 1951 season, when the team moved to Battle Creek, Michigan , Dapkus, along with original Belles Maddy English , Edythe Perlick and Joanne Winter , were disappointment and decided not to make the move. During eight years, the Belles were a close-knit team, always like a family away from home. Dapkus and teammates thought that all would be different, like
147-638: The end of that season. From 1949 through 1950, the Colleens and the Sallies became rookie development teams that played exclusively exhibition games. Their tours included contests at Griffith Stadium and Yankee Stadium . The team dissolved entirely by 1951. AAGPBL executive Mitch Skupien , who later managed in the league, served as the general manager for both touring teams. The team's 1948 games were broadcast regularly on television station WBKB in Chicago. The Colleens played at Shewbridge Field. The ballpark
168-403: The first year the circuit shifted to strictly overhand pitching . Other modifications occurred during 1948. The ball was decreased in size from 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (290 mm) to 10 + 3 ⁄ 8 inches (260 mm), while the base paths were lengthened to 72 feet and the pitching distance increased to 50 feet. The Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies were added to
189-469: The league created a hybrid game which included both softball and baseball. Wrigley had scouts all over the United States , Canada and even Cuba signing girls for tryouts. About 500 girls attended the call. Of these, only 280 were invited to the final try-outs in Chicago where 60 were chosen to become the first women to ever play professional baseball. The league started with four teams, and each team
210-747: The longest game in AAGPBL playoff history. The league drew almost a million fans for the second consecutive season, although the Chicago and Springfield franchises failed to reach the attendance required. Then, the Colleens and the Sallies were turned into player development teams that toured and played exhibition games to recruit and train new players. The tour started in Chicago and ended up in Canada , including stops in Yankee Stadium and Griffith Stadium . Eleanor Dapkus Eleanor V. Wolf (née Eleanore Dapkus ; December 5, 1923 – June 6, 2011)
231-400: The new pitching style. Grand Rapids' Alice Haylett led all pitchers with a 0.77 earned run average , while 20 averaged at least a 1.99 mark. In addition, Haylett and Racine's Eleanor Dapkus hurled 10 shutouts a piece. The only .300 hitter was Kenosha's Audrey Wagner (.312), who also led the circuit in hits (130) and total bases (186). At the end of the season Wagner was honored with
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#1732891308551252-558: The playground variety, not varsity competition. Over the years, she earned twenty five medals in several sports, including softball, volleyball , basketball and soccer . In February 1943, Philip K. Wrigley founded the All-American Girls League. Wrigley, a chewing gum manufacturer and owner of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball , materialized his idea as a promotional sideline to maintain interest in baseball as
273-529: The previous roster that included the Kenosha Comets , Fort Wayne Daisies , Grand Rapids Chicks , Muskegon Lassies , Peoria Redwings , Racine Belles , Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox . The Chicago, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Muskegon and South Bend teams were aligned in the East Division, while Kenosha, Peoria, Racine, Rockford and Springfield played in the Western Division. The number of games in
294-452: The schedule increased from 112 to 126. For the second consecutive year the AAGPBL spring training camp was held in Havana, Cuba . as part of a plan to create an International League of Girls Baseball. Around two hundred girls made the trip. Among them, players represented 27 different states in the United States and many provinces of Canada , while several Cuban players entered the league as
315-464: The third place team and the second place team against the fourth place team. The winners competed in a best-of-five divisional first round, with the first place team facing the third place team and the second place team against the fourth place team. The sectional champions then advanced to the third round and faced in the best-of-seven Championship Series. Pitchers continued to dominate the league in that season even though many of them could not adapt to
336-695: Was clerical except for during World War II when she spraypainted airplane parts at the Pullman Aircraft factory. Following her playing retirement, she went back to Chicago. She married in 1950, changed her name to Eleanor Dapkus Wolf and had two sons, Frank and Richard. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954, but there is now a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York since November 5, 1988 that honors those who were part of this unique experience. But like many of her AAGPBL colleagues, Dapkus
357-540: Was a center fielder and pitcher who played from 1943 through 1950 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Dapkus was born to Lithuanian parents, Frank and Antonina Dapkus, and raised in Chicago, Illinois . She was the tenth and youngest child in her family and the first girl after nine boys. She attended Christian Fenger Academy High School in Chicago and played every sport available to girls, but they were all of
378-544: Was credited with four of the 10 playoff wins of Rockford, including two in the finals, while Lois Florreich and Margaret Holgerson took three a piece. In Game 1 of the first round, Florreich pitched the first no-hitter in series history, and Holgerson threw a second no-hitter in Game 3 to set an all-time record for the most playoff no-hitters. Another highlight came in the first round, when South Bend's Jean Faut outdueled Haylett of Grand Rapids, 3–2, in 20 innings, in what would be
399-550: Was located at the corner of South Morgan and West 74th Streets on the South Side of Chicago, now part of the campus of the Stagg School of Excellence. 1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season The 1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the sixth season of the circuit. The AAGPBL grew to an all-time peak of ten teams in that season, representing Eastern and Western zones, just in
420-478: Was made up of fifteen girls. Dapkus survived the final cut and was assigned to the Racine Belles team, where she played for eight seasons. Dapkus earned the nickname Slugger for her power hitting abilities, helping Racine to clinch the league championship in both 1943 and 1946. She was chosen as the fourth outfielder for the 1943 All-Star team after leading the league with 10 home runs . The 1943 All-Star Game
441-421: Was the first night game played at Wrigley Field (July 1, 1943). In 1944, Dapkus paced the circuit with 10 doubles . For the 1946 team, she hit .253 and drove in 57 runs while tying for the league lead with nine triples . In 1948 the Belles decided to move her to the pitching mound, and she responded with a 24–9 mark as an overhand pitcher. But at the end of 1950 the Belles lacked the financial resources to keep
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