Dorothy Kamenshek
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Dorothy "Kammie" Kamenshek (born 21 December 1925) is a baseball player from Cincinnati.
She played outfield for a local softball league, and at the age of 17 she was spotted by a scout from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Kamenshek joined the Rockford Peaches as an outfielder when the league began in 1943, and later played first base. She played with the league for 10 seasons, and was selected as an All-Star all seven times the league established such a team. In 1946 she was the league's top batter with an average of .316, and won the distinction again in 1947 with an average of .306. Considered one of the best athletes of her time, southpaw Kamenshek was even recruited for men's baseball by a team from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She believed the team only wanted her for publicity, though, and turned down the offer.
In 1951 she was forced to reduce her playing due to back injuries, and after the 1952 season she retired permanently from the game with a career average of .292.
Kamenshek received a degree in physical therapy from Marquette University and later became the director of the Los Angeles Crippled Children's Services Department.
[edit] Sources
- Gregorich, Barbara (1993). Women at Play: The Story of Women in Baseball. Harcourt Brace and Company, pp. 90-95.