Betty Whiting

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Elizabeth Jane "Betty" Whiting (November 13, 1925 – 1967) is perhaps the best baseball player to come from Ida, Michigan. As a 7th grader, she shattered the Monroe County record for the distance a baseball was thrown, on the fly, with 170’ 4”. She also broke the county record for throwing a basketball with 75’ 6”. She also played basketball, baseball, and soccer.^{[citation needed]}

Betty Whiting competed in her first professional ballgame in 1944, as starting shortstop for the Milwaukee Chicks. The Chicks were a part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), which formed due to a lack of entertainment during World War II. The AAGPBL consisted of eight teams, each team playing a 112-game season. Of those eight teams, Whiting gave all-star performances in five cities: Milwaukee, South Bend, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Grand Rapids.

Whiting finished up her nine-year career in 1952, playing first base and filling in at catcher for the Battle Creek Belles. She was one of the top AAGPBL players and left baseball at the top of her game. In 1967, Betty Whiting died when she fell down the stairway to her cellar.^{[citation needed]}