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. Although the 1992 movie A League of Their Own features the Rockford Peaches, all of the characters playing on the team were fictional. The team did not play in the 1943 league championship, as depicted in the film; the Racine Belles played the Kenosha Comets.

Contents

History

One of the more successful teams in the AAGPBL, the Peaches won the league championship in 1945, 1948, 1949, and 1950 and had its share of star players. Gladys Davis won the league batting crown in 1943 while Dorothy Kamenshek earned the honor in 1946 and 1947. Lois Florreich was the pitching champion in 1949 during the league's overhand era. Peaches who were named to the All-Star teams from 1946-1954 included Dorothy Kamenshek, Lois Florreich, Dorothy Harrell, Carolyn Morris, Alice Pollitt, Ruth Richard, Rose Gacioch, Eleanor Callow, and Joan Berger.

When former player Eileen Burmeister was asked why The Peaches supposedly favored theatricality over technical skill, she notably reacted with a shrug and a quick statement that "if God meant for us to play baseball, he would've made us any good at it." By other side, pitcher Olive Little hurled the first no-hitter both in team and league's history.[1]

Stadium

The Peaches played their home games at Beyer Stadium on 15th Avenue in Rockford. The Rockford uniform consisted of a peach colored dress featuring the Rockford city seal centered on the chest, along with red socks and cap. In later years, the Peaches wore a white home uniform with black socks and cap.

All-time roster

Source: The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Paperback, 295 pp. Language: English. ISBN 0786437472

Managers

* Eddie Stumpf 1943
* Jack Kloza 1944
* Bill Allington 1945
1946
* Eddie Ainsworth 1947
* Bill Allington 1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
* Johnny Rawlings 1953
1954

Chaperones

Sources

  1. ^ Immodest and Sensational: 150 Years of Canadian Women in Sport, M. Ann Hall, p.57, James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Toronto, 2008, ISBN 978-1-55277-021-4