Peoria Redwings
The Peoria Redwings were a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season. The team represented Peoria, Illinois.
The Redwings made an unsteady start in their inaugural season, going 33-79 to finish last 41 games out of first place in the Western Division. The team improved in 1947 with a 54-57, good to finish in fifth place in the eight-team contest.
Their most productive came in 1948, when they finished 71-55 for the third place in the division and fourth overall, gaining a playoff spot, but were swept by the Racine Belles in three straight games.
Peoria fell to 36-43 and last place in 1949, and next-to-last in 1950 after ending 44-63-2. Then went 48-56-2 in 1951, their last season, having finished over .500 just once in six years of existence.
Some players of note included pitchers Doris Barr, Dorothy Mueller and Mary Nesbitt; infielders Margaret Callaghan, Betty McKenna and Dorothy Stolze; outfielders Eleanor Callow and Thelma Eisen, and OF/P Mary Reynolds. Eventually, Eisen and Reynolds served as player/manager for the team.
All-time roster
Front row, L-R: Dorothy Ferguson, Terry Donahue, Rita Meyer, Betty Tucker, Mary Wood, Annabelle Lee. Second row, L-R: Irene Ines (chaperone), Mary Moriarity, Kay Blumetta, Jean Cione, Thelma Eisen, Katherine Buccor, Bill Rodgers (manager). Back row, L-R: Donna Stageman, Norma Metrolis, Mary Reynolds, Frances Sloan, Mary Rountree, Pauline Crawley.
- Bold denotes members of the inaugural roster
- Velma Abbott
- Doris Barr
- Mary Baumgartner
- Mary Lou Beschorner
- Maybelle Blair
- Kay Blumetta
- Rita Briggs
- Marian Bryson
- Katherine Buccor
- Florence Bucior
- Margaret Callaghan
- Eleanor Callow
- Mary Carey
- Jean Cione
- Corinne Clark
- Pauline Crawley
- Mary Dailey
- Faye Dancer
- Alice DeCambra
- Mildred Deegan
- Jerre Denoble
- Terry Donahue
- Thelma Eisen
- June Emerson
- Lillian Faralla
- Dorothy Ferguson
- Helen Filarski
- Luisa Gallegos
- Gertrude Ganote
- Eilleen Gascon
- Jeanne Gilchrist
- Geraldine Guest
- Audrey Haine
- Ann Harnett
- Josephine Hasham
- Beverly Hatzell
- Joyce Hill
- Barbara Hines
- Nadine Hoffman
- Alice Hohlmayer
- Jane Jacobs
- Frances Janssen
- Mary Jennings
- Christine Jewett
- Josephine Kabick
- Jacquelyn Kelley
- Irene Kerwin
- Erma Keyes
- Glenna Sue Kidd
- Phyllis Koehn
- Mary Louise Kolanko
- Jaynie Krick
- Mary Lawson
- Noella Leduc
- Annabelle Lee
- Josephine Lenard
- Kay Lionikas
- Frances Lovett
- Mary McCarty
- Helene Machado
- Betty McKenna
- Lenora Mandella
- Naomi Meier
- Norma Metrolis
- Rita Meyer
- Mary Moriarity
- Dorothy Mueller
- Mary Nesbitt
- JoAnne Overleese
- Marguerite Pearson
- Marjorie Pieper
- Rita Rehrer
- Mary Reynolds
- Georgiana Rios
- Jenny Romatowski
- Eilaine Roth
- Elaine Roth
- Mary Rountree
- Gloria Ruiz
- Margaret Russo
- June Schofield
- Twila Shively
- Frances Sloan
- Jean Smith
- Shirley Smith
- Donna Stageman
- Elma Steck
- Jane Stoll
- Dorothy Stolze
- Beverly Stuhr
- Betty Terry
- Betty Tucker
- Kathryn Vonderau
- Nancy Warren
- Marion Watson
- Margaret Wenzell
- Ruth Williams
- Dolores Wilson
- Mary Wisham
- Mary Wood
Managers
| * Bill Rodgers | 1946 [first half] |
| * Thelma Eisen | 1946 [second half] |
| * Johnny Gottselig | 1947 [first half] |
| * Leo Schrall | 1947 [second half] 1948 1949 |
| * Leo Murphy | 1950 [first half] |
| * Mary Reynolds | 1950 [second half] |
| * Johnny Rawlings | 1951 |
Sources
- All-American Girls Professional Baseball League official website – Peoria Redwings seasons
- All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2000. Format: Hardcover, 294pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-0597-x
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