Battle Creek Belles
The Battle Creek Belles were a women's professional baseball team that played from 1951 through 1952 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The Belles represented Battle Creek, Michigan, and played their home games at Bailey Park.[1]
Michigan baseball fanatics had their first chance to enjoy All-American Girls Professional Baseball League action in 1945 when the Chicks team moved from Milwaukee to Grand Rapids. The only team to make the playoffs every year in AAGPBL history, the Chicks was one of the most successful franchises of the circuit.[1]
A year after the club came to Grand Rapids, Muskegon joined the league with its Lassies. In 1950 the Lassies moved to Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek joined the list of AAGPBL host cities in 1951 when the original Belles moved to Battle Creek from Racine, Wisconsin, and kept the same nickname.[1][2]
The Belles finished last in the first half of the 1951 season with an 11-45 record before improving to 19-35 in the second half for a 30-80 overall. The team posted a 43-67 record in the 1952 season, and finished in last place.
The club moved to Muskegon for the 1953 season and was renamed the Muskegon Belles.[1]
All-time roster
- Bold denotes members of the inaugural roster
- Agnes Allen
- Isabel Alvarez
- Phyllis Baker
- Patricia Barringer
- Fern Battaglia
- Erma Bergmann
- Rita Briggs
- Patricia Brown
- Marge Callaghan
- Jean Cione
- Donna Cook
- Bonnie Cooper
- Gloria Cordes
- Betty Jane Cornett
- Pauline Crawley
- Mary Dailey
- Gertrude Dunn
- Mary Froning
- Barbara Galdonik
- Gertrude Ganote
- Eileen Gascon
- Josephine Hasham
- Beverly Hatzell
- Ruby Heafner
- Jean Holderness
- Frances Janssen
- Marilyn Jones
- Erma Keyes
- Glenna Sue Kidd
- Jaynie Krick
- Sophie Kurys
- Noella Leduc
- Shirley Luhtala
- Betty McKenna
- Marie Mansfield
- Mirtha Marrero
- Naomi Meier
- Ruth Middleton
- Jane Moffet
- Rose Montalbano
- Mary Moore
- Nancy Mudge
- Dolly Niemieck
- Anna Mae O'Dowd
- Barbara Payne
- Marguerite Pearson
- June Peppas
- Migdalia Pérez
- Ernestine Petras
- Marjorie Pieper
- Janet Rumsey
- Margaret Russo
- Gloria Schweigerdt
- Mary Sheehan
- Doris Shero
- Norma Sieg
- Hazel Smith
- Shirley Sutherland
- Miss Thatcher
- Frances Vukovich
- Helen Waddell
- Margaret Wenzell
- Betty Whiting
- Sadie Wright
- Janet Young
Managers
| * Dave Bancroft | 1951 |
| * Guy Bush | 1951 1952 |
| * Joe Cooper | 1952 |
Chaperone
| * Patricia Barringer | 1951 1952 |
Sources
- All-American Girls Professional Baseball League official website – Battle Creek Belles seasons
- All-American Girls Professional Baseball League official website – Manager/Player profile search results
- 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
- The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Softcover, 295 pp. Language: English. ISBN 978-0-7864-2263-0
| ||||||||||||||||||