| Mildred Deegan | |
|---|---|
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| All-American Girls Professional Baseball League | |
| Pitcher /Outfield /Second base | |
| Born:(1919-12-11)December 11, 1919 Brooklyn, New York | |
| Died: July 21, 2002(2002-07-21) (aged 82) New Port Richey, Florida | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Mildred Eleanor Deegan (December 11, 1919 – July 21, 2002) was an Americanpitcher,outfielder andsecond basewoman who played ten seasons in theAll-American Girls Professional Baseball League, from1943 to1952.[1]
Deegan was one of 25 players who made the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League clubs hailed from New York City and State, includingMuriel Bevis,Gloria Cordes,Nancy Mudge,Betty Trezza andMargaret Wigiser. Born inBensonhurst, Brooklyn, she was a star athlete atAbraham Lincoln High School and in 1935 was the "champion woman baseball thrower" in New York City. "Mildred Eleanor Deegan was born on Dec. 11, 1919, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst.... She excelled in track and field at Lincoln High School, and after graduation played amateur softball with a team called the Americanettes."[2] She learned baseball from her father, coach of the Brooklyn Bloomer Girls team. As a teenager she placed second behindBabe Didrikson Zaharias in the javelin throw in the national meet before the1936 Summer Olympics. However, at 16 she was too young. Later, she playedfastpitch softball for the New York Americanettes in 1938–39. In 1939 her batting average was .406. That year she was the guest of New York City MayorFiorello La Guardia (along with other celebrities) at the opening day of theNew York World's Fair. She played later with the Manhattan Beach Girls, who competed in the Metropolitan League inMadison Square Garden. Deegan hit a 250-foot home run inside the building.Babe Ruth, the only other player ever to hit a home run inside the Garden, was in attendance, and posed for a photograph with her, squeezing her biceps. Then, she gained the nickname of "the Babe Ruth of Women's Softball".
Deegan joined a Chicago fastpitch softball team for the American Softball Association National Tournament in 1943. She was soon signed by the league to play for theRockford Peaches. She played for the Peaches until midway through the1947 season, when she was traded to theKenosha Comets, beginning a four-year stretch in which she played for six teams. In1948 Deegan was with the Comets andSpringfield Sallies, from1949 through part of the1951 season she played with theFort Wayne Daisies. She finished the season with thePeoria Redwings before ending her career in1952, returning to the Rockford franchise. Her managers and coaches included former big-leaguersMax Carey,Jimmie Foxx,Bill Wambsganss andMarty McManus. Deegan also worked as the league's official photographer.
As a pitcher, she gave up the winning run to theRacine Belles in the final game of the 1946 Shaughnessy series but had a lifetimeearned run average of 2.36. Her career batting average was .260.
In1944, theBrooklyn Dodgers brought Deegan and two other women players to the team's spring training camp atBear Mountain, New York. She was given permission to travel with the team from managerLeo Durocher but was not allowed to step on the field. However, after retrieving a foul ball during an exhibition game, one of the coaches gave her afungo bat and let her bat infield practice. Durocher was quoted as saying that "...if we run out of men, Millie will be the first on the team...if she were a man, she no doubt would have been a Dodger."[3]
After retiring from baseball Deegan worked as a commercial photographer inMiami,North Carolina, andNew Jersey. She also worked for the Western Electric Corporation inKearney, New Jersey. She served as a coach for a semi-professional women's softball team for 22 years (1958–79) and as a coach atMiddlesex County College in the late 1970s. Deegan moved to Florida in 1976 and died at the age of 82 following a two-year battle with breast cancer.
Batting
| GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | TB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 533 | 1560 | 175 | 339 | 48 | 24 | 5 | 152 | 100 | 450 | 160 | 100 | .217 | .290 | .288 |
Pitching
| GP | W | L | W-L% | ERA | IP | H | RA | ER | BB | SO | HBP | WP | WHIP | SO/BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 146 | 66 | 59 | .528 | 2.26 | 1081 | 755 | 444 | 271 | 514 | 412 | 82 | 26 | 1.17 | 0.80 |
Fielding
| GP | PO | A | E | TC | DP | FA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 336 | 770 | 946 | 135 | 1851 | 45 | .927 |