Edythe Perlick[Edie] (December 12, 1922 – February 27, 2003) was aleft fielder who played from1943 through1950 in theAll-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m), 128 lb., she batted and threwright-handed.

Edythe Perlick
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Left fielder
Born:(1922-12-12)December 12, 1922 Chicago, Illinois
Died: February 27, 2003(2003-02-27) (aged 80) Pompano Beach, Florida
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Career statistics
Games played	851
Runs	441
Home runs	18
Runs batted in	392
Stolen bases	481
Batting average	.230   (761-for-3302)
Teams
Racine Belles (1943–1950)
Career highlights and awards
Two-timeAAGPBL Championship Team (1943, 1946) Three-timeAll-Star Team (1943, 1947-'48) Season lead in RBI (44, 1945) Ranks eight in the RBI All-Time list

Perlick has been listed as one of the Top 20 AAGPBL Players of All Time, according to baseball researcher Sharon L. Roepke.^[1] A three-time All-Star, Perlick is often described as a multifacetedfive-tool player. She was able to hit foraverage andpower, was a smart and speedybaserunner, and combinedfielding abilities with a strong and accurate throwing arm.

A native ofChicago, Illinois, Perlick grew up in a German family in northwestern Chicago. Her father worked as an accountant. She had one sister, Jean, and a brother, Allan. At age 12, Perlick playedvolleyball andfast-pitch softball in the Chicago city leagues. She later competed in softball tournaments after graduating from high school and attended teachers college for one year.^[2]

In February 1943,Philip K. Wrigley founded the All-American Girls League. Wrigley, achewing gum manufacturer and owner of theChicago CubsMajor League Baseball club, materialized his idea as a promotional sideline to maintain interest in baseball as theWorld War IImilitary draft was depletingmajor-league rosters of first-line players.Ann Harnett became the first girl signed by the league for itsinaugural season, being followed byClaire Schillace, Perlick andShirley Jameson.^[3]

Perlick enjoyed many firsts in her illustrious baseball career. She was one of the original 60 players in the league, and her team, theRacine Belles, won the first AAGPBL Championship Title in 1943, defeating theKenosha Comets three games to none. She also became the first left fielder to be included in the All-Star Team, a distinction that she repeated in 1947 and 1948.^[4]

In an eight-season career, Perlick was a .240 hitter in a pitching-dominated league. In her rookie season, she batted a career-best .268, which was the league's 12th highest average among regular players. She collected 481stolen bases in her career, but perhaps her best quality was her timelyhitting in clutch situations. Usually, she led the Belles inruns batted in, driving in a career-high 63 runs in 1944 to set a Racine season-record, leading again led the Belles in 1945 (41), 1948 (51), 1949 (41) and 1950 (59). She averaged 49 RBI in each of her eight seasons, and her 392 career RBI ranks her sixth in the All-Time list.

In 1946, Perlick hit .230 with a career-high 88 stolen bases and belted fourhome runs ascleanup hitter, helping the Belles to clinch their second Championship Title.^[5][6][7]

But at the end of 1950 the Belles lacked the financial resources to keep the club playing inRacine, Wisconsin. Before the 1951 season, when the team moved toBattle Creek, Michigan, Perlick, along with original BellesEleanor Dapkus,Maddy English,Sophie Kurys andJoanne Winter, were disappointed and decided not to make the move. During eight years, the Belles were a close-knit team, always like a family away from home. Perlick and teammates thought that all would be different, like a new team, maybe a new manager and, specially, a new location.^[8] Perlick returned to Chicago and played fast-pitch softball for two years with the Admiral Music Maids of theNational Girls Baseball League.

In 1980, former AAGPBL playerJune Peppas motivated a group of friends and began assembling a list of names and addresses of her former pals. Her initiative turned into a newsletter and resulted in the league's first-ever reunion inChicago, Illinois in 1982. Stemming from that reunion, a Players Association was formed in 1987 and many former AAGPBL players continued to enjoy reunions, which became annual events in 1998.^[9] In November 1988, Perlick, along with her former teammates and opponents, received their long overdue recognition, when theBaseball Hall of Fame and Museum inCooperstown, New York dedicated a permanent display to the All American Girls Professional Baseball league. The association was largely responsible for the opening of the exhibition.

After being married in 1952, she also played under the nameEdie Keating orEdie Perlick Keating. At age 30, she left the game, raised her daughter, Susan, and worked in Chicago for manufacturing firmsA.B. Dick Company andTeletype Corporation. She had two grandsons, Danny and Jeff. After moving toFort Lauderdale, Florida, she worked another 25 years forHarris Corporation, a computer systems company. She retired in 1993 and moved toPompano Beach, Florida, where she died at the age of 80.^[10]