| Marie Wegman | |
|---|---|
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| All-American Girls Professional Baseball League | |
| Utility | |
| Born:(1925-04-30)April 30, 1925 Cincinnati, Ohio | |
| Died: January 20, 2004(2004-01-20) (aged 78) Delhi Township, Ohio | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Marie Wegman (April 30, 1925 – January 20, 2004) was autilityinfielder-outfielder andpitcher who played from1948 through1950 in theAll-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), 130 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.[1][2]
Born inCincinnati,Ohio, Marie Wegman had her first contact with baseball at the age of three when her father taught her how to throw and hit a ball. The oldest of seven children, she grew up playingscrub baseball with her brothers and the neighborhood boys. She did not play organizedsoftball until she was 14. At the time, softball was not offered at school for girls, so she joined an industrial league and played on several traveling teams.[2][3]
Wegman was in a drugstore when she was spotted by ascout of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She was offered a contract, but turned it down. Nevertheless, when Wegman found out she would train inHavana, Cuba and that the pay was more than she was making in a factory, she reconsidered. All the AAGPBL teams stayed at theSeville Biltmore Hotel and were filmed forFox Movietone News going down the steps at theUniversity of Havana, while their exhibition games were played atEstadio Latinoamericano.[2][3][4]
Wegman moved around for a while over a period of four years, as the AAGPBL shifted players as needed to help teams stay afloat. She started the1947 season with theRockford Peaches, playing for them one year before joining theFort Wayne Daisies (1948) and then found herself on the move again, this time to theMuskegon Lassies (1949), and then theGrand Rapids Chicks (1950).[3]
During her first season with the Peaches, Wegman got homesick, although she loved baseball. ″Blackie″, as she was called, played primarily atthird base andsecond base. Eventually, she also played in theoutfield and as arelief pitcher. She considered herself more of a defensive player. "I had problems withcurveballs", she explained.[3]
Wegman was used sparingly in her first three years. Her most productive came in 1950, her final season, when she posted a career-high .234batting average in 94 games,driving in 27 runs andscoring 26 times whilestealing 22 bases, also career numbers. She was added to the All-Star Team as a replacement player.[5][6]
In a four-year career, Wegman posted a .180 average and a .231on-base percentage in 291 games. She pitched briefly in 1948, going 0–0 with a 6.56earned run average in three games, including ninewalks and fivestrikeouts in 11 innings of work.[7]
She also made two appearances in the post season with Muskegon (1949) and Grand Rapids (1950), going 8-for-31 for a .258 average with three runs, two RBI and two stolen bases in nine games.[7]
Following her baseball career, Wegman returned home to help out her family. She regretted her father's absence, because he died in 1945 and was not able to see her play professional baseball. She attended classes at theUniversity of Cincinnati while working as a designer of packaging equipment and machinery. She later worked for Lodge & Shipley company until her retirement in 1988. Late in the year, she became part ofWomen in Baseball, a permanent display based at theBaseball Hall of Fame and Museum inCooperstown, New York, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than individual baseball personalities.[2][3][4]
Marie Wegman died of aheart failure inDelhi Township, Ohio at the age of 78.[2]
Batting
| GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 291 | 834 | 60 | 150 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 51 | 51 | 102 | 119 | .180 | .272 | .231 |
Collective fielding
| GP | PO | A | E | TC | DP | FA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 247 | 349 | 527 | 92 | 968 | 32 | .905 |