"There's no crying in baseball"...R.I.P., Dottie!

Mommy, Esquire mourns the passing of a great American woman, Dorothy "Dottie" Kamenshek.

Dorothy Kamenshek, a star player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League who inspired the lead character, played by Geena Davis, in the movie “A League of Their Own,” has died.  She was 84.

Dottie played first base for the Rockford (Ill.) Peaches from 1943 to 1951 and again in 1953.  She was named one of the top 100 female athletes of the century by Sports Illustrated.  She was selected to seven All-Star teams and retired in 1953.

Kamenshek’s abilities impressed a minor league men’s team in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which offered to buy her contract in 1947, but she declined the offer.

She was a graduate of  Marquette University with a degree in physical therapy and moved to California, where she practiced.

Mommy, Esquire salutes "Dottie" and wishes we had more stories about capable women like her.  More stories about women like Dottie and fewer stories about women like Paris.  Dottie was one swell gal. R.I.P., Dottie!



Batter up! Hear that call!
The time has come for one and all
To play ball. For we're the members of the All-American League,
We come from cities near and far.
We've got Canadians, Irishmen and Swedes,
We're all for one, we're one for all,
We're All-American.

Each girl stands, her head so proudly high,
Her motto Do Or Die.
She's not the one to use or need an alibi.
Our chaperones are not too soft,
They're not too tough,
Our managers are on the ball.
We've got a president who really knows his stuff,
We're all for one, we're one for all,
We're All-Americans!