Elise Harney [″Lee″] was a female pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a women's professional baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. During the league's history, over 600 women played ball.-History:...

. She batted and threw right-handed.

A native of Franklin County

Franklin County, Illinois

Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 39,561, which is an increase of 1.4% from 39,018 in 2000. Its county seat is Benton.-History:...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, Elise Harney became one of the sixty founding members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. While at school, she made her mark as a fast-pitch softball hurler in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 before joining the league. However, she ended her career prematurely after developing a sore pitching arm while trying to adapt to a new pitching motion in 1947.

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a circuit that began to operate in the early 1940s in cities located on or near Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

. The main promoter was Philip K. Wrigley

Philip K. Wrigley

Philip Knight Wrigley , sometimes also called P.K. or Phil. Born in Chicago, he was an American chewing gum manufacturer and executive in Major League Baseball, inheriting both those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant father, William Wrigley Jr. After his father died in 1932, Philip...

, owner of the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

, who worried about the viability of Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 players during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 decided to establish an alternate attraction. Since the only organized ball for women in the country was softball, the league oficcials created a game which included both fast-pitch softball and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

. Wrigley had scouts

Scout (sport)

In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...

 all over the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and even Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 signing girls for tryouts. About 500 girls attended the call. Of these, only 280 were invited to the final try-outs in Chicago where sixty were chosen to become the first girls to ever play professional baseball. The circuit was initially called the All-American Girls Softball League, though early in the first season the name was changed to All American Girl's Baseball League. In its twelve years of history the AAGPBL evolved through many stages. These differences varied from the beginning of the league, progressively extending the length of the base paths and pitching distance and decreasing the size of the ball until the final year of play. For the first five years the circuit used a fastpitch underhand motion, shifted to sidearm in 1947, and never really became baseball until overhand pitching began in 1948. The inaugural season took place in 1943 with the teams Kenosha Comets

Kenosha Comets

Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Kenosha Comets were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team played their home games at Kenosha's Lake Front Stadium, but later moved to Simmons Field.The Kenosha Comets were one...

, Racine Belles

Racine Belles

The Racine Belles were one of the original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing from through out of Racine, Wisconsin. The team played its home games at Horlick Field.-History:...

, Rockford Peaches

Rockford Peaches

The Rockford Peaches were a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing out of Rockford, Illinois for the entire existence of the league from 1943 to 1954....

 and South Bend Blue Sox

South Bend Blue Sox

The South Bend Blue Sox were a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...

, and each team was made up of fifteen girls. Harney was allocated to the Kenosha Comets, a team managed by former big leaguer Josh Billings.

In 1943, Harney joined a balanced Kenosha team that included players as very talented pitcher Helen Nicol

Helen Nicol

Helen Nicol is a Canadian former baseball pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Listed at 5' 3", 120 lb., Nicol batted and threw right-handed...

, as well as Ann Harnett

Ann Harnett

Ann Harnett is a former female utility who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 139 lb., Harnett batted and threw right-handed...

, Phyllis Koehn

Phyllis Koehn

Phyllis C. Koehn [″Sugar″] was a pitcher and utility who played from through for six different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 120 lb., Koehn batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin.By the fall of 1942, World War II...

, Shirley Jameson

Shirley Jameson

Shirley Jameson was a center fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 4' 10¾" , 104 lb. , Jameson batted right-handed and threw left-handed...

, Pauline Pirok

Pauline Pirok

Pauline Pirok [pier-ock] is a former infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 132 lb., Pirok batted and threw right-handed. She earned the nickname Pinky Pirok....

 and Audrey Wagner

Audrey Wagner

Genevieve Wagner [Audrey] was an outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 145 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.-Brief profile:...

, notably for their hitting abilities and strong defense. Harney relished her debut in the league, ending with a 19-19 record for a .500 percentage

Winning percentage

In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win...

, and posted a 2.93 earned run average

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 while striking out

Strikeout

In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

 102 batters. Her teammate Nicol led the league in wins (31), ERA (1.81) and strikeouts (220), being honored Pitcher of the Year. Kenosha collected the third-best record at 56-56, but won the second-half title and earned a ticket to the playoffs. The Comets were swept by Racine in three games during the first round. Inexplicably, Nicol failed in the playoffs and went 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA. Besides this, Harney also appeared in the league's first All-Star Game during the midseason, which was played under temporary lights at Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...

, between two teams composed of Blue Sox and Peaches players versus Comets and Belles players. It was also the first night game ever played in the venerable ballpark (July 1, 1943).

As a result of the success of the AAGPBL in its first year, civic groups in each of the four cities agreed to finance their own franchises. Then, the newly formed Milwaukee Chicks

Milwaukee Chicks

The Milwaukee Chicks were a women's professional baseball team which played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season. They were managed by Max Carey, former star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Robins and a future Hall of Famer.-History:By 1944 the...

 and Minneapolis Millerettes

Minneapolis Millerettes

The Minneapolis Millerettes were an expansion All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team that played for one season in 1944. They played their home games in Nicollet Park, home of the men's minor league team the Minneapolis Millers...

 entered the league in 1944 and played their home games at American Association

American Association (20th century)

The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...

 ball parks during the time periods the Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers (minor league baseball team)

The Milwaukee Brewers were a Minor League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They played in the American Association from 1902 through 1952.-A Milwaukee Tradition:...

 and Minneapolis Millers

Minneapolis Millers

The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, until 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League.The team played first in Athletic Park and later Nicollet Park.The name Minneapolis...

 male teams were on road trips. As expected, the games schedule and frequent travels from one city to another increased significantly. Nevertheless, Harney went 18-14 (.562) with 88 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA. In comparison, her teammate Nicol slipped to 17-11 (.608) but led the league with 0.93 ERA. The Comets, now managed by Marty McManus

Marty McManus

Martin Joseph "Marty" McManus was a Major League Baseball infielder who played principally as a second baseman and third baseman .-St. Louis Browns: 1920-1926:...

, again placed third (62-54) and made the playoffs, this time thanks to a first-half title. Kenosha took a three-two advantage in the best-of-seven series against the expansion Chicks, but Nicol lost three of four pitching matchups with Connie Wisniewski

Connie Wisniewski

Constance Wisniewski was a starting pitcher and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...

, including a 2-1, 13 inning-duel, and finished 2-3 with a 1.09 in the finals.

In 1945, Eddie Stumpf

Eddie Stumpf

Edward Stumpf was an American player, manager and executive in Minor league baseball.Stumpf began his professional baseball career as a catcher in the American Association, playing from 1916 through 1919 for the Milwaukee Brewers and Columbus Senators...

 became the third different manager of Kenosha in three years, but the team suffered the worst season in franchise history. The Comets ended in last place with a 41-69 record, 26 games out of the first spot in the league. In the collective debacle, Nicol (24) and Harney (14) earned 38 of the 41 victories of their team.

But Harney developed arm and elbow problems after being overused in the previous seasons. She started 1946 with Kenosha and was traded to the expansion Fort Wayne Daisies

Fort Wayne Daisies

The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...

 during the midseason, compiling a collective record of 10-20 in 33 appearances that year.

In 1947 the new AAGPBL rules permitted a full sidearm pitching delivery, partly because the limited sidearm experiment of 1946 proved too difficult to enforce. Such change adversely affected many underhand pitchers who had problems adjusting to the new pitching style. Harney, for instance, injured again and opted to retire early in the season.

Harney, who never left school while she was playing for Kenosha, graduated from the University of Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 in 1947. She is also part of the AAGPBL permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York

Cooperstown, New York

Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...

, opened in , which is dedicated to the entire league rather than any individual player.

Pitching statistics

GP Games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although exceptions are made if the pitcher announced in the starting lineup is injured before facing a batter, perhaps while...	W	L	W-L% Winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win...	ERA Earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...	IP Innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two...	BB Base on balls A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...	SO Strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
165	61	75	.449	2.76	1101	456	342

Sources