Mary Lou Studnicka
Encyclopedia
Mary Lou Studnicka [Brazauskas, Caden] (born July 19, 1931) is a former overhand pitcher
who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
. Studnicka batted and threw right-handed. She was affectively nicknamed ML.
, a suburb southwest of Chicago. She was the only girl of eight children into the family of John and Marie Studnička [stood'-nih-kuh], of Slovak
ancestry. At early age, she moved with her family to a farm in Palos Park, Illinois
. She was interested in participing in baseball, thanks to her brothers, and she was never too young to follow in their footsteps.
While playing in a Chicago park with the boys teams, Studnicka meet a coach
that developed players for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. After that, she spent six years in the Chicago farm club until receiving a letter and a contract telling her to report for spring training
and the salary she would be getting. She returned the contract signed and attented the training camp.
At the age of 19, Studnicka joined the Grand Rapids Chicks
for the 1951 season, as part of a pitching rotation that included Mildred Earp
, Earlene Risinger
and Connie Wisniewski
. The great ballplayer Rogers Hornsby
encouraged me when I attended one of his baseball schools. I worked hard at learning the game because he believed I could do it, she recalled in an interview.
and 72 strikeout
s. Grand Rapids reached the playoffs, but lost the first round to the Rockford Peaches
. In 1953 she dropped to 11-12, while the Chicks advanced to the finals despite a losing season (50-60), only to be defeated by the South Bend Blue Sox
and Jean Faut
, who won Game 3 and decisive Game 5.
Studnicka went 12-13 in 1953, her last season in the league, and the Chicks enjoyed another trip to the playoffs.
at the helm, faced their nemesis Rockford Peaches in the first round of the playoffs in a best-of-three series.
In Game 1, Rockford scored early and defeated the visiting Chicks, 9–2, to win the opener. The Peaches lined 13 hits off Grand Rapids starter Eleanor Moore
. Studnicka came from the bullpen
for long relief
in a lost cause.
The action shifted to Grand Rapids home ballpark for Game 2, and Earlene Risinger silenced the Peaches' bats to just two measly hits en route to a complete game
, 2–0 shutout
.
In Game 3, Grand Rapids starter Dorothy Mueller
pitched well enough to beat Rockford, 4–3, and the Chicks advanced to the Championship Series to face the Kalamazoo Lassies
, who defeated the Fort Wayne Daisies
in the other first round series games.
In Game 1, Studnicka started for Grand Rapids and allowed only two runs in eight innings of work. With the score tied 2–2 going into the fourth inning, the Chicks scored three runs off Lassies’ pitcher Gloria Cordes
. A tie-breaking sacrifice fly
by Alma Ziegler
scored Dolores Moore
, and another RBI sacrifice fly Inez Voyce
put the Chicks up 4–2. A RBI single by Joyce Ricketts
extended the lead to 5–2. When the Lassies first two batters reached base in the final inning, manager English promptly brought in reliever Eleanor Moore, who retired the next three batters in order. She struck out Isabel Alvarez
for the first out, retired Dorothy Schroeder
with a pop fly to shortstop
Ziegler, and beat June Peppas
with a sharp grounder to second basewoman Dolores Moore who threw to Voyce at first base for the final out of the game. Studnicka was the winning pitcher and Cordes the loser, while Moore earned the save
.
In Kalamazoo, with cold weather around 40 degrees and windy, both teams’ managers agreed to play the Game 2 in just seven innings. Grand Rapids starter Risinger dominated the Lassies, 4–1, aided by a two-run double in the sixth inning by Ricketts. Doris Sams
lined a home run for the Lassies only run.
, but widowed again after 31 years with that partner. Throughout her life, Studnicka has been active in bowling
, softball
and golf
. She also embroiders quilt
s and is a hospital and hospice volunteer. A grandmother of seven, she is currently living in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
.
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:...
. Studnicka batted and threw right-handed. She was affectively nicknamed ML.
Early life
Studnicka was born in Oak Lawn, IllinoisOak Lawn, Illinois
Oak Lawn is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 55,245 at the 2000 census.Oak Lawn is a suburb of the city of Chicago, located southwest of the city...
, a suburb southwest of Chicago. She was the only girl of eight children into the family of John and Marie Studnička [stood'-nih-kuh], of Slovak
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
ancestry. At early age, she moved with her family to a farm in Palos Park, Illinois
Palos Park, Illinois
Palos Park is an affluent village, in southwestern Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,689 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Palos Park is located at ....
. She was interested in participing in baseball, thanks to her brothers, and she was never too young to follow in their footsteps.
While playing in a Chicago park with the boys teams, Studnicka meet a coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
that developed players for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. After that, she spent six years in the Chicago farm club until receiving a letter and a contract telling her to report for spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
and the salary she would be getting. She returned the contract signed and attented the training camp.
At the age of 19, Studnicka joined the Grand Rapids Chicks
Grand Rapids Chicks
The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winning championships in 1947 and 1953....
for the 1951 season, as part of a pitching rotation that included Mildred Earp
Mildred Earp
Mildred Earp [Mid or Millie] is a former female pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 6", 135 lb., she batted and threw right handed....
, Earlene Risinger
Earlene Risinger
Helen Earlene Risinger was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 6' 2", 137 lb., she batted and threw right-handed....
and Connie Wisniewski
Connie Wisniewski
Constance Wisniewski was a starting pitcher and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
. The great ballplayer Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby, Sr. , nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the St. Louis Cardinals , New York Giants , Boston Braves , Chicago Cubs , and St. Louis Browns...
encouraged me when I attended one of his baseball schools. I worked hard at learning the game because he believed I could do it, she recalled in an interview.
AAGPBL career
In her rookie season, Studnicka won her first twelve starts before losing her first game. She finished with a 15-5 mark in 23 appearances, compiling a .750 winning percentageWinning 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 72 strikeout
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....
s. Grand Rapids reached the playoffs, but lost the first round to the 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....
. In 1953 she dropped to 11-12, while the Chicks advanced to the finals despite a losing season (50-60), only to be defeated by the 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 Jean Faut
Jean Faut
Jean Anna Faut [Winsch/Eastman] is a former female starting pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 137 lb., she batted and threw right handed....
, who won Game 3 and decisive Game 5.
Studnicka went 12-13 in 1953, her last season in the league, and the Chicks enjoyed another trip to the playoffs.
First round
The Grand Rapids Chicks, with Woody EnglishWoody English
Elwood George "Woody" English was an American shortstop who played in Major League Baseball for twelve seasons with the Chicago Cubs and the Brooklyn Dodgers.- Early life :...
at the helm, faced their nemesis Rockford Peaches in the first round of the playoffs in a best-of-three series.
In Game 1, Rockford scored early and defeated the visiting Chicks, 9–2, to win the opener. The Peaches lined 13 hits off Grand Rapids starter Eleanor Moore
Eleanor Moore
Eleanor Moore [Warner] is a former pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 10", Moore batted and threw right-handed...
. Studnicka came from the bullpen
Bullpen
In baseball, the bullpen is the area where relief pitchers warm-up before entering a game. Depending on the ballpark, it may be situated in foul territory along the baselines or just beyond the outfield fence. Also, a team's roster of relief pitchers is metonymically referred to as "the bullpen"...
for long relief
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...
in a lost cause.
The action shifted to Grand Rapids home ballpark for Game 2, and Earlene Risinger silenced the Peaches' bats to just two measly hits en route to a complete game
Complete game
In baseball, a complete game is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher.As demonstrated by the charts below, in the early 20th century, it was common for most good Major League Baseball pitchers to pitch a complete game almost every start. Pitchers were...
, 2–0 shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
.
In Game 3, Grand Rapids starter Dorothy Mueller
Dorothy Mueller
Dorothy Mueller [Bajda] was a pitcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the and seasons. Listed at 5' 11", 160 lb., Mueller batted and threw right handed...
pitched well enough to beat Rockford, 4–3, and the Chicks advanced to the Championship Series to face the Kalamazoo Lassies
Kalamazoo Lassies
The Kalamazoo Lassies were a team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team represented Kalamazoo, Michigan. Home games were initially played at Lindstrom Field, but later games were played at the Catholic Athletic Association Field, now the...
, who defeated the 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...
in the other first round series games.
Championship Series
In the final series, The Grand Rapids Chicks swept the Kalamazoo Lassies in the best of three game set, by the scores of 5–2 and 4–1.In Game 1, Studnicka started for Grand Rapids and allowed only two runs in eight innings of work. With the score tied 2–2 going into the fourth inning, the Chicks scored three runs off Lassies’ pitcher Gloria Cordes
Gloria Cordes
Gloria Cordes [Elliott] is a former starting pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
. A tie-breaking sacrifice fly
Sacrifice fly
In baseball, a sacrifice fly is a batted ball that satisfies four criteria:* There are fewer than two outs when the ball is hit.* The ball is hit to the outfield....
by Alma Ziegler
Alma Ziegler
Alma Ziegler was an infielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 3", 125 lb., Ziegler batted and threw right-handed....
scored Dolores Moore
Dolores Moore
Dolores Moore [″Dee″] was an infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 153 lb., she batted and threw right handed....
, and another RBI sacrifice fly Inez Voyce
Inez Voyce
Inez Ferne Voyce [Lefty] is a former first basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
put the Chicks up 4–2. A RBI single by Joyce Ricketts
Joyce Ricketts
Joyce Ricketts [״Rick״] was a right fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted left handed and threw right handed....
extended the lead to 5–2. When the Lassies first two batters reached base in the final inning, manager English promptly brought in reliever Eleanor Moore, who retired the next three batters in order. She struck out Isabel Alvarez
Isabel Álvarez
Isabel Álvarez [Lefty] is a former female pitcher and outfielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the and seasons...
for the first out, retired Dorothy Schroeder
Dorothy Schroeder
Dorothy Schroeder [″Dottie″] was a shortstop who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 7", 150 lb., Schroeder batted and threw right-handed...
with a pop fly to shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
Ziegler, and beat June Peppas
June Peppas
June Peppas is a former first basewoman and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 5", 145 lb., she batted and threw left-handed.-Early life:...
with a sharp grounder to second basewoman Dolores Moore who threw to Voyce at first base for the final out of the game. Studnicka was the winning pitcher and Cordes the loser, while Moore earned the save
Save (sport)
In baseball, a save is credited to a pitcher who finishes a game for the winning team under certain prescribed circumstances. The number of saves, or percentage of save opportunities successfully converted, is an oft-cited statistic of relief pitchers...
.
In Kalamazoo, with cold weather around 40 degrees and windy, both teams’ managers agreed to play the Game 2 in just seven innings. Grand Rapids starter Risinger dominated the Lassies, 4–1, aided by a two-run double in the sixth inning by Ricketts. Doris Sams
Doris Sams
Doris Jane Sams [Sammye] is a former female outfielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 9", 145 lbs., she batted and threw right handed....
lined a home run for the Lassies only run.
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% | 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... | ER 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... | 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.... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78 | 38 | 30 | .559 | 2.39 | 546 | 145 | 226 | 196 |
Life after baseball
Following her baseball career, Studnicka married and had three daughters. She worked for a Chicago bank and began with the Chicago Police Department in 1962 as a fingerprint technician. When her husband died she married for the second time and moved to ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, but widowed again after 31 years with that partner. Throughout her life, Studnicka has been active in bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. She also embroiders quilt
Quilt
A quilt is a type of bed cover, traditionally composed of three layers of fiber: a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding and a woven back, combined using the technique of quilting. “Quilting” refers to the technique of joining at least two fabric layers by stitches or ties...
s and is a hospital and hospice volunteer. A grandmother of seven, she is currently living in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Hot Springs Village is a census-designated place in Garland and Saline counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As it is situated in two counties, it is also part of two metropolitan statistical areas...
.