Millie Deegan
Encyclopedia
Mildred Eleanor Deegan was an American
pitcher
and second baseman
who played ten seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
, from to .
, Gloria Cordes
, Nancy Mudge
, Betty Trezza
and Margaret Wigiser
. Born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
, she was a star athlete at Abraham Lincoln High School and in 1935 was the "champion woman baseball thrower" in New York City
. She learned baseball from her father, coach of the Brooklyn Bloomer Girls team. As a teenager she placed second behind Babe Didrikson Zaharias
in the javelin throw in the national meet before the 1936 Summer Olympics
. However, at 16 she was too young. Later, she played fastpitch softball
for the New York Americanettes in 1938-39. In 1939 her batting average was .406. That year she was the guest of New York City
Mayor Fiorello La Guardia (along with other celebrities) at the opening day of the New York World's Fair
. She played later with the Manhattan Beach Girls, who competed in the Metropolitan League in Madison Square Garden
. Deegan gained the nickname of "the Babe Ruth of Women's Softball" when she hit a 250-foot home run inside the building. Babe Ruth, the only other player ever to hit a home run inside the Garden, was in attendance, and posed for a photograph with her, squeezing her biceps.
. She played for the Peaches until midway through the season, when she was traded to the Kenosha Comets
, beginning a four-year stretch in which she played for six teams. In Deegan was with the Comets and Springfield Sallies
, from through part of the season she played with the Fort Wayne Daisies
. She finished the season with the Peoria Redwings
before ending her career in , returning to the Rockford franchise. Her managers and coaches included former big-leaguers Max Carey
, Jimmie Foxx
, Bill Wamby and Marty McManus
. Deegan also worked as the league's official photographer.
As a pitcher, she gave up the winning run to the Racine Belles
in the final game of the 1946 Shaughnessy series but had a lifetime earned run average
of 2.36. Her career batting average was .260.
In , the Brooklyn Dodgers
brought Deegan and two other women players to the team's spring training camp at Bear Mountain, New York. She was given permission to travel with the team from manager Leo Durocher
but was not allowed to step on the field. However after retrieving a foul ball during an exhibition game, one of the coaches gave her a fungo bat and let her bat infield practice. Durocher was quoted as saying that "...if we run out of men, Millie will be the first on the team...if she were a man, she no doubt would have been a Dodger."
, North Carolina
, and New Jersey
. She also worked for the Western Electric Corporation in Elizabeth, New Jersey
. She served as a coach for a semi-professional women's softball team for 22 years (1958–79) and as a coach at Middlesex County College
in the late 1970s. Deegan moved to Florida in 1976 and died at the age of 82 following a two-year battle with breast cancer.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
and second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
who played ten seasons 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:...
, from to .
Background
Deegan was one of 25 players who made the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League clubs hailed from New York City and State, including Muriel BevisMuriel Bevis
Muriel Bevis [″Breezy″] was a female outfielder and pitcher who played in All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season. Bevis batted and threw left-handed. She was born in Corona, Queens, New York City....
, Gloria Cordes
Gloria Cordes
Gloria Cordes [Elliott] is a former starting pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
, Nancy Mudge
Nancy Mudge
Nancy Mudge [Cato] is a former second basewoman who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 120 lb., Mudge batted and threw right handed. She was nicknamed ″Smudgie″....
, Betty Trezza
Betty Trezza
Betty Trezza [″Moe″] was an American professional baseball player. An infield and outfield utility, she played from through for four different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League....
and Margaret Wigiser
Margaret Wigiser
Margaret M. Wigiser [Wiggie] is a former center fielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League...
. Born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of...
, she was a star athlete at Abraham Lincoln High School and in 1935 was the "champion woman baseball thrower" in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She learned baseball from her father, coach of the Brooklyn Bloomer Girls team. As a teenager she placed second behind Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Babe Zaharias
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was an American athlete who achieved outstanding success in golf, basketball, and track and field...
in the javelin throw in the national meet before the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
. However, at 16 she was too young. Later, she played fastpitch softball
Fastpitch softball
Fast-pitch softball is a form of softball played commonly by women and men, though coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. The International Softball Federation is the international governing body of softball...
for the New York Americanettes in 1938-39. In 1939 her batting average was .406. That year she was the guest of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor Fiorello La Guardia (along with other celebrities) at the opening day of the New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
. She played later with the Manhattan Beach Girls, who competed in the Metropolitan League in Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. Deegan gained the nickname of "the Babe Ruth of Women's Softball" when she hit a 250-foot home run inside the building. Babe Ruth, the only other player ever to hit a home run inside the Garden, was in attendance, and posed for a photograph with her, squeezing her biceps.
Professional career
Deegan joined a Chicago fastpitch softball team for the American Softball Association National Tournament in 1943. She was soon signed by the league to play for the Rockford PeachesRockford 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....
. She played for the Peaches until midway through the season, when she was traded to the 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...
, beginning a four-year stretch in which she played for six teams. In Deegan was with the Comets and Springfield Sallies
Springfield Sallies
The Springfield Sallies were a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the season. The team represented Springfield, Illinois, and played their games at Lanphier Ball Park....
, from through part of the season she played with 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...
. She finished the season with the Peoria Redwings
Peoria Redwings
The Peoria Redwings were a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the season. The team represented Peoria, Illinois....
before ending her career in , returning to the Rockford franchise. Her managers and coaches included former big-leaguers Max Carey
Max Carey
Max George Carey was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who starred for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961...
, Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx
James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....
, Bill Wamby and 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:...
. Deegan also worked as the league's official photographer.
As a pitcher, she gave up the winning run to the 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:...
in the final game of the 1946 Shaughnessy series but had a lifetime 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...
of 2.36. Her career batting average was .260.
In , the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
brought Deegan and two other women players to the team's spring training camp at Bear Mountain, New York. She was given permission to travel with the team from manager Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
but was not allowed to step on the field. However after retrieving a foul ball during an exhibition game, one of the coaches gave her a fungo bat and let her bat infield practice. Durocher was quoted as saying that "...if we run out of men, Millie will be the first on the team...if she were a man, she no doubt would have been a Dodger."
Retirement
After retiring from baseball Deegan worked as a commercial photographer in MiamiMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. She also worked for the Western Electric Corporation in Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
. She served as a coach for a semi-professional women's softball team for 22 years (1958–79) and as a coach at Middlesex County College
Middlesex County College
Middlesex County College is a community college with its main campus located in Edison, New Jersey, United States. The two-year college serves the needs of Middlesex County, as well as surrounding communities. There are two urban campuses located in New Brunswick and Perth Amboy.The college was...
in the late 1970s. Deegan moved to Florida in 1976 and died at the age of 82 following a two-year battle with breast cancer.
External links
- Short biography at Baseball-Reference.com Bullpen
- Good biography at NJ Divas Fastpitch
- Short biography at the AAGPBL web site
- Obituary
- "Three Views of Millie Deegan"