Betty Wagoner

Betty Ann Wagoner (July 15, 1930 – May 9, 2006) was an American

A native of Lebanon, Missouri, Wagoner was a 1948 graduate of Bolivar High School. She started to play softball in Phillipsburg on the boy's softball team in grade school and later joined the girls' softball team at Bolivar, playing also for the YWCA team of Springfield during two summers.^[1]

Wagoner read about the AAGPBL in Life magazine when she was 12 years old. "I told my parents that someday I'd like to play in that league (if I was good enough),", she recalled in an interview. After graduating at 17, she attended a tryout at Chicago. She passed the test and was rewarded with a contract to play in the circuit.^[1]

Career

Wagoner entered the league with the Lassies, playing for them only four days before joining South Bend for the rest of her career. In her rookie season, she hit a combined .278 (69-for-284) in 84 games for both teams. South Bend, with

In 1949 Wagoner became the right fielder of South Bend. She appeared in a career-high 113 games and hit .230 (87-for-379), scoring 58 runs while driving in 26 more. Throughout the regular season, South Bend, now managed by Dave Bancroft, waged an up-and-down battle with Rockford for first place. Although South Bend had a four-game lead in August, both clubs tied with identical records of 75–36 at the end of the year. In the playoffs, Rockford eliminated South Bend in four straight games. By edict of league president Max Carey, the playoff victory also made Rockford the regular season champion team.^[1][3][4]

By 1950 the advantage began to shift toward the batter. That year, most pitchers were still adjusting to the new 10-inch ball introduced the previous season. Also, the pitching distance, set at 43 feet before 1948 and increased to 50 feet in 1949, was augmented to 55 feet in 1950.

While South Bend placed third in the first-half standings, the team finished first in the second half, thus giving them a playoff berth. Their complete season record of 75 and 36 was best in the league in 1951, and the Blue Sox would end the season battling Rockford in the best-of-five championship round. The defending AAGPBL champion Rockford won the first two games, but South Bend won the next three games to clinch the title. Faut collected two of the victories, while Wagoner led all-hitters with a .600 average (6-for-10).[6]

But everything came to a head in 1952, because South Bend manager Winsch became more demanding of his players. That season was to see Faut again lead the league in several pitching categories. She posted a 20–2 record in 23 games to set an all-time record in winning percentage (.909). She also recorded a career-best 0.93 ERA and led all pitchers with 114 strikeouts, but the fact that her husband managed the team created friction between Faut and many of her teammates. Meanwhile, Wagoner raised her average to .295, including 64 runs and 27 RBI in 97 games. Nevertheless, some of the players bristled under Winsch's leadership, many of them refusing to speak to him or their star pitcher. Dissension within the South Bend team peaked just before the season ended, when flashy infielder Charlene Pryer was disciplined following a dispute with Winsch. The incident occurred when he suspended Pryer from the team after she responded slowly to his order to pinch-run late in a game. In protest, five South Bend teammates joined Pryer in a walkout, leaving Winsch's team short-handed for the playoffs. Pryer was reinstated at the club, but she decided to retire for good. The championship series was a repeat of the previous year with South Bend again facing Rockford. It was the second league championship for South Bend and the second time Faut pitched the decisive Game 5. She also hit two triples and drove in two runs while turning in a 6–3 complete game victory.^[5]

In 1953 South Bend was weakened considerably by the player losses at the end of the previous season. The Blue Sox would finish the second from last, compiling a dismal 45–65 record. Wagoner dropped to .239 (84-for-352), driving in 27 runs while scoring 42 times in 97 games. In spite of everything that had gone wrong, Faut still turned in a solid season by leading the league in wins (17), strikeouts (153) and ERA (1.51) in 29 games, to win the

Wagoner saw limited action in 1954, but she still batting for average and went 48-for-150 to collect a .320 mark in just only 48 games, joining the All-Star team as a reserve outfielder. South Bend finished second (48–44) and advanced to the playoffs, but was beaten in the first round by the Kalamazoo Lassies, who would end the season defeating Fort Wayne to become the winning team of the last championship in the league's history.^[1][3]

Later life

Following her baseball career, Wagoner took a job at

Wagoner was a longtime resident of South Bend, Indiana, where she died, aged 75, from undisclosed causes. She was survived by one sister, three nieces, two nephews, and a large extended family.^[1][3]

Sources