Doris Sams
Doris Sams | ||
---|---|---|
Runs batted in 286 | | |
Win–loss record | 64–47 | |
Earned run average | 2.16 | |
Teams | ||
| ||
Career highlights and awards | ||
|
Doris Jane Sams (February 2, 1927 – June 28, 2012), nicknamed "Sammye", was an American outfielder and pitcher who played from 1946 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 145 lbs., she batted and threw right-handed.[2][3]
Early life
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Doris was the only daughter of Robert and Pauline Sams. She grew up in a home where baseball was considered of vital importance. Her grandfather was a semi-professional hurler who taught her how to pitch, while her father was a semi-professional center fielder who taught her how to catch and field. Athletically inclined, she started playing sports at an early age with the assistance of her brothers Paul and Robert Jr. She started playing softball with older girls in 1938 when she was 11, helping her softball team win the state championship in seven of the next eight years, and representing Tennessee in a national tournament in 1941. She later played for the Nelson's Cafe club, until the Pepsi Cola Company bought it. She stayed with the Pepsi Cola team until 1946, winning three championships with them before starting her career in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.[3][4]
AAGPBL career
At age 19, Sams entered the AAGPBL in
The first AAGPBL
In
As hurlers adapted to the new pitching style, batting averages declined even more during the 1949 season. Sams won the batting crown with a .279 mark, as she repeated as Player of the Year to become the first player in the league to twice win player of the year honors. She won the batting title race by a single point over Wisniewski and led the circuit with 114 hits (one more hit than Wisniewski), but was not among the leaders in any other offensive category. As a pitcher, Sams had a 15–10 mark with a 1.58 ERA and finished 8th in ERA, tied for 7th in wins and tied for 8th in shutouts. On July 14 of that season, she hurled a one-hitter, 3–1 victory against South Bend and helped herself with two hits and one RBI. Then, on August 19 she defeated again South Bend on a three-hit shutout, 2–0, while hitting a single with a run scored. All pitchers were led by Jean Faut of the South Bend Blue Sox, who went 24–8 with 120 strikeouts a 1.58 ERA, and Lois Florreich of the Rockford Peaches, who posted a 22–7 record with 210 strikeouts (a league high) and a minuscule 0.67 ERA, to set an all-time season record for lowest ERA in the league's history. Sams made the All-Star Team for a second time while Muskegon, managed by Carson Bigbee, had a fifth-best record of 46–66 and advanced to the playoffs. The Belles took the first round from Kenosha but were swept in the semi-finals by South Bend.[2][3][5][8]
The AAGPBL used a livelier ball in 1950. As a result, offensive levels augmented significantly in all cases with more hits, scoring more runs and hitting four times as many home runs as they did in previous seasons. That year, Sams began a string of four consecutive seasons with a batting average over .300. She finished 5th in the batting race with a .301 average, was 3rd in slugging (.419), and tied for 5th in home runs (4). It was the last season she pitched on a regular basis, going 12–13 with a 2.60 ERA, as she made her third All-Star Team. During the midseason, poor attendance in Muskegon forced the movement of the struggling Lassies to Kalamazoo, Michigan. The change of scenery did not help, as the now Kalamazoo Lassies finished in the cellar with the worst record of the league (36-73-2). Bonnie Baker, catcher for South Bend early in the season, joined the Kalamazoo team as player-manager in a short stint for her, because the following year the league passed a rule banning female managers.[2][3][5][8]
In 1951, Sams allowed 13 hits and 11 runs in her final three innings of work on the mound, though her offensive production remained consistent. She ranked 6th in average (.306) and 9th in total bases (135), tying for 4th in doubles (16) and for 8th in hits (109). She added two homers, 40 runs and 33 RBI in 97 games, and also earned a fourth selection to the All-Star Team. The Lassies posted a measly record of 34–75 and finished in 7th place (out of 8th in the league).[9]
Sams enjoyed a career-season in 1952, when she led the circuit with 12 home runs and finished third in average (.314) in 109 games. She also was second in hits (128), doubles (25) and total bases (195), and ended third in RBI (57) in her last year as an All-Star Team, while Kalamazoo finished 5th of six teams with a 49–60 record. During a double-header sweep of Grand Rapids in June, she homered in both games, including a two-run blast in a four-hit, 3–0 shutout by Ruth Williams in game one, and a solo homer in a seven-hit, 2–1 victory of Gloria Cordes in the nightcap. With her 12 dingers, Sams broke the league's all-time home run record of 10 set in 1943 by Racine's Eleanor Dapkus. That mark would be eclipsed in 1954 by Fort Wayne's Joanne Weaver, when she hit 29 home runs during what turned out to be the league's final season.[3][5]
In 1953 Sams played her last season in the AAGPBL. She appeared in 46 games and hit .312 (54-for-173), including 23 runs, seven extrabases and 22 RBI.[2]
In an eight-year career, Sams was a .290 hitter in 271 games and posted a 64–47 record with a 2.16 ERA as a pitcher.[3]
Batting statistics
GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | BA | SLG
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
271 | 2485 | 290 | 720 | 82 | 23 | 22 | 286 | 914 | .290 | .368 |
Life after baseball
Following her baseball career, Sams returned home and accepted a good job offer as computer operator for the Knoxville Utility Board, where she worked for 25 years, retiring in 1979.[3]
Sams, who never married, was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Knoxville Hall of Fame in 1982. She also is part of the AAGPBL permanent display at the
She was inducted into *National Women's Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012. [1]
AAGPBL perfect games
Pitcher(s) | Season | Team | Opponent |
---|---|---|---|
Annabelle Lee | 1944 | Minneapolis Millerettes | Kenosha Comets |
Carolyn Morris | 1945 | Rockford Peaches | Fort Wayne Daisies |
Doris Sams | 1947 | Muskegon Lassies | Fort Wayne Daisies |
Jean Faut | 1951 | South Bend Blue Sox | Rockford Peaches |
Jean Faut | 1953 | South Bend Blue Sox | Kalamazoo Lassies |
Sources
- ^ a b "National Women's Baseball Hall of Fame inductees". Archived from the original on 2010-02-27. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - Doris Sams page".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Baseball Almanac – Doris Sams: Knoxville's All-American All-Star Outfielder and Pitcher by Jim Sargent".
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3747-4
- ^ a b c d e f g "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League History". Archived from the original on 2009-08-28.
- ^ 1947 Muskegon Lassies Archived September 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "SABR Project – June Peppas biography by Jim Sargent". Archived from the original on 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
- ^ a b c d "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Rules". Archived from the original on 2010-09-17.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3747-4
- ISBN 978-0-313-29884-4
- ISBN 978-1-60487-014-5
- ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book – W. C. Madden