Inez Voyce
Inez Voyce | |
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First base | |
Born: Rathbun, Iowa, U.S. | August 16, 1924|
Died: July 26, 2022 Santa Monica, California, U.S. | (aged 97)|
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
debut | |
1946 | |
Last appearance | |
1953 | |
Teams | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
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Inez Ferne Voyce (August 16, 1924 – July 26, 2022), nicknamed Lefty, was a
Early life
A native of
After graduating, Voyce enlisted as an apprentice in the
AAGPBL career
In 1946 Voyce hit a .210
Voyce continued to improve in 1948, ending with 52 RBI, 46 runs, 99 hits and a .227 average in 126 games. In 1949, in a pitching dominated league, she hit .257 (0.021 behind champion bat Doris Sams) with three home runs and 53 RBI while scoring 51 runs in 113 games. She shared the home run title with Thelma Eisen and Audrey Wagner and finished second in RBI. The defending champion Chicks won the first round of the playoffs but lost in the semi-finals.
In 1950 Voyce raised her average to .292 and collected career-numbers in RBI (66) and games (113). The next year she hit .285 in 106 games, including 43 runs and 49 RBI. Her most productive season came in 1952, when she posted career-highs in average (.295), home runs (10), hits (115), and runs scored (57) in 107 games, while driving in 54 runs. At this point, Grand Rapids qualified for the playoffs each season, but failed in the first round in 1950 and lost the finals to South Bend in 1951 and 1952. Voyce dropped to .269 in 1953, her final season with the Chicks, but produced 103 hits, 55 runs and 60 RBI. For the seven consecutive year, she appeared in at least 104 games (112) and reached the playoffs.[1][5][6]
1953 AAGPBL Playoffs
First round
The Grand Rapids Chicks, with Woody English at the helm, faced the 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. In Game 2, 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.[5][7]
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
Highlights
In an eight-year career, Voyce posted a .256 average in 894 games,
Batting statistics
GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
OPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
894 | 3047 | 386 | 781 | 81 | 28 | 28 | 422 | 168 | 480 | 144 | .256 | .358 | .329 | .687 |
Life after baseball
Following her baseball retirement, Voyce worked for a small company for 32 years because of the skills she had acquired at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. After retiring she took up golf.[4] Voyce died in Santa Monica, California on July 26, 2022, at the age of 97.[11][12]
Sources
- ^ a b c d e f "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player page". Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ISBN 0-275-94735-1
- ISBN 978-0-313-29884-4
- ^ a b c d "The Diamond Angle – An interview by Lou Parrotta". Archived from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ a b c "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League teams". Archived from the original on 2010-03-04. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ a b "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League records". Archived from the original on 2009-09-07.
- ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League History Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
- ^ Baseball Historian – 1953 AAGPBL Championship Series Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
- ^ "Obituary: Inez "Lefty" Voyce". AGB. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "Inez Voyce obituary". Neptune Society. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.