Irene Ruhnke

Irene Ruhnke (later Sanvitis; March 30, 1920 – July 13, 1999) was an infielder and outfielder who played from 1943 through 1947 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m), 130 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed ״Ruhnke Dunk״.

Born in

Following her baseball career, she spent the rest of her life in Rockford, Illinois, where she married and had two sons. She worked as a machine operator for 27 years at J. L. Clark Corp., from which she retired in 1985. She died on July 13, 1999, aged 79, at the Swedish American Hospital in Rockford after a brief illness.^[1]

In 1988, Ruhnke became part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the

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