Joanne Weaver
Joanne Weaver | |
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Right field | |
Born: Metropolis, Illinois | December 19, 1935|
Died: March 19, 2000 Metropolis, Illinois | (aged 64)|
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
Teams | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
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Joanne "Joltin' Jo" Weaver (December 19, 1935 – March 19, 2000) was a right fielder who played from 1951 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 142 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.[1][2]
Overview profile
One of the most talented hitters in AAGPBL history, Joanne Weaver was the youngest of three sisters to play for the
Early life
A native of
AAGPBL career
Joanne Weaver debuted at third base with the Daisies in the 1951 season. She hit .276 in 53 games, showing a smooth, quick swing with good speed and above average base running instincts. Her fielding was the only skill lacking. Meanwhile, her sister Betty won batting titles in back-to-back seasons in 1950 and 1951, helping Fort Wayne to make the playoffs in these years.[2][8]
Weaver's performance exploded in her second season. After moving to right field in 1952, she led all hitters with a .344 average, surpassing her sister Betty (.331), who led five offensive categories and earned the Player of the Year Award, while Joanne did not rank high in any other category. Both sisters were selected for the All-Star Team and helped Fort Wayne advance to the playoffs.[2][8]
Weaver improved her fielding considerably in 1953, when she finished the year with a .952 average. Her hitting stayed about the same, which was good enough to win another batting title with a .346 average, ending second to Betty in
During the 1954 midseason the AAGPBL reduced the
The Fort Wayne Daisies advanced to the best-of-five game Championship Series. Previously in the playoffs, the Kalamazoo Lassies dispatched the South Bend Blue Sox in three games and Fort Wayne did the same with the Grand Rapids Chicks.[3][8]
1954 Championship Title
In Game 1 of the AAGPBL Series, the Kalamazoo Lassies defeated the Fort Wayne Daisies 17–9 behind a four-hit, seven strong innings from June Peppas, who also helped herself by hitting 2-for-4, including one home run. Her teammates Carol Habben and Fern Shollenberger also slugged one each, while Chris Ballingall added a grand slam. Katie Horstman connected two home runs for the Daisies in a lost cause and Joanne Weaver slugged one. Pitching star Maxine Kline, who had posted an 18–7 record with a 3.23 ERA during the regular season, gave up 11 runs in six innings and was credited with the loss.
In Game 3, the Daisies won the Lassies, 8–7, fueled again by a heavy hitting by Joanne Weaver, who hit a double, a triple and a three-run home run in five at bats, driving in four runs. Peppas went 1-for-4 to spark a seventh inning three-run rally, but Fort Wayne came back in the bottom of the inning with two two runs that marked the difference. Cordes relieved with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, but did not allow any damage for the remainder of the game.
In other close score, the Lassies evened the Series in Game 4 with a victory over the Daisies, 6–5. Cordes started again with her team against the wall, 2-to-1. This time properly warmed up, she hurled a complete game, allowing five runs on nine hits. Habben drove in two runs who marked the difference, while Kline suffered her second loss of the Series. Peppas contributed with a single, a double and one RBI in four at-bats.
In decisive Game 5, Peppas pitched a clutch complete game and went 3-for-5 with an RBI against her former Daisies team, winning by an 8–5 margin to give the Lassies the Championship title in the AAGPBL's last ever game. She received support from Balingall (3-for-4) and Schroeder, who drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eight. Peppas finished with a .450 average and collected two of the three Lassies victories, to become the winning pitcher of the last game in the league's history.[3][10][11][12]
The sisters Foss-Weaver were able to win the final five batting championships of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and two Player of the Year awards. With Helen Callaghan winning the batting title in 1945, the Fort Wayne Daisies amassed six batting crowns to set a league record. But while Fort Wayne made the playoffs in the last seven seasons of the league, the team struggled in the post-season and never won a Championship Title. In 1952 and 1953, the Daisies were knocked out in the first round after posting the best regular-season record.[8]
Bill Allington All-Stars
Once the league disbanded in 1954, Joanne Weaver was one of eleven players selected by former Daisies manager Bill Allington to play in the national touring team known as the All-Americans. The Allington All-Stars played 100 games between 1954 and 1958, each booked in a different town, against male teams, while traveling over 10,000 miles in the manager's station wagon and a Ford Country Sedan. Besides Weaver, the All-Americans included her sister Betty Foss, Joan Berger, Gloria Cordes, Jeanie Descombes, Gertrude Dunn, Jean Geissinger, Mary Froning, Katie Horstman, Maxine Kline, Dolores Lee, Magdalen Redman, Ruth Richard, Jean Smith, Dorothy Schroeder and Dolly Vanderlip, among others.[13][14][15]
Life after baseball
Following her baseball career, Joanne Weaver lived in
In 1990 Joanne moved back to her hometown of
Career statistics
Batting
GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | TB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
OPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
329 | 1220 | 226 | 438 | 52 | 17 | 38 | 234 | 174 | 638 | 93 | 89 | .359 | .404 | .523 | .927 |
Fielding
GP | PO |
A | E | TC | DP | FA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
319 | 552 | 40 | 43 | 635 | 10 | .932 |
Sources
- ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
- ^ a b c d e f "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - Joanne Weaver page".
- ^ a b c d "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League History".
- ^ a b The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
- ^ "Jeanne Weaver obituary (Paducah Sun)". Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - Betty Weaver Foss page". Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - Jean Weaver page Archived 2011-06-15 at the Wayback Machine, aagpbl.org; accessed July 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Records".
- ^ "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Rules of Play". Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
- ^ "1954 AAGPBL Championship Title". Archived from the original on 2010-06-23. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ^ "SABR Biography Project - Article by Jim Sargent". Archived from the original on 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ISBN 0-275-94735-1
- ^ Biographical Dictionary of American Sports
- ^ "Katie Horstman biography". Archived from the original on 2022-11-25. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ^ "The Diamond Angle – An interview with Jean Weaver". Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2010-05-04.