Lois Barker
Lois Barker | |
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Right field | |
Born: Dover, New Jersey | April 7, 1923|
Died: February 14, 2018 Morristown, New Jersey | (aged 94)|
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
Teams | |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Lois Anna "Tommie" Barker (April 7, 1923 – February 14, 2018) was a utility player who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) during the 1950 season. Listed at 5 ft 3 in, 130 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.[1][2]
Born in Dover, New Jersey, Barker was one of seven girls in a nine-sibling family. While growing up in Chester Borough, she used to watch her father coach baseball teams and her brother's career as an Olympic track athlete.[3]
In an interview, Barker recalled catching batting practice for a local men's team when she was eight years old. She admitted to growing up "more boy than girl". The reason, she explained matter-of-factly, stems from the nickname she received as an infant – Tommie. In fact, her family thought she would be a boy and had a name all picked out, Thomas Henry. As she told the story, her brothers and sisters, when passing her crib, would exclaim, "There's our Tommie!", and the name stuck.[3]
Barker graduated from Roxbury High School, where she played softball.[4] She started to play in organized leagues and tournaments in 1947 with the Chester Farmerettes, being able to play all positions except catcher. In one game, she turned an unassisted triple play while playing at shortstop. After making the league at tryouts held in Irvington, she signed a contract and went to the AAGPBL rookie camp in South Bend, Indiana.[5]
Barker entered the league in 1950 with the
Following her baseball career, Barker took a job in a company connected with the aerospace industry, working at all the way from entry level to supervisor during 40 years, until her retirement in 1990. She also played softball for about ten years after she obtained permission to play amateur sports again.[5][7]
Barker is part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the
After retirement, Barker focused much of her time and energy visiting friends and family and traveling to reunions of the AAGPBL Players Association. Besides this, she spent countless hours responding to request for autographs and corresponding with young athletes interested in hearing of her days in the league.[3] She lived in Chester Borough, New Jersey, and loved to watch baseball and travel.[7][9]
Barker died February 14, 2018, in Morristown, New Jersey.[10]
Career statistics
Batting
GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
32 | 64 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 15 | .125 | .200 |
Fielding
GP | PO |
A | E | TC | DP | FA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 0 | .944 |
Sources
- ^ "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Lois Barker". Archived from the original on 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
- ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
- ^ a b c "New Jersey Baseball Magazine – Lois Barker: All-American Jersey Girl". Archived from the original on 2011-04-08. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ^ Aun, Fred J. "67 Years After Her Season in Pro Baseball, a Roxbury Grad Gets an Award" Archived 2018-05-24 at the Wayback Machine, TAP into Roxbury, February 17, 2017. Accessed May 23, 2018. "Lois 'Tommie' Barker, a Roxbury High School graduate who went on to play in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, was honored recently by the Ledgewood-based chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)."
- ^ a b "The Diamond Angle – An interview with Lois Barker". Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ^ 1950 Grand Rapids Chicks Archived 2019-03-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
- ^ a b c The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
- ^ "Chester Historical Society website". Archived from the original on 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ISBN 1-60487-014-1
- ^ "Lois Barker Obituary". Archived from the original on 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2018-02-16.