Thelma Eisen

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Thelma Eisen
Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
debut
1944
Last appearance
1952
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Thelma "Tiby" Eisen (May 11, 1922 – May 11, 2014) was an outfielder who played from 1944 through 1952 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 130 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.[1]

Thelma Eisen was among the top players in the early years of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A durable player, Eisen averaged 107

extra base hits from opponents, offering a variety of excellent catches over a substantial period of time. Additionally, she moved from one place to another constantly, playing with four different teams and cities, as the league switched players as needed to help teams to be competitive.[1][2][3]

Brief history

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League operated between 1943 and 1954 and started with four teams: the

Madonna, Lori Petty and Rosie O'Donnell, this film brought a rejuvenated interest to the extinct league.[2][4][5][6][7]

Early life

Born in

semi-professional level by age 14, starting with the Katzenjammer Kids, named so for their manager George Katzman obviously inspired by the popular comic strip of same name.[8]

She attended

Guadalajara, Jalisco. She later applied for work at the Bank of America in Los Angeles, which sponsored a softball team where she played. By then, she was noted by Bill Allington, a former ballplayer and advanced scout for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.[10][11]

By 1944 the AAGPBL added two teams, the Milwaukee Chicks and the Minneapolis Millerettes. Eisen attended a tryout arranged by Allington, who would join the circuit for the upcoming season as manager of the Rockford team. She was one of six girls from Los Angeles who traveled to Peru, Indiana for the tryout. The girls passed the test and were rewarded with a contract to play in the league. Eisen joined the Chicks, along with Alma Ziegler, while Faye Dancer, Annabelle Lee, Lavonne Paire and Dorothy Wiltse were allocated to the Millerettes.[2][12][13]

AAGPBL career

In 1944 Eisen played outfield for the new team based in Milwaukee. The Chicks, managed by

runs batted in, while topping the AAGPBL hitters in home runs (7) and total bases (145). The one-two pitching staff was led by Kabick, who posted a 26–19 record for a .578 winning percentage and led all pitchers in wins and innings pitched (366), while Wisniewski went 23-10 (.697) with a 2.23 earned run average. The Chicks then went on to win the Championship Title, beating the Kenosha Comets in the postseason. During the seven-game series Wisniewski went 4–1 with a 0.40 ERA in five complete games, including two shutouts, two one-run games and one two-run game, winning three of four matchups with Kenosha's Helen Nicol, who finished with a 17–11 mark (.607) and had led the league with a minuscule 0.93 ERA. Eisen hit .250 in the Series, including the only home run for her team.[2][12][14][15]

By 1946 Eisen joined the expansion Peoria Redwings, stealing 128 bases for them while tying for the most triples (9) along with Racine's Eleanor Dapkus and Rockford's Rose Gacioch. She ranked ninth in average (.256), tenth in total bases (120), and finished second in stolen bases behind Racine's Sophie Kurys, who set a league single-season record with 201 steals in 203 attempts. Eisen garnered All-Star status in the process as the third outfielder behind South Bend's Elizabeth Mahon and Grand Rapids' Merle Keagle. In addition, she piloted the Redwings briefly to become the first female manager in AAGPBL history.[1][16][17]

In 1947, AAGPBL teams flew from

Afro-American to play in the Major Leagues, was training with the Dodgers for the first time. By then, city ordinances in Vero Beach, Florida, where the Dodgers normally trained, prevented blacks and whites players from competing on the same field against each other. Notably, newspaper stories from Havana indicate that the All-American girls drew larger crowds for their exhibition games at Estadio Latinoamericano than did the Dodgers. Eisen spent part of the year with Peoria, being dealt to Fort Wayne during the midseason in the same transaction that brought Faye Dancer to the Redwings. Eisen hit a combined .216 with 49 runs and 26 RBI in 111 games for both teams.[2][15][18]

Eisen would spend the rest of her career with Fort Wayne. In 1948, she batted .220 with 67 runs and 30 RBI in a career-high 121 games, ending fourth in the league with 88 stolen bases. Fort Wayne, with Dick Bass at the helm, made the playoffs and defeated the Muskegon Lassies in the first round and Grand Rapids in the semi-finals, but was beaten by Rockford in the final series, four to one games. Eisen hit .316 in the finals, collecting six of the 20 hits of the Daisies, with the rest of the team hitting a measly .108.[1][15][19]

In 1949, Eisen enjoyed the most memorable experience of her career while on an AAGPBL tour of Central and South America, as the teams were feted by both government officials and the common people. In Nicaragua, she visited the presidential palace and was greeted by the then President Anastasio Somoza. That year, she hit a low-career .184 in 109 games but belted three home runs to tie Grand Rapids' Inez Voyce and Kenosha's Audrey Wagner for the league lead.[1] [15][20][21]

By 1950 Eisen established career numbers in hits (103), runs (87) and doubles (20), while hitting a .238 average and 19 RBI in 106 games. She finished second in runs, third in doubles and tied for second in stolen bases (75). At this point, Fort Wayne, managed by Max Carey, ended second with a 62–43 mark and advanced to the playoffs. In the first round the Daisies defeated Grand Rapids, three to one games, but lost the final series to Rockford in the maximum seven games. In the first round, Eisen hit .500 (7-for-14) but slumped to .148 in the finals.[1][15][22]

Eisen posted a .195 average in 1951, including a career-high 88 runs to tie for fourth place in the league. She also ranked third in doubles (17) and stolen bases (88), while appearing in 104 games. She then batted .300 (3-for-10) in the first round of the playoffs, as Fort Wayne fell to South Bend in three games.[1][15]

In 1952, Eisen posted career-highs with a .265 average and 110 hits in 106 games for Fort Wayne, now managed by Jimmie Foxx. She also ranked second for the most runs scored with 77, only four behind teammate and league's leader Betty Foss. In addition, Eisen finished third in stolen bases (77) and tied for seventh in hits. The Daisies finished in first place with a 67–42 record and made the playoffs, but were swept in the first round by South Bend in two contests. Eisen went 4-for-13 (.308) in the playoffs, during what turned out to be her last AAGPBL season.[1][15][23]

Life after baseball

Following her AAGPBL career, Eisen settled in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, and starred in softball with the perennial champions Orange Lionettes until 1957.[11][24]

In 1993 Eisen was elected to the board of directors of the AAGPBL Players Association, which established the aforementioned exhibition at the Hall of Fame, and raises funds for reunions and records the stories of players for the historic circuit. She also gained induction into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2004.[25] In 2006 she was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[26]

Eisen died at her home on May 11, 2014, on her 92nd birthday.[27]

Batting statistics

GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP
SLG
966 3705 594 830 80 25 11 241 674 375 175 .224 .295 .268

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Thelma Eisen profile and statistics". Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  2. ^ a b c d e "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League History". Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  3. ISBN 978-0-7864-3747-4
  4. ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Rules of Play Archived 2019-04-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  5. ^ June Peppas at the SABR Baseball Biography Project , by Jim Sargent, Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  6. ^ IMDb.com – A League of Their Own (1992)
  7. ^ "ESPN Page 2 – Reel Life: A League of Their Own - Article by Jeff Merron". Archived from the original on 2016-07-31. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  8. ^ "Jewish Women Encyclopedia – Thelma Eisen entry by David Spaner". Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  9. ^ "Thelma "Tiby" Eisen. - Free Online Library".
  10. ^ "The Forgotten Champs: The 1944 Milwaukee Chicks – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Oral History Project - Interview with Thelma Eisen by Gina Radant, April 1995" (PDF).
  11. ^ a b "Jewish Virtual Library Org. – Thelma Eisen Biography".
  12. ^ a b "1944 Milwaukee Chicks". Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  13. ^ 1944 Minneapolis Millerettes Archived 2022-11-25 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  14. ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - Connie Wisniewski biography by Joyce M. Smith Archived 2022-11-25 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book
  16. ^ Sophie Kurys at the SABR Baseball Biography Project , by Jim Sargent, Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  17. ^ Elizabeth Mahon at the SABR Baseball Biography Project , by Jim Sargent, Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  18. ^ "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Photo Gallery". Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  19. ^ 1948 Fort Wayne Daisies Archived 2019-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  20. ISBN 978-0-313-29884-4
  21. ^ 1949 Fort Wayne Daisies Archived 2019-03-31 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  22. ^ 1950 Fort Wayne Daisies Archived 2019-03-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  23. ^ 1952 Fort Wayne Daisies Archived 2019-04-01 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  24. ^ "Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Women's Major National Champs". Archived from the original on 2022-11-25. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  25. ^ National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Inductees Archived 2007-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Home".
  27. ^ "Thelma "Tiby" Eisen Obituary". Archived from the original on 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2014-05-16.

Further reading

ISBN 978-0-8032-6475-5. This chapter in Ruttman's history, based on a January 6, 2009 interview with Thelma Eisen and Anita Foss
conducted for the book, discusses the athletes' American, Jewish, baseball, and life experiences from youth to the present.

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