- Martha Rommelaere
-
Martha Rommelaere All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Born: August 30, 1922
Deloraine, Manitoba, CanadaDied: May 28, 2011 (aged 88)
Regina, Saskatchewan, CanadaBats: Right Throws: Right Teams - Chicago Colleens/Springfield Sallies (1950)
- Kenosha Comets (1950)
Martha Rommelaere, Mrs. Manning (August 30, 1922 – May 28, 2011) was a Canadian outfielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1950 season. Listed at 5'4", 120 lb., she batted and threw right handed.[1][2]
Born in Deloraine, Manitoba, Martha Rommelaere was one of the 57 players born in Canada to join the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in its twelve years history. But unfortunately, her career in the circuit was cut short due to a severe back injury.[3]
Rommelaere grew up on a farm near LaFleche, and moved to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan at seventeen. She began to play sandlot ball with the boys of her neighborhood when she was a little girl, and became a track and field star in high school who could outrun any girl in Saskatchewan. I could run like a deer, she explained in an interview.[4]
At age 22, Rommelaere joined the Moose Jaw Royals softball team. She was missed by scouts of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during her first years in softball. Then she gained the Most Valuable Player award while playing for the Edmonton team, where she won a trip to South Bend, Indiana to try out for the league.[5]
Rommelaere entered the league in 1950, playing for the Chicago Colleens and Springfield Sallies traveling teams before being promoted to the Kenosha Comets halfway through the season. Basically an infielder in Canada, she was converted to the outfield because of her flashy speed.[4]
She hurt her back while playing and had problem with it during her AAGPBL career. It was the sitting on the bus that killed me, she said. At the end of the season, she married John Manning and decided to quit baseball because of her back ailment, which required five surgeries to correct the problem. The couple raised three children, and she worked as a dressmaker until her retirement in 1983.[4]
In 1998, she gained honorary induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. In addition, she received a Certificate of Merit from the Government of Canada for her contribution to sports and fitness. She is part of the AAGPBL permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York, opened in 1988, which is dedicated to the entire league rather than any individual personality.[5]
Martha Rommelaere Manning was a longtime resident of Regina, Saskatchewan, where she died, aged 88.[5]
Batting statistics
GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP 30 80 7 15 0 0 0 7 8 10 12 .188 .278 Sources
- ^ The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Paperback, 295 pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
- ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League website – Martha Rommelaere entry
- ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Roster
- ^ a b c The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
- ^ a b c "TimesColonist.com – Obituary". http://www.timescolonist.com/Deaths+Funerals+Part/4889066/story.html.
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Teams Battle Creek Belles • Chicago Colleens • Fort Wayne Daisies • Grand Rapids Chicks • Kalamazoo Lassies • Kenosha Comets • Milwaukee Chicks • Minneapolis Millerettes
• Muskegon Belles • Muskegon Lassies • Peoria Redwings • Racine Belles • Rockford Peaches • South Bend Blue Sox • Springfield SalliesAwards and Recognitions All-Star Team • Player of the Year • Batting records • Pitching records
Articles related A League of Their Own • List of managers • Arthur Meyerhoff • Philip K. Wrigley
Categories:- 1922 births
- 2011 deaths
- All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players
- Canadian baseball players
- People from Deloraine, Manitoba
- Sportspeople from Manitoba
- Canadian sportswomen
- Disease-related deaths in Saskatchewan
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