| Home |
| Photo of the Month August 2024 |
| See Previous Photos Unknown Faces and Places |
 |
| Courtesy Winthrop University |
|
Jaynie Krick Courtesy AAGPBL Players Association |
The 1992 Hollywood film A League of Their Own brought into the public spotlight the talented professional women athletes of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s and '50s. Cousin Lorraine Jayne "Jaynie" Krick of Fort Wayne -- of the family of John W. and Maggie Viola (Sherwood) Krick -- played in the league for five years with the South Bend Blue Sox (1949), Battle Creek Belles (1951), Peoria Redwings (1951) and Grand Rapids Chicks (1952-1953).
Over the winters of 1949 and 1950, Jaynie also played center for the semipro South Bend Usherettes basketball team. Unfortunately, a knee injury forced her to retire from the hardcourt. In baseball, she is said to have had a blazing fastball but with little control, and in her pitching she won 8 games and lost 22. Her career ended when the AAGPBL folded in 1954.
Jaynie's longtime residence was in Fort Worth, TX. More than three decades after her playing days ended, in 1988, she and the entire roster of the league were honored in "Women in Baseball," a permanent exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Circa 1998, she was featured in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram story about her experiences, headlined "First Ladies."
Again in 2000, Jaynie was honored at the "Sports and the Nation" exhibit of sports artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution, held at The Ballpark in Arlington, an event attended by such stars as Nolan Ryan, Ferguson Jenkins, Pat Summerall and Miss Texas, Yanci Yarbrough.
 |
|
Copyright © 2024 Mark A. Miner |
Top image courtesy Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University, Jean Faut Papers – Accession 1369. |
