Gloria Schweigerdt
American baseball player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gloria June "Tippy" Schweigerdt (June 10, 1934 – July 10, 2014) was an American pitcher who played from 1950 through 1952 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m), 120 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.[1]
| Gloria Schweigerdt | |
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| Pitcher | |
| Born: June 10, 1934 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: July 10, 2014 (aged 80) Wauconda, Illinois, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
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Born in Chicago, to Emily (née Hardt) and Gottlieb Schweigerdt,[2] Gloria Schweigerdt started playing sandlot ball with her brother and the boys of her neighborhood at age seven. When she turned fifteen, she went to a league tryout held at Thillens Stadium in Skokie. In 1950, she was assigned to the Chicago Colleens/Springfield Sallies rookie touring teams. She traveled all over the country and posted an 8–7 record while pitching for the Colleens. During the trip, she hurled a no-hitter at the old Yankee Stadium. "No other woman had ever pitched off that mound before me", she recalled in an interview.[3][4]
Schweigerdt was promoted to the Grand Rapids Chicks in the 1951 season and ended up pitching for the Battle Creek Belles during the midseason. In all, Schweigerdt went 3–4 with a 2.72 earned run average in 14 games.[3]
She recalled winning a pitching duel against Jean Faut of the South Bend Blue Sox in the course of the year.[1][3] She had her best statistical season in 1952 with Battle Creek, when she compiled a 10–10 record and a 2.95 ERA. She also set personal bests in strikeouts (44) and innings (180), while tying for fourth in the league for the most games pitched (28).[3]
Personal life
She did not return to the league after marrying in 1953. After divorcing her husband, she raised two children, Gordon and Gloria, while working as a meat cutter for a long time before retiring in 1996.[3]
Last years/death
Gloria Schweigerdt lived in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago, and attended AAGPBL Players Association reunions. The association was largely responsible for the opening of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.[5] She died in 2014 in Wauconda, Illinois, at the age of 80.[6]