All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - Joyce Westerman: baseball hero

Joyce Westerman

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Joyce Westerman

BASEBALL HERO

BOB KANN

W ISCONSIN H ISTORICAL S OCIETY P RESS

Published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press

Publishers since 1855

2012 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin

E-book edition 2013

Publication of this book was made possible in part by a grant from the D.C. Everest fellowship fund.

For permission to reuse material from Joyce Westerman: Baseball Hero (ISBN 978-0-87020-486-9; e-book ISBN 978-0-87020-600-9), please access www.copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users.

wisconsinhistory.org

Photographs identified with WHi are from the Societys collections; address requests to reproduce these photos to the Visual Materials Archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street, Madison, WI 53706.

Designed by Jill Bremigan

16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Kann, Bob.

Joyce Westerman : baseball hero / Bob Kann.

p. cm. (Badger biographies)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-87020-486-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Westerman, Joyce. 2. Women baseball playersUnited StatesBiography. 3. Women baseball playersWisconsinBiography. 4. All-American Girls Professional Baseball LeagueHistory. I.Title.

GV865.W444K36 2012

796.357092dc23

[B]

2011021459

For Caroline and Shayle

Contents

About the Author

Bob Kann is a well-known storyteller, juggler, and magician in addition to an author of books for young readers. He performs throughout the United States in schools, libraries, performing arts centers, and at festivals. He is the author of several books in the Badger Biographies series.

Sometimes Dreams Come True

When Joyce Hill was 5 years old, her uncle threw a ball to her. Joyce caught the ball and threw it back to him. This was the first time she had played catch. Joyce loved it. She began to play ball whenever she could. Before long, she dreamed of becoming a for women. But that didnt stop Joyce from dreaming.

Fourteen years later, her dream came true. Joyce became one of more than 550 women who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1943 to 1954. As a professional player, Joyce was paid to play baseball in this league. But she would have played for free because it was so much fun!

For 8 of the leagues 12 years, Joyce traveled around the United States playing ball. She played catcher, right field, and first base.

In 1988, Joyce and the other women from the league received the highest called Women in Baseball. Four years after that, Joyce and the other players became famous because of a movie about womens baseball called A League of Their Own. This book tells the story of how a farm girl from Wisconsin made her dreams come true.

Losing Their Home

Joyce Hill was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on December 29, 1925. Nobody imagined that she would grow up to help change the idea that women couldnt play baseball. But thats just what she did.

Joyces parents, Cecil (see suhl) Hill and Lillian Clausen Hill, were born in Wisconsin. Their parents came to Wisconsin from Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. Joyce had 3 older sisters and 4 younger brothers.

The Hill family in the 1920s. Young Joyce is sitting on the arm of the chair behind her baby brother.

When Joyce was 5 years old, she used to play catch with her Uncle Lon. Sometimes he threw the ball so hard it bent her thumb back. Even though it hurt, she loved playing ball.

Joyce attended first grade at Roosevelt Elementary School in Kenosha. She walked to school every day. She often played before school.

Joyce liked marbles, but not as much as she liked playing ball.

But at recess, Joyce liked to play softball with the boys. In those days, it was unusual for girls to play softball or baseball. And if girls did play, they didnt play with boys. But Joyce played with boysand she could hit the ball better than they could! Instead of feeling proud, Joyce felt because girls werent supposed to be better players than boys.

from their jobs.

A car being made at the Nash Motors Company

With Joyces father no longer working, the rest of the Hill family tried to earn money any way they could. Joyces mother began to bake bread and rolls. Joyce and her sisters sold the baked goods in their neighborhood.

. They had to burn coal or wood in the stove to heat the house.

The Great Depression

For many people, the 1920s were a good time. There were good factory jobs making farm . Their crops fed soldiers and people in Europe, where many farms were destroyed.

Almost everyone believed that the countrys was getting better and better. Many people borrowed money from banks to buy cars, homes, and other goods. But the banks lent too much money. Prices fell. Banks failed. Factories closed. People lost their jobs.