Meryle Fitzgerald
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Pitcher
Born: (1925-01-24)January 24, 1925
Hutchinson, Minnesota
Died: March 4, 2004(2004-03-04) (aged 79)
Mitchell, South Dakota
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Women in Baseball – AAGPBL Permanent Display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (unveiled in 1988)

Meryle Fitzgerald (later LeClaire; January 24, 1925 – March 4, 2004) was a pitcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Fitzgerald batted and threw right handed. She was dubbed 'Pinkey' by her teammates.[1]

Born in Hutchinson, Minnesota to Elmer and Virginia Fitzgerald, she was raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. By the age of 10 she was the mascot/batgirl for a baseball team coached by her father. Meryle was 21 when she joined the Fort Wayne Daisies in 1946,[1] but she did not have much of a chance to play during the season. She made two pitching appearances,[2] but additional information is incomplete because there are no records available at the time of the request.[1][2]

In 1988, a permanent display was inaugurated at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York, that honors those who were part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Meryle Fitzgerald is included at the display/exhibit.[3] She later was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.[1]

Sources

  1. ^ a b c d All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Meryle LeClaire – Profile / Obituary. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  2. ^ a b Madden, W. C. (2000) All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0597-8
  3. ^ Before A League of Their Own. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum; retrieved September 5, 2016.
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