Terry Donahue
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Catcher
Born: (1925-08-22)August 22, 1925
Saskatchewan, Canada
Died: March 14, 2019(2019-03-14) (aged 93)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
debut
1946
Last appearance
1949
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Theresa Paz Donahue (August 22, 1925 – March 14, 2019) was a Canadian utility player in women's baseball, playing mainly as a catcher for the Peoria Redwings of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1946 through 1949. Listed at 5' 2", 125 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.[1]

Biography

Donahue was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, of Irish ancestry. As a young girl she learned to play baseball with the help of her brother in their family farm, and later played softball at school and in Moose Jaw for the local Royals team. In 1945 Donahue was invited by an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League scout to spring training the next year in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She agreed to try out and was assigned to the Redwings, an expansion team based in Peoria, Illinois.[2] During her four seasons in the league, Donahue was primarily a catcher, but played every position except first base and pitcher. She hit .127 in 287 games, and committed 56 errors in 1051 chances for a .947 fielding average.[3]

In 1950 Donahue joined the Admiral Music Maids of the rival National Girls Baseball League in Chicago. After that, she worked for an interior design firm in Chicago in accounting and bookkeeping for 38 years, and then retired in 1990.[4] A longtime resident of St. Charles, Illinois, Donahue carried out her Grand Marshal duties during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in 2009. She was honored with many recognitions and awards over the years, including inductions in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.[5][6] She died in March 2019 at the age of 93 after suffering from Parkinson's disease.[7]

In 2020, Netflix released a documentary, A Secret Love, which chronicles Donahue's ultimately 72-year relationship with her wife Emma Marie "Pat" Henschel.[8] The couple got married on Donahue's birthday in 2015.[9]

The character of Jess McCready from the 2022 reboot series A League of Their Own of the 1992 movie of the same name is partially based on Donahue.

Batting statistics

GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB TB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
287 722 67 92 3 2 0 50 44 99 123 107 .127 .254 .137 .392

Fielding statistics

GP PO A E TC DP FA
258 734 261 56 1051 30 .947

References

  1. ^ Terry Donahue Archived 2019-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  2. ^ The Diamond Angle - Interview by Lou Parrotta. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball – Leslie A. Heaphy, Mel Anthony May. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2006. Format: Paperback, 438pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-2100-2
  5. ^ "The Chronicle – Baseball legends to lead St. Patrick's Day Parade". Archived from the original on 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  6. ^ Women's Sports Foundation Archived 2010-06-20 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Obituary: Terry Donahue (1925-2019)". 17 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  8. ^ Swartz, Tracy. "She helped inspire 'A League of Their Own.' Now a former Chicagoan's secret gay relationship is the subject of a new Netflix doc". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  9. ^ [1] Archived 2020-04-28 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2020-04-30.
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