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The Minneapolis Millerettes

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-minneapolis-star/55974118/

“ THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! "

We’ve all heard that famous line spoken by Tom Hanks (as Jimmy Dugan) in the 1992 classic film, “A League of Their Own”, which was directed by Penny Marshall and also starred Geena Davis and Madonna.

Even though the story in “A League of Their Own” is fictionalized, the film chronicles the very real ALL American Girls Professional Baseball league (AAGPBL) which existed from 1943 - 1954.

In 1943, Major League Baseball owners feared baseball might shut down due to the loss of players to the war effort, so they started a women’s league. The film is set during the league’s inaugural 1943 season, when there were only 4 teams:

Rockford Peaches (Illinois)

South Bend Blue Sox (Indiana)

Kenosha Comets (Wisconsin)

Racine Belles (Wisconsin)

But, did you know that Minnesota had a team the league?

Following that first season, the league decided to expand. On April 14, 1944, AAGPBL president Ken Sells announced that the league would add two more teams for the 1944 season, one in Milwaukee, and one in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis team didn’t have an official nickname or mascot, like "Peaches" or "Belles". But they came to be known as the Millerettes because they would share Nicollet Park with the minor league Minneapolis Millers. They were also sometimes referred to as the "Lakers" in some newspapers.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-cloud-times/148169892/

On April 24, 1944 Frank B. Avery was appointed as General Manager of the new Minneapolis club. Avery had been instrumental in the league's formation in 1943. A few days later, Claude “Bubber” Jonnard was signed to manage the team. Jonnard (not to be confused with his brother Clarence, who was also nicknamed “Bubber”) was a former pitcher who had played in the majors for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Browns.

“We got Canadians, Irish ones and Swedes.”

Tryouts were held in Minneapolis in early May. The Minneapolis roster was filled with players from around the country as well as Canada, just like the song in the movie says. The league held some tryouts in Minneapolis in early May and two Minnesota players made the team. Catcher Lorraine Borg (Grandmother to local media personality Carly Aplin) and Lorraine “Peggy” Torrison who played outfield.

Spring training took place in Peru, Illinois Where the girls were taught how to slide in skirts without getting “strawberrys” in addition to also being given instruction on “grooming, appearance and social behavior”. On May 21, the Millerettes played their first exhibition game against the Rockford Peaches, winning 8-1.

(Link to the official roster from the AAGPBL site)

https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/minneapolis-millerettes/1944

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-minneapolis-star/148173795/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-minneapolis-star/148175156/

The Millerettes played their first official league game on Saturday May 27th, 1944, at Nicollet Park in Minneapolis. The first pitch was thrown out by Mrs. Lucille Kline, wife of then mayor Marvin Kline. The Millerettes lost that opening game to Rockford 5-4. Shortstop Pepper Paire went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and pitcher Dotty Wiltse struck out 6.

The following day, the Millerettes would get their first victory, beating the Peaches in the front end of a double header at Nicollet park. Loretta Dwojak singled home Faye Dancer with the game winning run in the bottom of the 7th for the 7-6 victory.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102630408/

Box score from first game. https://www.newspapers.com/article/star-tribune/148183721/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/star-tribune/148103778/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102568501/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/minneapolis-daily-times/148175552/

The Millerettes success started to build and by mid-June they were tied with the South Bend Blue Sox for the first half lead. But injuries mounted and so did the losses, causing the team to fall to the bottom of the standings. But that wasn’t the only bad news. Attendance for the home games was less than what was necessary to keep the team afloat.

On Friday July 14th, the Millerettes unknowingly played their final home game beating the Milwaukee Chicks 7-6. On the team’s ensuing road trip, they were informed that they would be playing all of their remaining games on the road. Newspaper’s began to refer to them as the Minneapolis “Orphans”.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-minneapolis-star/148176975/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106080759/

At the mid-season break, Minneapolis outfielder Faye Dancer, led the league in hitting averaging .313. And on July 29th Minneapolis pitcher Annabelle Lee threw the first perfect game in AAGPBL history shutting out the Kenosha Comets 18-0 and striking out 5 of the 27 batters she faced. Ironically Lee wasn’t even a pitcher at the beginning of the season. She started out at first base. After watching the lefty throw, Manager Claude Jonnard thought she might make a decent pitcher and started her pitching career using her from the bull pen as a reliever.

On September 6, 1944 the Minneapolis Millerettes played their final games, splitting a double header with the Milwaukee Chicks winning game one, 4-1, losing game two, 6-4. The team finished with a final record of 45-72. (23-36 first half, 22-36 second half)

Because of poor turnouts at Nicollet Park, and the travel expenses incurred, the other teams in the league objected to making the trip to Minneapolis. Minneapolis was the longest trip (distance wise) for the other teams.

Following the season, the “Orphans” moved to Fort Wayne and changed their name to the Daisies. The Daisies played their first game on May 23, 1945. Recently, the Fort Wayne TinCaps minor league team has had a promotional "Daisies Night" to honor the AAGPBL team.

What happened to the other 1944 expansion team, the Milwaukee Chicks? They won the league championship that season, beating the Kenosha Comets 3-0 in game 7 of the AAGPBL championship series.