Site Menu - Millerettes

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 classic, “A League of Their Own”, a 1992 film directed by Penny Marshall. In addition to Hanks, the film also starred Geena Davis and Madonna.

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

In 1943, some Major League Baseball owners feared baseball might shut down due to the loss of players to the war effort. In an attempt to ensure that baseball would still be played (and temporarily keep their wallets full) those owners started a women’s league. The film was set during the AAGPBL’s inaugural season of 1943, 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?

The movie's story line concludes at the end of the 1943 season with Racine defeating Rockford in the World Series. In real life, league officials decided to expand after that first season. 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". Instead, they would come to be known as the Millerettes because of sharing Nicollet Park with the Minneapolis Millers who were a minor league team for the Major League's New York Giants. The Millerettes 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 it's inaugural season. 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.”

The league held tryouts in Minneapolis in early May. Two local players made the team: Catcher Lorraine Borg (Grandmother to local media personality Carly Aplin) and outfielder Lorraine “Peggy” Torrison. The rest of the Minneapolis roster was filled with players from around the United States and Canada, just like the song in the movie says.

(Link to the official roster from the AAGPBL site)

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

Spring training took place in Peru, Illinois where the girls were taught how to slide in skirts without getting “strawberrys”. In addition they were also given instruction on “grooming, appearance and social behavior”. On May 21, 1944, the Millerettes played their first exhibition game against the Rockford Peaches, winning 8-1.

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

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

Their first official league game was played 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 got their first victory, beating the Peaches in dramatic fashion, in the front end of a double header at Nicollet park. Down 6-3 after 4 innings, the Millerettes scored 4 runs in the final 3 frames. Loretta Dwojak singled home Faye Dancer with the game winning run in the bottom of the 7th to secure the 7-6 come from behind 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 Millerette's success started building. By mid-June they were tied for first in the league standings with the South Bend Blue Sox. Unfortunately the team was struck with the injury bug. As the injuries mounted, so did the losses, causing the team to fall to last place. The injuries and losses weren't their only concerns however, as the attendance figures for the home games were less than what was necessary to keep the team afloat financially.

On Friday July 14th, 1944, the Millerettes beat the Milwaukee chicks 7-6 at Nicollet Park. They had no idea it would be their final home game. On the team’s ensuing road trip, they were informed that they would be playing all of their remaining games on the road. Because of their unfortunate situation, newspaper’s began to refer to the team 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 entire 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 while 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 playing first base. After watching the lefty throw, Manager Claude Jonnard thought Lee might make a decent pitcher. He began using her as a reliever from the bull pen and eventually in the starting rotation.

On September 6, 1944 the Minneapolis Millerettes played their final games, splitting a double header with the Milwaukee Chicks winning game one, 4-1, and 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 costs of travel expenses incurred, the other teams in the league objected to making the trip to Minneapolis in the future. It was, by far, the longest trip (distance wise) for each of the other teams.

After the 1944 season, the “Orphans” moved to Fort Wayne and changed their name to the Daisies. The Daisies played their first game on May 23, 1945. They played in every season of the AAGPBL until the league disbanded in 1954. Recently, the Fort Wayne TinCaps (a minor league team for the San Diego Padres) has held "Daisies Night" as a promotion to honor the AAGPBL team.

What happened to the MIlwaukee Chicks, the other expansion team that joined the league at the same time as the Millerettes? They won the league championship in 1944, beating the Kenosha Comets 3-0 in game 7 of the AAGPBL championship series.