1951 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season | |
---|---|
League | All-American Girls Professional Baseball League |
Sport | Baseball |
Number of teams | Eight |
Regular season | |
Season champions |
Grand Rapids Chicks (first half) South Bend Blue Sox (second half) |
Shaugnessy playoffs | |
Champions | South Bend Blue Sox |
The 1951 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the ninth season of the circuit. The teams Battle Creek Belles, Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Kalamazoo Lassies, Kenosha Comets, Peoria Redwings, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox competed through a 112-game schedule, while the Shaugnessy playoffs featured the top four teams from each half of the regular season.
In 1951, many things changed in relation to the previous season, when attendance began to decline dramatically. The Racine Belles franchise was moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, while the Chicago Colleens and Springfield Sallies traveling teams were disbanded. Betty Foss of Fort Wayne led all hitters for the second year in a row with a .368 batting average, breaking her own single-season record of .346 set in her rookie season. Foss also topped the league with 34 doubles, setting an all-time single-season record that would never be surpassed. Nine pitchers recorded an earned run average below 2.00, while Rose Gacioch of Rockford was the only one to gain 20 victories during the year. The Player of the Year Award was given to South Bend pitcher Jean Faut, who posted a 15–7 record with a 1.33 ERA and a league-leading 135 strikeouts, including a perfect game against Rockford on July 21 of that season.