Anna Mae Hutchison
| Anna May Hutchison | |||
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Born: May 1, 1925 Louisville, Kentucky |
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Died: January 29, 1998 (aged 72) Racine, Wisconsin |
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Anna May Hutchison ["Hutch"] (May 1, 1925 – January 29, 1998) was a female pitcher and catcher who played from 1944 through 1949 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), 149 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Sometimes she is credited as Anna Mae Hutchison (or Hutchinson).
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Anna May Hutchison was one of the most dominant sidearm pitchers in All-American Girls Professional Baseball League history and holds the all-time record for most pitching appearances in a single season. A two-time All-Star, she pitched a no-hitter, led her team to a championship title, and topped the league in wins in a regular season. Her promising career was cut short with a succession of injuries in her throwing arm.
Hutchison grew up in Louisville and played softball in the local Girls Athletic Association (GAA) during her high school years. She later played for the Camera Corner team, who won the Louisville city championship. After that, the club was invited to participate in the regional tournament in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where an AAGPBL scout spotted her and decided to talk to her parents about joining the league. She attended to spring training in 1944 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and was rewarded with a contract to play in the league.
Hutchison entered the AAGPBL in 1944 with the Racine Belles, playing for them five years before joining the Muskegon Lassies (1949). She spent her first two seasons serving as a backup to Belles incumbent catcher Irene Hickson, who was a member of the team that won the first league championship in 1943. Nevertheless, Hutchison was able to make the adjustment to pitching before the 1946 season, when Leo Murphy, former Pittsburgh Pirates catcher and Belles manager, helped her to throw a fastpitch underhand delivery during spring training. She would join a pitching rotation bolstered by Doris Barr and Joanne Winter.
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