Maddy English | |||
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All-American Girls Professional Baseball League | |||
Third base | |||
Born: Everett, Massachusetts |
February 22, 1925|||
Died: August 21, 2004 Everett, Massachusetts |
(aged 79)|||
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debut | |||
1943 | |||
Last appearance | |||
1951 | |||
Career statistics | |||
Runs | 357 | ||
Hits | 516 | ||
Runs batted in | 209 | ||
Stolen bases | 439 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Madeline Katherine English [Maddy] (February 22, 1925 – August 21, 2004) was a third basewoman who played from 1943 through 1951 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m), 130 lb., English batted and threw right-handed. At age eighteen, she became one of the youngest founding member of the league.
English played all nine of her AAGPBL seasons with the Racine Belles. She anchored third base for the Belles and usually batted second in the batting order. A three-time All-Star, she helped the Belles win three pennants and two championships in the AAGPBL, by combining a sharp defense, opportune hitting, and a flashy base running. A natural teacher who cared most about being on a baseball diamond, she excelled as an educator, teaching a variety of subjects for over 30 years after retiring from baseball.
A native of Everett, Massachusetts, English was the daughter of Ambrose Tobias English, a pipe-fitter and longtime Everett city official, and Anna (née Henneberry) English. Her older brother, Edward, was a high school star third baseman who saw his professional baseball dreams truncated by military service during wartime. She attended parochial grammar schools and graduated from Everett High School, and was a competent athlete in any sport she could find to play. Although there were no organized girls interscholastic sports, English began participating in pickup softball games at age ten on Boston area playgrounds. In 1939 she joined a Massachusetts 14-year-old softball team, which competed against opponents from Connecticut and New York in summer exhibitions. Like her brother, she played at third base and had a strong throwing arm. English and her Bay State teammates were coached by some players of the Boston Bruins hockey team, and they played their home games on the concrete floor of the Boston Garden when the Bruins and the Boston Celtics basketball team were out of the town.