Shirley Jameson | |||
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All-American Girls Professional Baseball League | |||
Center fielder | |||
Born: Maywood, Illinois |
March 29, 1918|||
Died: December 29, 1993 | (aged 75)|||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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Shirley Jameson (March 29, 1918 – December 29, 1993) was a center fielder who played from 1943 through 1946 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 4' 10¾" (1.49 m), 104 lb. (47 k), Jameson batted right-handed and threw left-handed. She was born in Maywood, Illinois.
Of the original four players signed by Wrigley in 1943, Shirley Jameson was the second. The other two, besides Ann Harnett and Jameson, were Claire Schillace and Edythe Perlick. These players were carefully selected from the Chicago amateur softball association league to be the role models for the All American Girls' Professional League. The pickup of the right-center fielders, a second position peculiar to softball, was the diminutive Jameson, who had played for the Garden City Brew Maids. At twenty-three, with a middle-class background, she was a college graduate who was working as a physical education teacher at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois.
Harnett, Jameson, Schillace and Perlick epitomized the carefully constructed image of feminine, attractive, well-manered ballplayers. Press releases and publicity photos showcased them. Notably, Jameson was one of the rare non-pitchers who threw left-handed but batted right-handed. Fast as lightning on the bases or in center field, she had a great throwing arm and was a competent leadoff hitter. Usually, opposing pitchers said she was one of the hardest hitters in the league, because of her small frame and her bat speed.
Jameson played from 1943 to 1946 with the Kenosha Comets. In the inaugural season, she led the league with 126 stolen bases and posted career-numbers in games (105), batting average (.271), hits (108), runs batted in (32), and runs scored (111). At the end of the season, she was selected for the All-Star Team.