MLB All-Star Fan Fest Features AAPGBL Behind Efforts of Lois Youngen

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Sixty years ago, Lois Youngen was absorbing home plate collisions with her 5-3, 115-pound frame.  Today, she collides with the challenge of preserving the memories of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.  As current president of the AAGPBL Players Association, a non-profit organization, Youngen’s endeavors include an annual trip to Fan Fest during this week’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game.  

Long before women participated in NCAA varsity athletics and earned athletic scholarships, Youngen found her own way to pay for college tuition.  During her time at Kent State from 1951-55, Youngen spent her summers playing professional baseball in the AAGPBL , made famous to a younger generation by the movie “A League of Their Own.”

A catcher for four seasons, Youngen played seven days a week and doubleheaders on Sundays, competing for the Fort Wayne Daisies, the South Bend Blue Sox and the Kenosha Comets.  Behind the plate, she got “run over regularly” and considered herself “lucky not to get killed” being among the smallest players in the league.  Youngen’s biggest claim to fame came in 1953, when she caught Jean Faut’s perfect game for South Bend.  It was one of only two perfect games thrown in the 12-year history of the league.

“I would say over 90 percent of our players will tell you that this was their greatest achievement,” Youngen said of all the league’s members.  “And the greatest time of their life was playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.”

Although the league came to an end following the 1954 season, Youngen continued to play baseball the next year on a national barnstorming tour with the Arlington All-Stars.  Still her passion for the game has never diminished.  Years later, there are two causes she continues to actively support, her alma mater and the legacy of the AAGPBL.

In the spring of 2010, Youngen was honored at a Kent State baseball game for endowing a scholarship in her father’s name.  She has also supported the Golden Flash softball program.  Following its alumni game last fall, Youngen spoke to the softball team about her time in the AAGPBL , the evolution of women’s sports and her quest to increase associate memberships to the Players Association.

“We want softball players and other young people who know anything about our history to keep our legacy going,” Youngen said.  “And we need new associate members to do that.  We want people to be aware of our history and as long as our film is shown on cable TV every three months, we’re still viable as a salable entity…And thank you Penny Marshall.”

In retrospect, Youngen sees former players like herself as role models today, but believes “everyone had forgotten about” the league until Marshall’s A League of Their Own came out in 1992. 

“It had some Hollywood elements and some very real elements,” Youngen said of the film, including the real elements of players in one-piece dresses with no batting helmets and no batting gloves. 

“You’re spoiled” Youngen said to the team with a big smile on her face, referring to the opportunities and resources available today.  “Play dates” and “Sports days” marked the very few opportunities women had to compete, when no one kept score and winning and losing was never talked about.

With 70 percent of the AAGPBL’s players (charter members) now in their 80s and the rest in their 70s, Youngen is reaching out to a younger demographic as part of her “Load The Bases,” campaign, which also explores new means of fundraising.  Associate memberships are open to anyone, including student memberships for 15.00.

When Youngen took over as president of the Players Association, times were getting tough.  Funding the league’s annual reunion and quarterly newsletter were becoming issues.  She wrote numerous letters to prominent figures and companies, looking for sponsorship, including one to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.  As months passed, she wondered if she’d ever get a response from anyone.

“I wrote to Oprah, I wrote to Ellen,” Youngen said.  “I wrote Mattel about making dolls of us and I wrote to Nike about putting a bunch of old ladies in a commercial.” 

One morning out of the blue, Youngen’s phone rang followed by a voice saying “This is the baseball commissioner’s office calling from New York City.”  Still flattered by the call, Youngen negotiated with MLB for a booth at the All-Star Game’s Fan Fest.  With many former players signing autographs and selling merchandise, long lines formed in front of the AAGPBL’s booth.  The increased visibility at All-Star week even helped the Players Association receive donations from a few major league teams. 

After finding an effective means to support the AAGPBL, the next challenge is membership.  Last year, Youngen’s campaign welcomed over 80 new associate members.  Continuing to increase membership is essential to the group’s longevity.

“Many of the organizations that formed during the WWII era have faded,” Youngen said.  “And we’re really at a crossroads right now.”

As she observed and spoke with Kent State softball players, there were a few characteristics that reminded Youngen of her baseball days.

“They love to play,” Youngen said.  “Like us they’d probably rather play than eat.  You see their desire to do well, become better and their love of the game.” 

That “love of the game” is what continues to drive Youngen at age 77 and may very well be the main reason why the AAGPBL is remembered for generations to come.