Chicago Colleens-Shewbridge Field
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
This is the location of Shewbridge Field where the Chicago Colleens All American Girls Professional Baseball League team played their games in 1948. It is now the location of the Amos Alonzo Stagg High School football team. The Chicago Colleens were an all women's baseball team that played their first season at Shewbridge Field, with the remainder of their seasons being played as a showcase travel team.
Images
Shewbridge Field
1948 Chicago Colleens team picture
Official logo of the Chicago Colleens
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Chicago Colleens were one of the ten teams listed on the 1948 season AAGPBL roster. They were members of the Eastern Division and were managed by the former National League professional player Dave Bancroft aka "Beauty". Unfortunately, the Colleens were one of the worst teams in the league, finishing with a losing record of 47-76.
However after this season the Colleens as well as the Springfield Sallies (another losing club) seemed to disappear from the roster and appeared to have ceased in existence in 1949. However, this was not the case. Despite having losing seasons, both of these teams became rookie development teams that traveled around the country playing each other in exhibition games. These teams toured in both 1949 and 1950 and primarily traveled in the South and East areas of the United States.
These exhibition teams were used as a way to market the AAGPBL to other areas in the United States. These teams were used not just to train new rookie recruits and give them experience in the league, but to show other areas of the United States that women were in fact playing baseball.
Fran Janseen stated in her interview with Jim Sargent, ”We traveled more than 10,000 miles in 1949 from Illinois to Texas, across the Gulf states and up to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We played in minor league parks in Tulsa and Baltimore, as well as in city parks, and we drew good crowds..We rarely spent more than two nights in a town. We had to make fast trips” (http://www.aagpbl.org/index.cfm/teams/1949/chicago-colleens/107).
However after this season the Colleens as well as the Springfield Sallies (another losing club) seemed to disappear from the roster and appeared to have ceased in existence in 1949. However, this was not the case. Despite having losing seasons, both of these teams became rookie development teams that traveled around the country playing each other in exhibition games. These teams toured in both 1949 and 1950 and primarily traveled in the South and East areas of the United States.
These exhibition teams were used as a way to market the AAGPBL to other areas in the United States. These teams were used not just to train new rookie recruits and give them experience in the league, but to show other areas of the United States that women were in fact playing baseball.
Fran Janseen stated in her interview with Jim Sargent, ”We traveled more than 10,000 miles in 1949 from Illinois to Texas, across the Gulf states and up to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We played in minor league parks in Tulsa and Baltimore, as well as in city parks, and we drew good crowds..We rarely spent more than two nights in a town. We had to make fast trips” (http://www.aagpbl.org/index.cfm/teams/1949/chicago-colleens/107).
Sources
http://www.projectballpark.org/history/aagpbl.html
http://www.aagpbl.org/index.cfm
http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/Recommendations/retro10.html