Alverno College Will Host Historical Baseball Game

July 23, 2013

Alverno College is proud to host a re-enactment of an All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) game on Sunday, August 11 at 12:30 p.m. The league, made famous in the movie A League of Their Own, emerged in the spring of 1943 in an effort to keep major league baseball stadiums in operation during World War II.

Three women who played in the league will be honored during the game. Jackie Mattson Baumgart, who played for the Springfield Sallies and Kenosha Comets, and Sr. Toni “Peanuts” Palermo, who played for the Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies, are both Alverno alumnae. Joyce Hill Westerman, who played for the Fort Wayne Daisies, Grand Rapids Chicks, Peoria Redwings, Racine Belles and South Bend Blue Sox, will also be honored.

Warm-ups begin at noon, followed by the singing of the national anthem and the AAGPBL “Victory Song.” Kids will be able to run the bases during the seventh inning stretch, and peanuts, popcorn, water and lemonade will be available.

The Alverno softball field is located on 43rd Street just north of Morgan Avenue. Plenty of free parking is available. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to help send the honorees to their reunion this fall. It is open to the public.