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Betty Francis

This article is about the baseball player. For the Mad Men character, see Betty Draper.
Betty Francis
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Corner outfielder
Born: (1931-07-07)July 7, 1931
Maquoketa, Iowa, U.S.
Died: January 30, 2016(2016-01-30) (aged 84)
Merrionette Park, Illinois, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Two postseason appearances (1953–1954)
  • Women in Baseball – AAGPBL Permanent Display at Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (1988)

Betty Francis [″BF″] (July 7, 1931 – January 30, 2016) was an American baseball outfielder who played from 1949 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m), 140 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.[1][2]

Born in Maquoketa, Iowa, the stocky Betty Francis played during the last six seasons of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.[1]

Basically, Francis was a patient contact hitter with surprising extra base power, compiling a solid 2.73 walk-to-strikeout ratio while connecting 50 of her 331 career hits for extra bases. She also provided strong defense in both outfield corners, showing wide range and a good throwing arm.[1][3]

Francis first played for the Chicago Colleens rookie development team in 1949. She was promoted to the Muskegon Lassies late in the season, and stayed with the franchise when it was renamed the Kalamazoo Lassies.[1]

Francis played for the Lassies five years, before joining the South Bend Blue Sox in 1954. Her most productive season was with South Bend, when she posted career-numbers in batting average (.350), runs scored (49), home runs (8), runs batted in (58), hits (105) and doubles (12). She had the fifth highest average among all players, while ranking seventh for the most doubles and eighth in RBI .[4]

When her baseball days were over, Francis moved to Chicago, Illinois and worked during 28 years in the Libby's canning company. She also played professional softball in Chicago, accumulating 14 years of amateur ball and 17 years as a professional.[3]

In 1988, Betty Francis became part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Career statistics

[edit]

Batting

GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB TB BB SO BA OBP SLG
429 1318 157 331 38 3 9 125 42 402 185 76 .251 .343 .305

Fielding

GP PO A E TC DP FA
379 438 55 38 531 7 .929

[5]

Sources

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Betty Francis – Profile / Obituary. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  2. ^ The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Paperback, 295 pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
  3. ^ a b The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
  4. ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2000. Format: Paperback, 294pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
  5. ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book