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Olive Lrittle: The f re-baller from Poplar Point□ Manitoba pitcher was a key player in the All-American Girls Professional Ball LeagueOlive (Bend) Little is buried in a cemetery near Poplar PointFor more than a century males in Canada and the United States have grown up watching baseball icons like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron and other stars play in stadiums from one end of the continent to the other. Most forget that there was a time when the game was played by women and watched by thousands; and one of the best was a lightning fast pitcher from Poplar Point.Olive Elizabeth Little was bom in 1917 and got her start in baseball playing on a Poplar Point team managed by her father. At 20, she began commuting to Winnipeg to play with the Norwood Bells senior women’s softball team. More than 2,000 spectators often watched, particularly when Little was in the lineup. In one best-of-three series she pitched a no-hitter in game one, then came back in game three and did it again.From Norwood, Little moved to the Canadian Ukrainian Athletic Club. The C.U.A.C. was a powerhouse in Manitoba senior women’s fastball, and Little was their best pitcher. She led the team to the 1940 provincial championship and set a league record, averaging more than 12 strikeouts per game.Rockford PeachLater that year she joined the Moose Jaw Royals, helping them win the Saskatchewan title. Her play attracted a lot of media attention, and when a professional women’s baseball league was organized she was recruited to play for the Rockford Peaches, one of four original teams. The Illinois city of 140,000 is located about an hour west of Chicago near the Wisconsin border.Winnipeg teammate Dottie Hunter recalled the excitement news of the new league generated among women players. “Little called to say that a scout had arrived at the city’s Marlborough Hotel. (She) came flying out to my place in a taxi and said, ‘Come on, get in here, you got to go down for an interview.’Women like Little were thrilled about the chance to play professional baseball, and at earning, what for the time was, an enormous salary. To Winnipeg labourers earning only $35 a week, the money paid players was mind-boggling. The league’s minimum salary was almost double what they earned, and better players earned $500 a month.In 1942, so many baseball players were going off to war minor league teams all over America began folding. Philip Wrigley, owner of the National Baseball League’s Chicago Cubs, worried that if nothing was done, teams like his might be next. Out of his concern came the All-American Girls Professional BallA program of the PeachesLeague (AAGPBL).The biggest problem facing the new league was finding players. Johnny Gottselig was among the dozens of amateur scouts who received a call from the Wrigley organization asking for help. The Regina native was a veteran women’s baseball coach, and knew of Little. She quickly became one of 280 players invited to try-outs in Chicago; the best 60 became the first women to play professional baseball.League officials wanted teams to be competitive, and to that end assigned each its manager, players and chaperone. Players were often traded in mid-season to maintain that balance. The regular season consisted of 108 games, and was followed by a play-off to determine the league champion.Rules of conductFrom the beginning, officials strictly enforced the league’s rules of conduct. Off the field, team members were required to wear feminine attire at all times. Boyish hair cuts were banned, and players could neither smoke nor drink alcohol in public. Living quarters and eating places had to be approved by team chaperones, and players were not allowed to drive their cars out of town without permission of their manager.When women were signed to a contract, they were given a ‘charm school guide’, to which they were to adhere at all times. Contents of a player’s ‘beauty kit’ were listed in the guide, as were instructions on how items should be used. League officials even suggested playersFind what you'relooking for...in the CLASSIFIEDSfollow a standard beauty routine.“Unwanted or superficial hair is often quite common and it is no problem to cope with in these days when so many beauty preparations are available. If your have such hair on arms or legs, there are a number of methods by which it can be easily removed. There is an odorless liquid cream which can be applied in a few moments, permitted to dry and then showered off.”League officials suggested players pay particular attention to deodorants. “There are a number of very fine deodorants on the market which can be used freely all over the body. The most important feature of some of these products is the fact that the fragrance stays perspiration proof all day long. Deodorant keeps you fresh and gives you assurance and confidence in your social contacts.”Officials also recommended players enhance the beauty and sparkle of their eyes by following a simple daily exercise. “Turn your eyes to the comer of the room for a short space of time, then change to the other comer, then gaze at the ceiling and at the floor alternately. Rotating or rolling your eyes constitutes an exercise and your eyes will repay you for the attention that yougive to them.”Etiquette was as important as hygiene. Players were instructed in how to acknowledge others. “Well bred people do not say: ‘Pleased to meet you’, but when it is actually true, you can say: ‘I am very glad to meet you.’ When a gentleman is introduced to a lady, she smiles, bows slightly and says: ‘How do you do.’ It is her place to offer her hand or not, as she chooses, but if he puts out his hand, she of course gives him hers.”How players spoke and acted in public was considered key to making a good impression. “The first requirement for charm of speech is a pleasing voice. A low voice, instead of a high pitched voice, is always most pleasing... (and) there is nothing more vulgar than bragging about personal possessions, accomplishments or achievements.Do not use a loud voice, do not stare at people, do not knock into people and do not indulge in loud argument in public. In short, avoid attracting attention to yourself through poor manners.”No place for mannersWomen ball players may well have been charming in public, but the playing field was no place for manners. In one of the league’s first games, a woman playing second base looked straight into the face of a base runner as she started a double play. “I stepped on the bag and started to throw to first for a double play. I figured that the gal would duck, but she didn’t, and I got her right in the forehead. It didn’t knock her out for very long, and I thought, ‘Well, I couldn’t have had much on that throw.’”As a player, Little was no less aggressive. In her only season in the league, Hunter batted against her good friend. “It was the first time she pitched against me, but she knew very well I was a sucker for a high inside ball. She got me right in the side of the face and I went down like a ton of bricks.”Little’s aggressive style may have intimidated opposition batters, but it made her thousands of fans. In three years in the league, she was given two ‘nights’ in her honour. After posting a 21-15 record in her rookie season she took off the following year to have a baby.When she came back in 1945, the team held an ‘Olive Little Night’ to celebrate her return, an event she said was so wonderful she felt like having another child.Although she had a recordof 22-11 in her second season, Little was increasingly tom between being a part-time mother, the wife of a husband just released from the army, and playing baseball. Her heart was no longer in the game, a fact reflected in her 1946 record of 14 wins, 17 losses, and a career-low 88 strikeouts. At the end of the season, she retired and returned to Poplar Point. Forty years later she died there, a victim of cancer.Although Little passed away before it appeared, her Rockford Peaches were memorialized in the 1992 hit movie ‘A League of Their Own’ starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Madonna.Olive Elizabeth Bend Little is buried in St. Anne’s Anglican Churchyard Cemetery. She was survived by her husband and two daughters. In 1998 all 64 Canadian women who played the AAGPBL were inducted into the country’s Baseball Hall of Fame.■Dale Brawn practiced law in Shoal Lake in the 1980s before entering graduate school, and is now teaching in the Department of Law and Justice at Laurentian University in Sudbury, ON. His father Charles is a resident of Brandon.RIVER HILLS RANCH LTD.COMPLETE COWHERD DISPERSAL Friday, Dec. 12Strathclair, MBon Ranch (4 miles north on Auction Mart Rd. 1-1/2 miles west) 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. * Beef on a Bun 12:30 p.m. • Sale TimeFEATURING 200 black cows 75 mixed cows reds, tans, whites, greys Alberta Remitall Purebred Black Angus Bulls, 2-4 years old 80% of herd have been raised from heifers, are 2-6 years old AGE VERIFIED! Full vaccination program Contact: Randy McIntyre (204) 365-2116 (204) 365-7024 www.riverhillsranchltd.comorStrathclair Auction Mart Ltd. (204) 365-5327 or (204) 365-0179DL1354
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Erickson South Mountain Press
Erickson, Manitoba, CA
Sat, Nov 22, 2008
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