Still got it: real A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN ballplayers beat a Syracuse team
"A League of Their Own" comes to Blu-ray for the first time on October 16, and to promote the release Sony arranged for a reunion of real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League veterans to play in an "Old Timers" game in Syracuse, New York. The women, who played baseball when the men went to war nearly 70 years ago, held on to beat a local restaurant team, Wings over Syracuse, by a score of 15 to 14. Here's the report from Sony publicity:
The game was part of a reunion weekend of the AAGPBL— the real "A League of Their Own ball players—who were celebrating the formation of their League nearly 70 years ago as well as the 20th anniversary of the movie which Sony is debuting on Blu-ray October 16.
Jeneane Lesko, an original member of the Grand Rapids Chicks, served as co-captain for the AAGPBLers and played first base, with backup provided by Katie (“Horsey”) Horstman, former pitcher for the Fort Wayne Daisies. Lesko went 1 for 2 and Horstman (above left) had a perfect day—2 for 2 with a double to left center.
Mary Moore, the original second baseman for AAGPBL’s Battle Creek Belles, was busy in right center with three putouts and one assist as well as taking her turn at bat.
The movie’s actors, Megan Cavanagh (who played “Marla Hooch”) and Patti Pelton (“Marbleann Wilkenson”) attended the weekend events and festivities. Mary (“Prattie”) Pratt, originally a pitcher for the Rockford Peaches, visited with Cavanagh (below). “Hooch” played for the Peaches in the movie.
"A League of Their Own" is based on the true story of the pioneering women who, in 1943, blazed the trail, both on the field and off, for generations of athletes to follow, including this year’s female Olympians whose Olympic medal count is the highest ever for women.
"[Director] Penny Marshall put us on the map. If it weren’t for the movie nobody would have known we existed,” said Betsy Jochum, 91, an outfielder/pitcher for the South Bend Blue Sox from 1943 to 1948.
Friday, AAGPBL members took a private tour of the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown, where they visited their own memorabilia, much of which is stored in the basement but was brought up for them to enjoy.
