Dottie Wiltse Collins
Dorothy Wiltse "Dottie" Collins (September 23, 1923 – August 12, 2008) was an American professional baseball pitcher for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1944 to 1948 and 1950. Collins played her rookie season (1944) for the Minneapolis Millerettes and spent the rest of her career with the Fort Wayne Daisies. Known as the "Strikeout Queen," she set multiple AAGPBL records throughout her career and led the league with her winning percentage, fielding percentage, and strikeouts. Collins helped form the All-American Girls Professional Baseball league Players Association in 1987 and held many different positions during her tenure with the association.
| Dorothy Wiltse Collins | |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | |
| Born: September 23, 1923 Inglewood, California | |
| Died: August 12, 2008 (aged 84) Fort Wayne, Indiana | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| AAGPBL debut | |
| 1944, for the Minneapolis Millerettes | |
| Last appearance | |
| 1950, for the Fort Wayne Daisies | |
| Career statistics | |
| Career Batting Average | 0.099 in six seasons |
| Lifetime Pitching Record | 117-76 |
| Lifetime ERA | 1.83 |
| Winning Percentage | 60.6% |
| Years Won 20 or More Games | 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947 |
| Career Strikeouts | 1,205 |
| Teams | |
| |
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) had over 500 women's baseball players from the years 1943 to 1954. With only a few exceptions, baseball games were played extremely similarly compared to the games Major League Baseball (MLB) players would play in. Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, started the League in 1943 because he thought fans would forget about baseball because of World War II. The League's seasons would go from May to about mid-September. The players were paid between $55 and $150 per week for a 125-game season, where they would play almost every day with many doubleheaders on the weekends.