Kammie on First: Baseball's Dottie Kamenshek

by Michelle Houts

Overview

Dorothy Mary Kamenshek was born to immigrant parents in Norwood, Ohio. As a young girl, she played pickup games of sandlot baseball with neighborhood children; no one, however, would have suspected that at the age of seventeen she would become a star athlete at the national level.

The outbreak of World War II and the ensuing draft of able-bodied young men severely depleted the ranks of professional baseball players. In 1943, Philip K. Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, led the initiative to establish a new league—a women’s league—to fill the ballparks while the war ground on in Europe and the Pacific. Kamenshek was selected and assigned to the Rockford Peaches in their inaugural season and played first base for a total of ten years, becoming a seven-time All-Star and holder of two league batting titles. When injuries finally put an end to her playing days, she went on to a successful and much quieter career in physical therapy. Fame came again in 1992, when Geena Davis portrayed a player loosely based on Kamenshek in the hit movie A League of Their Own.

Kammie on First is a real-life tale that will entertain and inspire young readers, both girls and boys. It is the first book in a new series, Biographies for Young Readers, from Ohio University Press.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821421307
Publisher:	Ohio University Press
Publication date:	10/15/2014
Series:	Biographies for Young Readers
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	148
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	9 - 13 Years

About the Author

Michelle Houts holds degrees in special education and speech-language pathology. She is the author of several fiction and nonfiction books for young readers, including the award-winning The Beef Princess of Practical County,The Practical County Drama Queen, and Winterfrost.

Table of Contents

Author's Notes vii

Acknowledgments xi

Regulation Game

1st Inning: May 1943, Wrigley Field 1

2nd Inning: The Making of an All-American 7

3rd Inning: The League Launches 17

4th Inning: Charmed 30

5th Inning: Let's Play Ball 36

6th Inning: All-Americans Travel All Over the Americas 48

7th Inning: The Finest Player in the League 56

7th Inning Stretch: Life After Baseball 70

8th Inning: Fame Came Twice 75

9th Inning: Will There Ever Be Another Kammie? 84

Postgame: A Victory Celebration 89

Extra Innings

Kammie's Timeline 95

Glossary 99

Notes 103

Bibliography 107

Editorial Reviews

“Girls who love sports or baseball will appreciate this biography of Dorothy Kamenshek, a Cincinnati native famous for playing first base in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. … [It] This book allows fans to discover her true story and visualize it through interesting sidebars and historical photographs.”—The Toledo Blade


“[Kammie was] the fanciest-fielding first baseman I've ever seen, man or woman.”—Wally Pipp, former New York Yankee first baseman


“This is a truly engaging account of the life and times of an exceptional woman athlete and the league which provided her the opportunity to play professional baseball—a dream held by many young girl softball and baseball enthusiasts, past and present.”—Merrie A. Fidler, author of The Origins and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League


“When readers think back on sports news from 2014 and remember 13-year-old female pitcher Mo’ne Davis at the Little League Baseball World Series games, they will be pleased to come across this biography of a key female athlete…. This solid title could be used for reports and will fill a gap in biography collections.”—School Library Journal


“The very readable main text is supplemented with many sidebars on topics such as Kammie’s stats and the league’s contributions to the war effort. A solid choice for sports-minded girls and fans of the movie A League of Their Own.”—Booklist

From the Publisher

11/01/2014
Gr 3–5—When readers think back on sports news from 2014 and remember 13-year-old female pitcher Mo'ne Davis at the Little League Baseball World Series games, they will be pleased to come across this biography of a key female athlete. The daughter of Hungarian and Romanian immigrant parents, Dorothy "Kammie" Kamenshek—whom Geena Davis portrayed in the 1992 film A League of Their Own—played first base in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, established by Chicago Cubs owner Philip Wrigley during World War II, when male players were away fighting. These young women encountered challenges while living away from home, but they earned a salary that helped their families during difficult times. Readers will be able to relate to the athletes, who in addition to making the grade on the field also had to take beauty tips (charm school was mandated), curfews, and chaperones in stride. The succinct, clearly delineated narration is interrupted by page-long asides, such as a discussion about the popularity of the name Dorothy during the 1940s, and sentences punctuated with exclamation points. Informative photographs depict Kamenshek and other players on and off the field. This solid title could be used for reports and will fill a gap in biography collections.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA

School Library Journal