Babe Didrikson Takes the Mound

March 21, 2009

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Profile America — Saturday, March 21st, noting Women’s History Month. Most sports fans know of Babe Didrikson as perhaps the greatest woman athlete of all time. But many may not be aware of an event which occurred 75 years ago today. She took to the mound and pitched one inning of a major league baseball exhibition game, wearing the uniform of the Philadelphia Athletics. Pitching against the Brooklyn Dodgers, she hit the first batter and walked the next. The third batter she faced hit into a triple play. Didrikson won three Olympic track and field medals, was an All- American basketball player and the dominant woman golfer of the 40s and 50s. Today, there are more than 250,000 professional athletes, coaches and umpires. Over one-third of them are women. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 179
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 596
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html