Detroit evening times., 1943-09-17
pfaycTS arc m

- - women ball
~ :" IN - players arc N
town for the national champion
ships which start tonight and
run for four days, and those
explosions YOU hear Will be the
ladies losing their temperS. Be
cause, when they blow up, they
dctonaic.
We've Just been talking with
the pride of Detroit, Doris
knechtges. blond girl of lS
who pitches for the Bombcret-
ties, "A team that wallOped every
body else i'm the Detroit area
and carries Detroits hopes i'm
the national tournament.
The Bomberettes are SpOn-
sored by Local 80 of the JAW.
the Willow Run bomber plant
union. SOftball has taken "A
powerful grip on the war work
ers. The Briggs plant has ~
girls teams and. In the Detroit
area, there are around $500
softball teams, with "A generous
proportion of them women,
teams.
Ten ttFi ittssii7itt Z 4ett-f ftftt447ttt74t tt74t y
have her toughest game OF the
tournament al L. of -. Stadium.
The Bombcrcttcs viii meet Tho
toughest Clrls' team in the
country the JaN Maids from
New Orleans who Won the
worlds championship last year
The Jax Maids viii have Nina
Korgan pitching, a cool-headed
doll with a mean fast ball who,
in two worlds championships,
allowed only one nit.
II YOU expect Doris 10 be an
Amazon, you'll be- disappointed.
she's solid but by no means
musCle-bOund. \ few months
ago she WAS pretty heftY, she
Sdmits--She weighed 100. Be
Ing a girl Of average height, She
was pretty chunky at that
weight, but she has whitfield IL
down TO llS now. Not by diet
ing. just by working. She's been
handling "A riyeting gun. fasten-
ing the flooring together for
Curtiss-Wrights.
She has, however, bern a tom
boy.
II never liked dolls" she ad-
mits.
She does. however. use nail
polish, although she sticks To
the clear kind instead of red
enamel. CHer mother uses red
enamel, though. despite Pop
knechtges' remark that its
barn paint"
Doris likewise has big
preference for ~Iau k and
Jack,ts-thcy Dc handler N the
war factory Of course. and m
the baseball season Il don't
nave time 20 Get dressed mp
That ISN'T 20 say She doesn't
wear dresses. Mostly, its when
sine goes 10 "a dance
Other than that she cuts Hcr
han like "a man 20 keep % out
Of her eve, ln The baseball sea-
son. and shakes hands like a
man strong. vigorous and solid.
Doris sister. Marian. two
Wear, older, j., the opposite.
she, strictly feminine about
everything.
"Shc can't even catch "A ball
IL YOU throw II 10 her" Doris
SAYS i'm "A superior sort Of way.
However, Marian goes To the
games that Doris j. in. and roots
with the rest. Marian's married
and has "A baby.
But playing baseball doesn't
prevent romance. Doris has "A
young man whom SHE expects
10 marry IF hc comes back
from the war and most Of the
other baseball girls have boy
friends on husbands the short
stop on the Bombcrcttes is
Agnes Wcich who IS married
md h~- n 6-ycar-old son who is
The team mascot and batboy.
Admittedly. the girls have
hasty tempers and its not too
extraordinary 10 see team get
mad over something and throw
away game that il should
have won. Doris. as well as
most softball fans (they figure
that 10000 to $4,000 will see
the championship gamcs) have
seen iratc players haul off and
sock the umpire. And The girls
are credited with inVenting eN-
pletiveS not known even to men
in the major leagues.
And few (but none I'm De-
troiD even smoke pipes. Doris
has seen quite number at the
national tournaments.
The best of them though,
keep their tcmpvrS. N,na kor-
gan does, and so does Doris.
which helps account for her
pitching record this year so far.
N game Won, two lost, about
fvc\ or. six onc-hItterS and some
tWo-hitterS y
II Get along good with um-