death_date death_place bats birth_place team image_size position birth_date image article_title name throws
25 november 1999 douglas , michigan , u.s. right decatur , illinois , u.s. all-american girls professional baseball league 200px left field / first base 20 march 1920 twila shively.jpg twila shively
 twila shively right
twila shively

twila shively -lsb- ″ twi ″ -rsb- -lrb- march 20 , 1920 -- november 25 , 1999 -rrb- was an american competitive baseball player .
an outfielder , she played from through in the all-american girls professional baseball league .
listed at , 128 lb. , she batted and threw right-handed .
twila shively spent five of her six years in the aagpbl playing in the left field .
a solid defensive player , she showed speed , good hands , an accurate throwing arm , and lived in a constant state of readiness .
routinely , she ranked among the top defensive outfielders in several categories , until a severe ankle injury limited her ability to perform , and had to switch to first base .
offensively , she made consistent contact , knew when to take the extra base , and excelled as a basestealer .
born in decatur , illinois , twila shively was the daughter of glenn and eva -lrb- née bryant -rrb- shively .
she began playing softball at age eight and moved up in the softball ranks in chicago as early as 1942 .
by then , she was featured in an article signed by carl guldager and published in the `` chicago daily news '' with this headline : `` she 's hedy lamarr of softball , twila shively looks like model , runs bases like ty cobb .
has baseball savvy plus pretty face '' .
in 1944 shively became a member of the rockola chicks team of the newly formed national girls baseball league .
the ngbl was organized in chicago to keep the best local players from migrating to the aagpbl , which had been stabilized in 1943 .
after that , both circuits competed against each other to see who could associate itself with the biggest stars .
shively entered the aagpbl in 1945 with the grand rapids chicks , playing for them three years before joining the chicago colleens -lrb- 1948 -rrb- and peoria redwings -lrb- 1948 -- 1950 -rrb- .
in her rookie year she formed part of a chicks outfield that included thelma eisen in the center field and elizabeth wicken at right field .
shively collected a .196 batting average and a .276 on-base percentage in 106 games , driving in 23 runs and scoring 42 times , while her 46 stolen bases ranked her fifth in the league .
she also led all outfielders with a .968 fielding percentage and finished second for the most putouts -lrb- 234 -rrb- behind fort wayne daisies ' penny o'brian -lrb- 236 -rrb- .
during the regular season she achieved a career highlight , when she belted a two-out , walk-off grand slam to give her team the victory .
her most productive season came in 1946 , when she posted career numbers in average -lrb- .247 -rrb- , runs scored -lrb- 78 -rrb- hits -lrb- 101 -rrb- , runs batted in -lrb- 45 -rrb- , steals -lrb- 45 -rrb- and games played -lrb- 111 -rrb- .
considering the year was great for many pitchers her numbers were quite respectable .
four no-hitters were recorded by anna mae hutchison -lrb- belles -rrb- , betty luna -lrb- blue sox -rrb- , carolyn morris -lrb- peaches -rrb- and amy irene applegren -lrb- lassies -rrb- , while connie wisniewski -lrb- chicks -rrb- and dorothy wiltse -lrb- daisies -rrb- topped the league in earned run average with 0.81 and 0.83 , respectively .
as a result , more than half of the circuit 's players averaged under .200 .
dorothy kamenshek -lrb- peaches -rrb- was the only hitter to reach the .300 mark -lrb- .316 -rrb- .
following her baseball career , shively graduated at illinois state normal and indiana university and worked as a physical education teacher at washington high school in south bend , indiana .
she also coached the school 's softball and volleyball teams to city championships , inspiring children for almost 30 years .
twila shively died in douglas , michigan on thanksgiving day , 1999 at the age of 79 , after suffering four years of alzheimer 's disease and a year-long fight with lung cancer .
she is part of the aagpbl permanent display at the baseball hall of fame and museum at cooperstown , new york , unveiled in 1988 , which is dedicated to the entire league rather than any individual personality .
