caption bats birth_place team image_size position birth_date article_title name throws
marilyn jenkins.jpg 2012 september 9 february 2015 right grand rapids , michigan all-american girls professional baseball league 175px catcher 18 september 1934 marilyn jenkins
 marilyn jenkins right
marilyn jenkins

marilyn a. jenkins -lsb- ״ jenks ״ -rsb- -lrb- born september 18 , 1934 -rrb- is a former catcher who played in the all-american girls professional baseball league .
listed at , 140 lb. , she batted and threw right-handed .
the all-american girls professional baseball league , created by chicago cubs ' owner philip k. wrigley in anticipation of losing male players to the world war ii draft , gave a new name to the baseball game .
since its 1943 season opener , the circuit developed a select group of women that changed the ballgame forever between the 1940s and 1950s .
born in grand rapids , michigan , marilyn jenkins played for her hometown team grand rapids chicks during the last three seasons of the league .
in addition , she enjoyed one of the most pleasant experiences lived by any player in the league 's history .
jenkins was a modest but dedicated ballplayer who earned the responsibility of learning the game correctly at a very early age .
she started a long time relation of ten years with the chicks when she was 10 years old , and stayed with them until the league folded after the 1954 season .
marilyn was in grade school when she sneaked out of class to serve as a bat girl for her home team .
when she was 13 , the team allowed her to practice with them on the field .
she always used to arrive very early to the ballpark and quickly learned to catch a ball during batting practice .
when her father died in 1947 the chicks provided a strong support for her and her mother .
then , when the team won the champion title in that season she felt comforted and happy again .
four years later , she turned 17 and was ready to start playing with the team .
`` i learned a lot and idolized them , of course '' , she explained in an interview .
jenkins opened 1952 with the chicks , serving as a third-string catcher behind lavonne paire and mamie redman .
she hit a .133 batting average in just 18 games .
in her second year , she shared duties with redman after paire 's departure to the racine belles .
״ jenks ״ improved her average up to .207 in 69 games , while committing only eight errors in 292 fielding chances for a .972 mark .
in the 1954 season the league adopted new rules of play , making the game much like major league baseball .
the ball was reduced from 10 inches to 9 inches , while the pitching distance increased from 56 to 60 feet .
in her first at-bat of the season , jenkins smashed the new ball over the fence for the only home run of her career , which was cut short about halfway through the season due to health issues .
a .192 career hitter , jenkins also played in seven postseason games and was a member of the 1953 champion team , to achieve her childhood dreams of playing baseball for her hometown chicks .
a sure handed catcher , she received in 113 games and posted a fielding average of .960 -lrb- 17 errors in 426 chances -rrb- .
she earned an additional distinction for being the only grand rapids native playing on the team .
after baseball , jenkins fulfilled a wide variety of jobs .
she entered the healthcare field as a radiologic technologist , and years later offered paralegal services until 1980 , when started an estate sales business that she attended for the next two decades .
in her spare time she became an avid golfer .
since 1988 she is part of `` women in baseball '' , a permanent display based at the baseball hall of fame and museum in cooperstown , new york , which was unveiled to honor the entire all-american girls professional baseball league .
the ceremony received even more attention when the penny marshall 's film `` a league of their own '' , starring tom hanks , geena davis , madonna and rosie o'donnell , was released in 1992 .
to be cast in the film , actresses could not just look the part ; they had to have the baseball skills too , according to marshall .
in 2010 , jenkins was among other 50 aagpbl former players honored at comerica park before a detroit tigers ' game against the chicago white sox .
jenkins and her aagpbl pals also had a lunch cruise aboard the detroit princess riverboat , in addition to a banquet and players meeting .
`` it was a heck of a lot of fun '' , she said .
`` at the time , none of us really thought we were doing something out of the ordinary .
we just loved to play baseball . ''
at age , jenkins is still looking forward to catching up with some of her old friends and teammates .
`` it will be a great experience '' , she suggested .
`` we 're going to have a blast '' .
marilyn jenkins still resides in her home town of grand rapids .
