Joanne Ogden

Late start

Jo wasn’t all that young when she started playing professional baseball. However, she had been playing softball since the age of 10 and loved hardball. In fact, whenever she could, she played ball with the boys. She was 20 years old when she got the position of second base for the South Bend Blue Sox. She learned about the AAGPBL recruiting from an article she read in her local Rochester newspaper. Thereafter she contacted the South Bend Blue Sox and was given a tryout almost immediately.

When Jo was accepted for the team, she did already have some experience. She had been playing softball in an independent league for the Van Grafflins TNT’s and in a tri-city league. She got time off from her job at Eastman Kodak for the tryouts and got in. Jo described the Blue Sox as “a super team.”

Playing in the league

One of her best moments playing in the league was the game she participated in against the Fort Wayne Daisies, the first time she was put behind one of the best pitchers in the league, Jean Faut. To her, this was both nerve-wracking and exciting. The next game was Fort Wayne coming to South Bend, during which time she “hit four for four, a perfect night at the plate.”

Jo had a lot of respect for the high caliber of play of the league. She remembers one time being on third base, running for home when the bat cracked. The ball then skipped through the infield to the centerfielder who scooped it up and threw it perfectly to Jo at home plate. She describes it all as “such a great experience.”

Player camaraderie

Jo recalls a great sense of camaraderie during her days playing for the league. She recalls Mrs. Wagoner – Betty Wagoner’s mom – chaperoning her, as well as rooming with Mary Fronig. But even with all that, she regrets not having had the guts to approach one of her idols – Dottie Schoreder – to get an autograph.

Life after baseball

Joanne only spent a year with the league since in 1954 she was offered the position of assistant counselor for New York University at Rockport. It was an offer she couldn’t refuse. Still, her college career was spent almost as a celebrity due to her time with the league. After she graduated, she became a teacher for Health, Physical Education, and Science to grades eight through twelve. She worked in this field for three decades.