Evelyn Moroz: Women’s Baseball Pioneer Evelyn Wawryshyn Litwin Moroz is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, where a special exhibit honours the women pioneers of the sport. Evelyn played in the All American Girls’ Professional Baseball League, formed in 1943 by Chicago Cubs’ owner and chewing gum magnate Philip K. Wrigley. The softball organization evolved into baseball and fastball (fastpitch), thriving throughout the US until 1954. More than 500 women from Canada, the US, and Cuba played in the League, which had 10 teams at its peak. Evie at 2nd base
The movie A League of Their Own was based on the League—the film’s theme is the song the girls used to sing.
A teacher at the time, Evelyn was scouted for the League at age 21 in Winnipeg. Protocol was strict. The ladies had to have chaperones and feminine hairstyles and could not wear pants in public. In the early years, the players had to attend the League’s charm school, wear makeup and short dresses, and visit the beauty parlour. They earned between $40 and $100 a week playing daily games. Evelyn has fond memories of her sporting life. “Women were doing everything then,” she says. “The women were doing what the men did because Granny and my mother they had gone to war. I kept in touch with some of the girls. You make friends that last a lifetime.” Winnipeg is home to the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, established to honour Manitoba’s greatest athletes, sports figures, and teams. Evie is in there, too! Collector Alert: There is an Evelyn Moroz baseball card! Autographed baseball card
With my mother, sister Linda, and my wife Teresa at the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
BC Notaries Association
Statistics and batting averages
Volume 30, Number 3, Winter 2021
