If Madonna and Geena Davis ever rubbed elbows with Ruth Richard, it might be the former two who would be a little star-struck.
Unlike the actresses in “A League of Their Own,” which gives a fictionalized account of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), Sellersville’s Richard was not just a real Rockford Peach, but a multiple All-Star and league champion to boot. Born in West Rockhill Township on Sept. 20, 1928 as one of three children to Oliver and Carrie Richard, Ruth was an excellent softball player and captain for Sell-Perk High School.
She graduated in 1946, the same year she attended an AAGPBL tryout in Allentown. The league, popularized in the 1992 film, was the brainchild of Chicago Cubs owner Philip Wrigley, who was adversely impacted by the exodus of major and minor league ballplayers to support the World War II effort.
Wrigley launched the then-softball league in 1943, but rule changes soon morphed the organization into a legitimate baseball entity. The Rockford Peaches – and the South Bend Blue Sox – were the only two franchises to have played all dozen years of the AAGPBL’s existence. The Midwest-centered league’s attendance peaked in 1948 when over 900,000 fans walked through the gates.
Franchises in mid-sized cities – the Rockfords, South Bends and Racines as opposed to the Minneapolises and Milwaukees – tended to thrive. “The smaller cities received extensive media support,” writes AAGPBL.org. “Like the men’s teams, all the games were reported with articles and box scores and sometimes the papers even ran photographs. In the large cities, the games were often not even mentioned or received negative publicity.” Smaller cities also had smaller parks, which let the fans become friendly with women on the roster.
Richard would make her name as a Rockford catcher, but in her 1947 rookie year, she was an outfielder for the Grand Rapids Chicks. A lefty batter, Richard won a league championship in her lone year with Grand Rapids, the first of four straight title-winning teams where she was on the roster. Her manager was Johnny Rawlings, a 12-year big league veteran who hit .333 in the New York Giants’ 1921 upset World Series win over the New York Yankees and Babe Ruth.
1948 found Richard with the Peaches, where they were impressed with her arm and made her a catcher. The Peaches had a .626 winning percentage over their next three seasons, and in each one they came home with the AAGPBL championship. In 1949, Richard was the regular catcher for Lois “Flash” Florreich, who claimed the league’s Top Pitcher honor that summer. In both 1949 and 1950, Rockford had the best record in the league’s regular season.
1950 was a meaningful year for Richard personally. It was her best year to date offensively, as she earned her second of six consecutive All-Star selections. She set career highs in average (.251), steals (12), doubles (11) and triples (six). Richard also got to meet then-Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Garcia as part of a Central and South American tour. 1950 was the first of three seasons where Richard was managed by Bill Allington, who would later feature in the Upper Bucks’ product career.
Her highest RBI total was the 60 she knocked in 99 games during the 1951 season. Richard also walked more than she struck out in her AAGPBL career.
Richard’s 1954 campaign, reunited with Rawlings, was her best statistically. She set career highs in average (.298), homers (seven) and steals (14) while striking out just five times in 325 at-bats.
But the shrinking fan base, imposition of televised major league baseball and the difficulty of finding talented women baseball players in a softball-heavy culture was writing on the wall. The league disbanded after the season.
Richard toured with Allington and a selected group of AAGPBL All-Stars from 1954 to 1957. They barnstormed against men’s semi-pro teams.
The Peach never married. She came back to Bucks County, lived in Quakertown and spent 26 years working for AMETEK/U.S. Gauge until her retirement in 1993. She was part of the Cooperstown’s 1988 celebration of the AAGPBL and is a member of the Pennridge-Quakertown Hall of Fame, Class of 1995. Richard also received awards from both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature.
She passed away on May 6, 2018 in Sellersville at the age of 89, and is interred in Ridge Valley Cemetery. But Richard’s legacy is secure. She not only played, but thrived, at a level of baseball that women never previously attained. “The league,” concludes AAGPBL.org, “represents one of the most unique aspects of our nation’s baseball history.”
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