Alma Ziegler

Alma Ziegler (January 9, 1918 – May 30, 2005) was an infielder and pitcher who played from 1944 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Listed at 5ft 3in, 125 lb., Ziegler batted and threw right-handed.

Alma Ziegler was one of the best all-around players in the early years of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Noted for her enthusiastic, high-spirited personality and great knowledge of the game, Ziegler excelled at second base, where her range and acrobatic plays impressed baseball fanatics and experts.

In addition, she later developed as a leading overhand pitcher.

A member of three championship teams and three all-star squads, she spent 11 years in the circuit, being named to the Player of the Year and Pitching Champion awards in the same season.

Regarded as a disciplined hitter and a daring base runner, she posted a career 2.57 walk-to-strikeout ratio (641-to-249) and utilized her stunning speed to snatch 387 stolen bases.

As a pitcher, she had a 42–21 record for a .667 percentage and collected a solid 1.32 earned run average.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, the diminutive Ziegler was the daughter of Frank Ziegler and Mae (née Connal) Ziegler.

At a very early age, she played baseball in Chicago.

In the late 1930s, she joined the Goodrich Silvertown, a prestigious softball club sponsored by B. F. Goodrich Company, one of the largest tire and rubber manufacturers in the world.

In 1933 her family had to relocate to the Los Angeles, California, due to the economic depression.

Her father had been a linotype operator in Chicago, but went into different work after moving to California, while her mother was a housewife and an avid bridge player.

Ziegler had a brother, Frank, who was three years older than she.

At that time in California girls were not allowed to participate in interscholastic sports, except tennis.

As expected, Ziegler expressed disappointment over very little organized women's school sport in her new home, but she recalled that various girls athletic associations in the Los Angeles area provided compensation, as her hectic later teenage years involved memberships on several softball, basketball and speedball teams.

In 1939 she helped her team win another Southern California Championship.

By 1944 the AAGPBL added two teams, the Milwaukee Chicks and the Minneapolis Millerettes.

Ziegler attended a tryout for the AAGPBL arranged by scout Bill Allington, who would join the league for the upcoming season as manager of the Rockford team.

Ziegler was one of six girls from Los Angeles who traveled to Peru, Indiana for the tryout.

The girls passed the test and were rewarded with a contract to play in the league.

Ziegler joined the Chicks, along with Thelma Eisen, while Faye Dancer, Annabelle Lee, Lavonne Paire and Dorothy Wiltse were allocated to the Millerettes.

In 1944 Ziegler played second base for the debuting Milwaukee Chicks, a well balanced squad managed by Max Carey that counted with talented players as Josephine Kabick, Merle Keagle and Connie Wisniewski.

Ziegler hit a modest .191 average in 115 games, including 51 runs and 25 RBI, but she established as a flashy defender who made outstandings plays routinely.

The Chicks led the league in runs scored (492), batting average (.207), stolen bases (739) and tied for first in home runs (12).

The best offensive support came from Keagle, who hit .264 with 47 runs batted in, and led the AAGPBL hitters with seven home runs and 145 total bases.

The one-two pitching staff was led by Kabick, who posted a 26–19 record for a .578 winning percentage and topped the league in wins and innings pitched (366), while Wisniewski went 23–10 (.697) with a 2.23 earned run average.

The Chicks went 30–26 in the first half of the year, but dominated the second half (40–19) and had the best overall record (70–45).

They then went on to win the Championship Title, beating the Kenosha Comets in the postseason.

During the seven-game series Wisniewski went 4–1 with a 0.40 ERA in five complete games, including two shutouts, two one-run games and one two-run game, winning three of four matchups with Kenosha's Helen Nicol, who finished with a 17–11 mark (.607) and had led the league with a minuscule 0.93 ERA.

Although the Chicks won the championship, they had no local financial backing and could not compete with the American Association Milwaukee Brewers.

In fact, the Chicks were forced to play all seven games of the series at Kenosha's Lake Front Stadium because the Brewers were using the Borchert Field in Milwaukee.

In addition, the high ticket prices charged for AAGPBL games failed to encourage significant fan support.

Due to lack of community support and skepticism of journalists, the Chicks moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan prior to the 1945 season.

From 1945 to 1954 Ziegler played with the Grand Rapids Chicks.

Although originally nicknamed Gabby by her teammates, she eventually was called Ziggy by the Grand Rapids crowds.

Her leadership was indisputable since other Chicks players considered her playing style somewhat inspirational, which led her to be named captain of the team.

In 1945 the Chicks finished in third place (60–50) and lost the first round of the playoff to Rockford, three to one games.

The Chicks improved to second in 1946 (71–41), but were defeated again by Rockford in the first round, this time in five games.

Eventually, Grand Rapids fanatics honored Ziegler in an event named A Night for Ziggy.