Joanne Weaver

Joanne "Joltin' Jo" Weaver (December 19, 1935 – March 19, 2000) was a right fielder who played from 1951 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Listed at 5ft 11in, 142 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

One of the most talented hitters in AAGPBL history, Joanne Weaver was the youngest of three sisters to play for the Fort Wayne Daisies in the final years of the league.

Weaver often outdid her renowned sister, Betty, as a power hitter, winning three consecutive batting titles and setting several all-time records.

Weaver also hit a league-leading .429, which remains the highest professional baseball batting average posted in the 20th century.

The Fort Wayne Daisies advanced to the best-of-five game Championship Series.

Previously in the playoffs, the Kalamazoo Lassies dispatched the South Bend Blue Sox in three games and Fort Wayne did the same with the Grand Rapids Chicks.

In Game 1 of the AAGPBL Series, the Kalamazoo Lassies defeated the Fort Wayne Daisies 17–9 behind a four-hit, seven strong innings from June Peppas, who also helped herself by hitting 2-for-4, including one home run.

Her teammates Carol Habben and Fern Shollenberger also slugged one each, while Chris Ballingall added a grand slam.

Katie Horstman connected two home runs for the Daisies in a lost cause and Joanne Weaver slugged one.

Pitching star Maxine Kline, who had posted an 18–7 record with a 3.23 ERA during the regular season, gave up 11 runs in six innings and was credited with the loss.

In Game 3, the Daisies won the Lassies, 8–7, fueled again by a heavy hitting by Joanne Weaver, who hit a double, a triple and a three-run home run in five at bats, driving in four runs.

Peppas went 1-for-4 to spark a seventh inning three-run rally, but Fort Wayne came back in the bottom of the inning with two two runs that marked the difference.

Cordes relieved with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, but did not allow any damage for the remainder of the game.

In other close score, the Lassies evened the Series in Game 4 with a victory over the Daisies, 6–5.

Cordes started again with her team against the wall, 2-to-1.

This time properly warmed up, she hurled a complete game, allowing five runs on nine hits.

In 1950, Betty rejected a contract offer from the Chicago White Sox minor league system and opted to sign with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Betty was allocated to the Fort Wayne Daisies and her sisters joined her on the team a year later.

Meanwhile, her sister Betty won batting titles in back-to-back seasons in 1950 and 1951, helping Fort Wayne to make the playoffs in these years.

Weaver's performance exploded in her second season.

Joanne Weaver debuted at third base with the Daisies in the 1951 season.

She hit .276 in 53 games, showing a smooth, quick swing with good speed and above average base running instincts.

Her fielding was the only skill lacking.

At this point, the Weaver-Foss duet led the AAGPBL in most major offensive categories between 1952 and 1954.

After moving to right field in 1952, she led all hitters with a .344 average, surpassing her sister Betty (.331), who led five offensive categories and earned the Player of the Year Award, while Joanne did not rank high in any other category.

Both sisters were selected for the All-Star Team and helped Fort Wayne advance to the playoffs.

Weaver improved her fielding considerably in 1953, when she finished the year with a .952 average.

Her hitting stayed about the same, which was good enough to win another batting title with a .346 average, ending second to Betty in total bases (187) and hits (142, two behind).

Joanne also finished third in runs (79), stolen bases (70), and runs batted in (76).

Fort Wayne added another playoff trip, and she made the All-Star Team again.

A three-time All-Star, Weaver earned Player of the Year honors in 1954, when she hit a .429 average to set an AAGPBL single-season record.

Besides this, her .429 mark was the highest Professional American Baseball batting average collected by any player in a single season in a minimum of 300 at-bat appearances.

A native of Metropolis, Illinois, Joanne Weaver was the daughter of minor league pitcher Lloyd Weaver and Elsie (Dummeier) Weaver.

At the age of 11, she began playing softball with her sisters Betty and Jean.

Their father tried to get them to play on a local boys' baseball team, with little success, until he managed to insert them into the Magnavox team of the Chicago industrial league, a successful fastpitch softball squad in which they finally started to play regularly.

During the 1954 midseason the AAGPBL reduced the ball from 10.00 inches to the major league size, around 9.00 inches.

The league also extended pitching distance from 56 feet to 60 feet and base paths from 75 feet to 85 feet.

As a result, Joanne earned the Player of the Year Award and made the All-Star Team for the third consecutive year after setting season-records with 29 home runs and 254 total bases, while leading the league in hits (143), runs (109) and stolen bases (79).

She finished second in doubles (16) and triples (4), and joined Eleanor Callow as the only players in the league's history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases during a regular season.