Connie Wisniewski

Connie Wisniewski was originally an infielder before becoming an ace pitcher around the Detroit city softball circuit as a teenager. She was 22 years old when she tried out for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) and was assigned to the Milwaukee Chicks. The Chicks won the 1944 league championship as Wisniewski went 23-10, but did not succeed in drawing fans and were forced to relocate. They found Grand Rapids, and Wisniewski cemented her stardom.

In 1945, Wisniewski pitched the entirety of a doubleheader against the Racine Belles, winning both games; for this feat, she was nicknamed the “Iron Woman.” She finished the season with a 32-11 record and a 0.81 ERA in a record-setting 391 innings and was named the AAGPBL Player of the Year. In 1946, the Iron Woman went 33-9 with a 0.96 ERA in 366 innings pitched, twirling 40 complete games. This was the first year that AAGPBL held an All-Star Game; naturally, Wisniewski made the first of four All-Star Teams.

Wisniewski won 16 more games in 1947, posting a 2.15 ERA in 264 innings, but the AAGPBL was advancing in a direction away from her softball-forged windmilling mechanics. When the league turned fully away from underhand pitching, Wisniewski suffered a shoulder injury. Her pitching career was over, but not her AAGPBL dominance. She moved to the outfield for Grand Rapids in 1948 and promptly led the league in home runs and total bases, finishing second in runs batted in and third in batting average.

After another successful season in 1949, Wisniewski jumped to the National Girls Baseball League in 1950 to resume underhand pitching. She won 30 games for the Admiral Music Maids while playing both pitcher and outfielder – but then returned to the AAGPBL at season’s end, playing for the Grand Rapids Chicks in 1951 and 1952 before retiring.

Connie Wisniewski passed away in 1995, her legacy intact as one of the nation’s greatest women’s baseball players ever and her pitching record, 107-48, .690, standing alone as the top winning percentage in AAGPBL history.