RIP to Shirley Burkovich, who took a career in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and turned it into a lifelong passion to let girls and women play baseball. She died on March 31 at the age of 89. Burkovich played for the Muskegon Lassies (1949), Chicago Colleens (1950), Springfield Sallies (1950) and Rockford Peaches (1951).

Like many of the AAGPBL alumni, Burkovich gained a higher profile with the release of “A League of Their Own” in 1992. She used her platform to promote baseball for everyone. She was a founding director of the International Women’s Baseball Center and worked with many groups, including Baseball For All. She made appearances all around the country, keeping the memories of the AAGPBL alive and encouraging girls to play baseball. She remained busy for the rest of her life. Just days before her death, she was scheduled to appear at a IWBC event.

Shirley Burkovich was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., on February 4, 1933, and was raised in nearby Swissvale. In interviews, including this entertaining episode of the Hall of Very Good podcast, she said that she played baseball as far back as she could remember. As none of the other neighborhood girls played baseball, she spent her youth playing against boys. Her brother recommended that she go to a local tryout for the AAGPBL in the summer of 1948. Though she was just 16 years old, Burkovich was one of the standouts of the tryout, which was held at Renziehausen Park in McKeesport. Scout Shirley Jameson signed just one player, infielder Norma Whitney, but Burkovich was one of 15 other aspiring ballplayers who would be considered for spring training contracts in 1949. And that’s just what happened, except that Burkovich’s mother went down to spring training with her daughter, just to make sure everything was on the level.

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