Janet Rumsey

Who was Janet Rumsey?

Janet Jeree Rumsey was a pitcher who played from 1951 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 8 in, 135 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

An All-Star pitcher, Janet Rumsey was a member of two champion teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the final four years of its existence. She posted a 39–43 career record and a 2.33 earned run average in 105 pitching appearances, and has the distinction of hurling the last no-hitter in the league's history, while leading in several pitching categories in its last ever season.

Born in Moores Hill, Indiana, Janet was one of four children in the family of Lawrence L. and Mabel M. Rumsey. She was a 1949 graduate of Burney High School, and credited her father for introducing her into baseball. I used to play catch with my father. He'd hit fungoes to me, she explained in an interview. In school the girls did not have a softball team, but she was allowed to play on a boys' baseball team in junior high.

In 1950, Rumsey saw a short film on the Fort Wayne Daisies AAGPBL team and decided to send them a letter.