Lois Barker

Who is Lois Barker?

Lois Anna Barker [״Tommie״] is a former utility who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1950 season. Listed at 5 ft 3 in, 130 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.

Born in Dover, New Jersey, Lois Barker was one of seven girls in a nine-sibling family. While growing up in Chester Borough, she used to watch her father coach baseball teams and her brother's career as an Olympic track athlete.

In an interview, Barker recalled catching batting practice for a local men's team when she was eight years old. She admitted to growing up "more boy than girl". The reason, she explained matter-of-factly, stems from the nickname she received as an infant – Tommie. In fact, her family thought she would be a boy and had a name all picked out, Thomas Henry. As she told the story, her brothers and sisters, when passing her crib, would exclaim, "There’s our Tommie!", and the name stuck.

Barker graduated from Roxbury High School, where she played softball, and started to play in organized leagues and tournaments in 1947 with the Chester Farmerettes, being able to play all positions except catcher. In one game, she turned an unassisted triple play while playing at shortstop. After making the league at tryouts held in Irvington, she signed a contract and went to the AAGPBL rookie camp in South Bend, Indiana.