Sylvia Wronski

Who was Sylvia Wronski?

Sylvia Wronski [Straka] was a pitcher who played for parts of two seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 2 in, 140 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

A member of the 1944 Milwaukee Chicks champion team, Sylvia Wronski played a solid role for them during her brief stint in the league. She was the dream of any manager, being a long reliever one day, volunteering to make an emergency start the next, or saving a game out the day after that.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sylvia was one of seven children into the family of John and Anna Wronski. She was reared in a working-class family marked by hard work for a modest income. Her father labored as a machinist, while her mother was a devoted homemaker. At an early age, Sylvia accustomed to play football with her three older brothers, taking the arms, legs and heads off her dolls, in order to use the body as a kickball. She attended grade school at St. Casimir and high school at Milwaukee Riverside, where she finally started playing organized softball for the school team before going on to play in local leagues.

In May 1944, Wronski attended an AAGPBL tryout held at Borchert Field in Milwaukee. She then went to the spring training in Peru, Illinois, and was chosen to pitch on her hometown team. After that, she was sent to the West Allis league for extended training and debuted with the Chicks in late June. Wronski joined Vivian Anderson on the team, making them the only two Milwaukee natives to play for their hometown Chicks.