Jaynne Bittner

Who is Jaynne Bittner?

Jaynne Barrier Bittner [JB] is a former starting pitcher who played from 1948 through 1954 for four different teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 9 in, 140 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.

A native of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Bittner had to go a long way before becoming a consistent pitcher. Relying on a blazing fastball and a three-speed, hard slider, she improved with time and aged into an excellent hurler during her seven seasons in the league.

Bittner was a top all-around athlete in high school. She won the tennis championship three years in a row, held the table tennis crown for two years and was the leading scorer on the basketball team. An AAGPBL scout signed her after seeing her basketball prowess, thinking that she had athletic abilities, endurance and fitness necessary to play baseball. She attended to a league tryout in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and later was sent to the 1948 spring training to be held in Cuba. She had no baseball position, but the league was desperate for overhand pitchers, so she seemed like a good pitching prospect.