NWL1 Eugene Emeralds

Lois Youngen Plays Ball Like a Girl, and She's Proud of It

July 31, 2019 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


Simply put, there are few former athletes who have as interesting a life's story as Lois Youngen. A current resident of Eugene, Youngen spent four years (1951-54) playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), the now-infamous all-women's baseball league that was idolized in the 1992 film A League of Their Own.

The AAGPBL got its start in the midst of World War II as the country shifted almost overnight following the tragic events of Pearl Harbor. All over the country, men age 18 and older were being drafted into the armed services or devoting their talents to other endeavors that supplemented the war effort.

With many big-time baseball players leaving their Major League gigs to fight in the war and gas rationing making it more const-prohibitive to travel, baseball owners and operators around the country were left with a conundrum: how can we fill stadiums and generate revenue with so many ballplayers venturing overseas?

That is where Philip K. Wrigley came in, chewing-gum mogul and then-owner of the Chicago Cubs. Wrigley amassed a group to come up with ideas of how to solve the perceived impending collapse of pro baseball in America. The result was the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League which began play in 1943.

Growing up in a small town in Ohio, Youngen was initially unaware of the AAGPB as a kid, but she certainly wasn't shy about her passion for baseball. Even at a young age, she could often be found out playing ball with the neighborhood boys. "When you play with the boys, they say you can either catch or play right field," says Youngen. "Well, if you're 9 or 10 years old, you know damned well that if you're playing in right field then you're no good," she laughs, "and I wanted to be in on the action! So, I said I'll catch, and I learned how to catch."

In 1950, at the age of 16, Youngen trekked to Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit a cousin of hers. Fort Wayne was home to an AAGPBL team, the Daisies, prompting Youngen's cousin to ask if she had any interest in attending a game during her stay. "Well, that was a no-brainer. Yes!" Youngen recalled. "I'm sitting there and I'm 16 years old and we're watching the game - Fort Wayne had quite good attendance in those years - and I'm sitting there and I have no idea who won the game or even played, all I did was I turned to my cousin and said, 'You know, I can do that,' just like that, right out of the blue. That surprised even me because I don't think the majority of women in that generation were terribly aggressive and I surprised myself by saying that."

The next day, after a phone call from her cousin to the Daisies, Youngen was trying out for Hall of Famer Max Carey, then the manager of the Fort Wayne Daisies. "I had a tryout with Max, and he put me through the paces for about an hour," says Youngen. "After the tryout, he looked at me and said, 'we'll be in touch,' and that I should expect to hear from him in January. Mind you, this was maybe July at the time, so after the tryout I went home to finish my junior year and start my senior year. Around January 3rd or 4th, I got an invitation to come to spring training in Alexandria, Virginia."

Despite still being in high school, Youngen was able to coordinate attending spring training with her school's senior trip, which coincidentally happened to be to Washington D.C. Once her classmates departed Washington to enjoy a few free days in New York, Youngen crossed the river and headed to Alexandria where she would vie to make the AAGPBL.

Still, though, spring training required that she miss an additional three weeks of school, something that wasn't easy to coordinate. "I jumped through all the hoops that they could possibly put in front of me," she says. "I had one teacher that I had to send homework back to and I promised religiously that I would do that. Everybody else said, 'Go with our blessing, and make the team.' Even the fellow I was going to senior prom with said, 'make sure you're back here for our senior prom.'"

And so, her professional baseball career began. Over the next four years, Youngen would suit up for the Fort Wayne Daises (1951, 1952, 1954), the Kenosha Comets (1951) and the South Bend Blue Sox (1953, 1954). As each year went on, Youngen garnered more playing time and saw more success, with the self-proclaimed highlight of her career coming at the end of the 1953 season when she caught a perfect game from Jean Faut.

Though the league disbanded following the 1954 season, Youngen's career in athletics was only just beginning. After obtaining her graduate degree from Michigan State, Youngen found herself in Eugene, Oregon working alongside Bill Bowerman, the renown former track & field coach and co-founder of Nike. Together, the two taught a number of classes together, and for a brief period Youngen oversaw the women's track & field and tennis teams.

In the 1990s, Youngen became the first Director of Physical Activities and Recreation Services (PARS) before ultimately retiring in 1996 after 36 years with the University of Oregon.

Today, Youngen is still active in the local Eugene/Springfield community as well as nationwide at AAGPBL events. Most recently, Youngen participated at the 2019 MLB All-Star Game festivities in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Eugene Emeralds celebrate Lois Youngen on August 2 with a specially-designed bobblehead, presented by Kendall Toyota, that will be available to the first 1,000 fans that enter through the home plate gates with a valid game ticket. To learn more visit EmeraldsBaseball.com.

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