Shirley Burkovich, former Rockford Peaches player and ‘fierce advocate’ for women’s sports, dies at 89
She was not on the list.
ROCKFORD — Shirley Burkovich, a trailblazing former Rockford
Peaches player from the original All-American Girls Professional Baseball
League, died on Thursday at age 89.
The Swissvale, Pennsylvania, native played in the league
from 1949 to 1951 with four different teams: the Muskegon Lassies, Chicago
Colleens, Springfield Sallies and Rockford Peaches.
She died Thursday at her home in Rancho Mirage, California,
according to the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players
Association
During her playing days she earned the nickname “Hustle” for
her boundless energy on the field, and she filled in at every position except
catcher.
Her energy and passion for the sport stayed with her later
in life as she became a relentless advocate for girls and women’s baseball,
traveling extensively to promote, educate and train a new generation of
players, according to the players association.
“Shirley Burkovich was a huge role model for many
generations of players and continued to show her support for international
women’s baseball right until the very end,” Women’s Baseball UK wrote on
Facebook. “Thank you and goodnight Hustle.”
Burkovich was also the founding director of the
International Women’s Baseball Center. The center’s future museum campus will
be built on the grounds of Beyer Park, where the Peaches once played.
“We are heartbroken and devastated to share the sad news of
our friend, Shirley Burkovich, passing away today,” the International Women’s
Baseball Center wrote on Facebook. “… as countless people around the world
know, she was a fierce advocate of women and girls in sports and one of the
loveliest, kindest people you could ever hope to call your friend.”
Burkovich, who started playing in the league at age 16,
collected a .229 batting average and a .325 on-base percentage in 37 games,
according to stats on Wikipedia. After her time in baseball, she worked for
Pacific Bell Telephone for about 30 years and retired in 1983.
She also had an appearance in the 1992 Penny Marshall film
“A League of Their Own,” the movie that immortalized the Rockford Peaches on
the silver screen. She played the role of the older version of the superstitious
Alice “Skeeter” Gaspers. She also had movie appearances in “Throw Like a Girl”
and “The Sweet Spot: A Treasury of Baseball Stories,” according to IMDB. She
appeared in the movie with stars such as Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna, Lori
Petty, Bill Pullman, Jon Lovitz, Rosie O'Donnell, Garry Marshall, David
Strathairn and Téa Leoni.
She made several appearances in Rockford promoting the
sport, including attending Baseball for All national tournaments held at Beyer
Stadium.
“Since 2015, she has attended every (Baseball for All
Nationals) and always brought with her a kindness, a quiet wit, and an
unceasing passion to give more opportunities for girls in the game,” Baseball
for All wrote on Facebook. “She was a beloved member of our baseball family and
has had a tremendous impact on our community.”
Burkovich played three years in the All-American Girls
Professional Baseball League. The last year was 1951. That year she was a
Rockford Peach. One thing she remembered the most about that time was the crowd
support for the team.
“Oh, I would say Rockford had the best fan base that I can
remember. They were so supportive.”
She also remembered fondly Peaches’ manager Bill Allington.
“I learned more in that one year with Bill Allington about
baseball. The first thing Bill Allington did was give me a rule book and he
said, ‘Read it’. That’s the way Bill was. You better know those rules.
Burkovich was a fan of the movie A League of Their Own. She
said for the most part it’s an accurate depiction of what the league was like.
“I thought Penny Marshall did an excellent job of portraying
the way it was as far as telling the story, the bus rides, the camaraderie of
the girls that was all true.”
Burkovich wasn’t a star. She had a career batting average of
.229, but she was versatile. She played every position except catcher. Her
biggest contributions came later in life when she traveled around the country
making appearances, promoting women’s and girls’ baseball, and helping to keep
the memory of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League alive. She
made several appearances in Rockford.
