13 Best Female Baseball Players in the World

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The male players dominate the baseball game. However, there are the best female baseball players also.

Female baseball players have less fan following compared to males. Sadly, they also get to play fewer games compared to the males.

Female baseball player
Female Baseball Player (Source: pixabay.com)

But, this doesn’t mean that there are no female baseball players. On the contrary, there are some incredible female baseball players.

This list can be an entry point if you have always wanted to know about female baseball players.

13 Best Female Baseball Players in the World

The list is taken from sites such as sports browser, ranker, etc. Unfortunately, unlike men, very few places provide female baseball stats. So the stats might differ in some cases.

S.N. Name Position
13 Betty Whiting First Base/Catcher/Outfield
12 Betty Trezza Utility
11 Helen Callaghan Center Field
10 Dottie Schroeder Shortstop
9 Toni Stone Second Base
8 Sophie Kurys Second Base
7 Dorothy Kamenshek First Base
6 Julie Croteau First Base
5 Jean Faut Pitcher
4 Ila Borders Pitcher
3 Connie Wisniewski Pitcher/ Outfielder
2 Eri Yoshida Pitcher
1 Doris Sams Center Field/ Left Field/ Pitcher

13. Betty Whiting 

Betty Whiting played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Her career lasted from 1944 to 1952.

She mostly played as the First base, Outfielder, and Catcher. Over her career, she played for seven different teams.

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During her career, she made four playoff appearances. Apart from that, in 1946, she led the League in fielding percentage at first base.

As a result, she was included in the AAGPBL Permanent Display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1988.

12. Betty Trezza

Another best female baseball player of all time is Betty Trezza. She is regarded as one of the pioneers of female baseball.

The American female baseball player played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from the very start. Betty was a very versatile player.

Betty Trezza (Source: aagpbl)
Betty Trezza (Source: aagpbl)

In baseball terms, such players are called Utility. She could play every other role apart from catcher and Pitcher.

Her batting average was .173. Similarly, her on-base percentage was .256. Apart from that, her slugging average was .211.

Therefore, all the teams wanted to recruit her. She was part of two league-winning teams.

Her best season was in 2016. She helped her team, Racine Belles, win yet another title during the season.

11. Helen Callaghan 

Helen Callaghan is widely regarded as one of the best female baseball players. Callaghan (March 13th, 1923 – December 8th, 1992) played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1944 to 1949.

In 1944, she had the second-best batting average in the League. Later, in 1945 she improved her average.

In 1945, her batting average was .299. She dominated the League in batting.

Therefore, she was one of the best batters in the League. Due to her batting performance, she was also compared with Ted Williams.

However, her performance dropped after the 1946 season. The main reason could be her pregnancy.

Many female baseball players had to terminate their careers due to family commitments.

10. Dottie Schroeder 

Yet another American baseball player on this list is Dorothy Schroeder. She played in the League from 1943 to 1954.

Dottie made her debut in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League at the young age of 15. She played in the Shortstop position.

Dottie Schroeder
Dottie Schroeder (Source: Wikimedia.com)

In her career, she played 1249 games. During the period, she scored 571 runs. Similarly, she scored 42 home runs.

Apart from that, she stole 372 bases. Plus, her RBI was 431. So she has the highest number of RBIs.

Her stats show she is one of the best shortstops in the League’s history.

Three times All-Star Dorothy also leads in the number of walks. Apart from that, she is an all-time third in homer runs.

9. Toni Stone 

In the beginning, there was no professional baseball league for women. So, some women baseball players played for the male companies.

Tonis Stone played in the Negro league for different teams. Stone (Marcenia Lyle Stone) was the first woman to play in the Negro league.

Toni Stone made her debut for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1953. After that, she played for the Kansas City Monarchs.

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Although she played in the male team, she didn’t get the respect she deserved. The crowd was more focused on her gender than her skills.

Plus, she was never allowed to play in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She was also never allowed in the locker room.

To make things worse, she rarely got any playing time.

8. Sophie Kurys

The second base woman Sophie Kurys played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1943 to 1952. During that period, she won many awards and accolades.

The four-time All-Star Player is the all-time leader for runs scored in a single game. Also, she has achieved the highest number of runs in her career and season.

Sophie Kurys (Source: Wikipedia)
Sophie Kurys (Source: Wikipedia)

Similarly, she has stolen the highest number of bases. Apart from that, she had the highest stolen bases seven times.

In addition, she scored the highest number of runs six times. She also scored the highest number of walks, stolen bases, and runs in a single season.

Sophie Kurys achieved the feat in 1946. That’s why she is one of the best female baseball players.

7. Dorothy Kamenshek

Dorothy Kamenshek played as a first base in the baseball league. Apart from that, she also played as a pitcher sometimes.

She made her debut in 1943 for the team Rockford Peaches. She finally retired in 1953.

Seven-time All-Star Dorothy was also two times batting champion. She scored the highest runs in 1946 and 1947.

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Apart from that, she is also the all-time leader in hits and total bases. She was such an accomplished player that a men’s baseball wanted to recruit her.

However, she declined the offer. In the latter part of Kamenshek’s career, she suffered from injuries.

Ultimately, she had to retire due to severe back injuries. Her career batting average was .292.

6. Julie Croteau

Julie Croteau is credited as the first female baseball player to play in the men’s League. There are only two women to play a Major league baseball season. 

Croteau is one of the two women to play in MLB. She has loved playing baseball since her childhood.

She even sued her high school for her right to play on the boy’s team in her school years. Eventually, she lost the battle in court.

Julie Croteau (Source: Alchetron)
Julie Croteau (Source: Alchetron)

Later, in college, she played on the men’s team. But, her experience in the boy’s team was not very good.

She was part of the Women’s World Cup of Baseball winning team. Julie worked as the third base coach of the group.

5. Jean Faut

Another best female baseball player is Jean Faut. Jean played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1946 to 1953.

Jean won the Player of the Year award two times. Four-time All-Star Jean also won the Triple Crown Pitching two times.

Similarly, she is the season leader in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average three times. Plus, she is a single-season leader in shoutouts.

She also achieved two perfect games along with two no-hitters games. Therefore, she is one of the best female pitchers in baseball history.

She has the lowest career earned run average (ERA) for any pitcher in female baseball. This alone shows her skills.

4. Ila Borders

Another best female baseball player is Ila Borders. Ila played as a pitcher for numerous teams.

In her career, she has achieved numerous accolades. She was the first female Pitcher to start and win men’s baseball games.

Ila Border
Ila Border (Source: IMDB)

During her career, she played for four different teams. The first team she played for was the St. Paul Saints.

Her first game for the St. Paul Saints was not satisfactory. But, later, she improved her performance.

She became the first female Pitcher in her second season to be a starting pitcher. However, in her later seasons, her performance started to drop.

3. Connie Wisniewski

The third best female baseball player is Connie Wisniewski. She played as a Pitcher and Outfielder.

Connie played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1944 to 1952. During that period, she played for two different teams.

Wisniewski won the Player of the Year award in 1945. The four-time All-Star team made eight playoff appearances.

Apart from that, she was a two-time single-season leader in earned run average in 1945-46. She was also the single-season leader regarding wins, home runs, and total bases.

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Connie is among the few pitchers with more than 100 victories in AAGPBL’s history. Apart from that, she also leads in the best winning percentage.

Additionally, she has the third-best batting average and second-highest RBI. Even her batting average is high.

She has the fifth-best batting average.

2. Eri Yoshida

The only foreign Player on our list of 13 best female baseball players is Eri Yoshida. She has played in both Japan and USA.

Eri Yoshida is a pitcher. She was drafted by the Japanese men’s team when she was 16.

 Eri Yoshida
Eri Yoshida (Source: Staten Island Advance)

Yoshida became famous after pitching on the high school team. After that, she was offered a contract to play in the men’s local unit.

In 2009, she played in the Arizona Winter League. Apart from that, she also trained in the Boston Red Sox’s minor league training camps.

After joining Chicago Outlaws, she became the first female professional baseball player since Ila Borders. She is the first female baseball player to play in two countries.

1. Doris Sams

The best female baseball player of all time is Doris Sams. She played in the Girls Professional Baseball League from 1946 to 1953.

Doris played in Centerfield, left field, and Pitcher. Over her career, she received numerous accolades. In her career, she played for two teams.

Doris Sams
Doris Sams (Source: Facebook)

Doris won the Player of the Year two times. The All-Star Doris Sams had a perfect game and no-hitter in 1947 and 1948, respectively.

Similarly, she was the leader for single-season batting average in 1949 and home runs in 1952. She has the eighth-highest batting average of all time.

Doris’s batting average was .290. She hit 22 home runs in her career. Plus, she had an RBI of 286.

Apart from that, Doris’s Earned run average was 2.16. Therefore, she is considered one of the best players in AAGPBL.

Conclusion

Do you agree with our list? Who is your favorite female baseball player?

Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah is an engineer and content writer passionate about sports and athletics. With a background in engineering and a love for all things active, Sanjib brings a unique perspective to the world of sports writing. Whether he is covering the latest trends in sports technology or sharing tips on improving your game, Sanjib's words are always rooted in a deep appreciation for players' hard work and dedication everywhere. In his free time, you can find him hitting the courts or hitting the trails, always looking for new ways to challenge himself and improve his skills.

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