AAGPBL Interview - Donna Stageman

Donna Stageman went to spring training and it looked like she made the league. She barnstormed with her team but tragically was cut just before the regular season started. She took the time to answer a few of our questions.

1) How did you get interested in playing baseball and where did you play before you turned pro?

I was always a tomboy and played every sport that came along from the time I was very young until now (I'm limited to golf). Organized games came with Rec Leagues in Billings and then we formed our own independent team traveling to where ever there was another girl's team to play. The State Softball Association also held a yearly tournament.

2) Describe your signing.

I read an article in Redbook Magazine in the spring of 1946 and sent for more information. The League sent me a form to fill out (batting average, etc.) which my Rec leader helped me fill out. I sent it in and they sent me back a contract to sign for $80 a week and a railroad ticket to Pascagaula, Mississippi. My mother and father wished me well, but were concerned about me going so far from home. I met two girls in Chicago from Canada and we changed trains to Mississippi. We were met in Mississippi by reporters who kidded the Canadian girls about where their snow sleds were.

3) What position(s) did you play? Which teams did you play for?

Most frequently I played shortstop and sometimes centerfield. The coaches in camp put me at shortstop because they didn't think my throw was long enough for center. I preferred shortstop so that was OK with me. I was assigned to the Peoria team and that was the only team I played with.

4) What was the best thing about playing pro ball?

The challenge. I really liked trying to do well at learning, playing and coaching. They even had us coaching bases and you wanted to be on the field.

5) What was the worst thing about playing ball?

The day they called me into the office and told me I had been released. It was cut time and all the other rosters were full. Many tears flowed.

6) What was the highlight of your career?

To find my name on the list of players who had been assigned to a team at the end of spring training.

7) Who were the best players you played with or faced? Comments?

We played exhibition games but if you were new you really hadn't learned all the big names. I've met a lot of them at the reunions but at camp it was kind of a big maze.

8) Do you think the fans and press accepted you more as the years wore on? (Describe how it was when you started. Did increased exposure change some minds?)

We had young girls come out on the field after a game to get our autographs and that was exciting. The press was always there at practice and when we went on exhibition tours.

9) Who were your favorite big league ballplayers during the era you played in?

I guess we were so busy playing ourselves that we weren't so aware of our favorites. That was why the league was formed, because the fellows were off to war. But the girls on the east and west coasts were much closer to the big leagues and they have tales to tell.

10) Do you follow big league ball now? If so, how do you think it compares with your day?

Yes. There have been constant changes for the men, which makes it hard to compare.

11) Should women have their own pro league, should they play in the majors, or should we have both (a women's league and the chance for the best women players to play in the majors?)

Women should have their own league. It should not be part of the men's league. Separate majors for men and women. It'd be a tremendous undertaking and the women would have to be responsible for the whole show.

12) How do you feel about the Silver Bullets?

I didn't see a whole lot of the Silver Bullets but there should be enough teams around that they didn't have to play against men's teams.

13) Briefly describe your life since your pro career ended.

I took the train back to Billings where I was met by my parents. Our independent team played a lot of softball for another six years and was elected to the Montana Softball Hall of Fame in August of 1999. After I graduated from college I taught elementary grades for 35 years during which time I was married to a Telephone Company man and had a son Ben and a daughter Susie. Today I have two grandsons Kyle and Kevin who are quite athletic. My husband has since passed away and I spend a lot of time at the cabin on the lake in the summer. At home I golf or spend time with the grandchildren. I feel very fortunate.

14) What advice do you have for young women who want to become pro ballplayers?

It's out there but you're going to have to develop it.

Penny Marshall's film "A League of Their Own" really jelled the scene for all of the former players who were brought together by planned reunions in the years after the film. At first they were held every five years, then two years and now every year. We're all getting so old and a lot are already gone. The reunions are a blast. I took my son and daughter and two grandsons last year to the one in Cooperstown. They really enjoyed themselves.

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