The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) legend Jean Faut, who was the model for the film “A League of Their Own,” died on Tuesday at the age of 98.
During her career in the AAGPBL, Faut twice won Player of the Year and was chosen for four different All-Star teams. She is also the only pitcher in the league to have pitched two perfect games.
Faut participated in the AAGPBL for eight seasons, from 1946 to 1953. The league, which was established in 1943 to preserve baseball’s appeal while male players were enlisting in World War II, welcomed her during its fourth season.
When Faut was a member of the South Bend Blue Sox, the group won the league championship in 1951 and 1952.
Faut started out as a third baseman before switching to pitching. She played in 235 games, compiling a 140-64 record, a 1.23 ERA, and 913 strikeouts; as a result, she holds the record for the lowest career ERA in the AAGPBL.
No cause of death was revealed. Faut was born in East Greenville, Pennsylvania, on January 17, 1925.
While attempting to make the AAGPBL in Pascagoula, Mississippi, in the spring of 1946, she used to practice against the neighborhood semipro baseball team, the East Greenville Cubs. Her career as a professional baseball player had just begun.