Pauline Pirok

Who is Pauline Pirok?

Pauline Pirok [pier-ock] is a former infielder who played from 1943 through 1943 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 132 lb., Pirok batted and threw right-handed. She earned the nickname Pinky Pirok.

Chewing gum magnate and Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley decided, in 1942, to start a women's professional baseball league, concerned that the 1943 Major League Baseball season might be canceled because of World War II. Since the only organized ball for women in the country was softball, the league created a hybrid game which included both softball and baseball. Wrigley had scouts all over the United States, Canada and even Cuba signing girls for tryouts. About 500 girls attended the call. Of these, only 280 were invited to the final try-outs in Chicago, where 60 of them were chosen to become the first women to ever play professional baseball.

The players were placed on the rosters of four fifteen-player teams. Then, four non-Major League cities were selected that were in close proximity to the AAGPBL headquarters in Chicago and close to each other: Rockford of Illinois, South Bend of Indiana, and Racine and Kenosha of Wisconsin. Publicist Arthur Meyerhoff was given the responsibility of coordinating operations with city officials and civic leaders in communities, as well as a projected budget was developed. The first spring training of the new league was set for May 17, 1943, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Pauline Pirok survived the final cut to become one of the original players signed by the league.