1943 All-American Girls Softball League

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The 1943 season of the All-American Girls Softball League was the first season of the league.

Standings

Italics indicates half champion, Bold indicates the Shaughnessy Series champion

First Half

Rank	Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
1	Racine Belles	35	20	15	0.571	-.-
2	South Bend Blue Sox	37	21	16	0.568	0.0
3	Kenosha Comets	35	16	19	0.457	4.0
4	Rockford Peaches	37	15	22	0.405	6.0

Second Half

Rank	Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
1	Kenosha Comets	54	33	21	0.611	-.-
2	South Bend Blue Sox	54	30	24	0.556	3.0
3	Racine Belles	48	25	23	0.521	5.0
4	Rockford Peaches	54	20	34	0.370	12.5

Overall

Rank	Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB	Manager
1	South Bend Blue Sox	91	51	40	0.560	-.-	Bert Niehoff
2	Kenosha Comets	89	49	40	0.551	1.0	Josh Billings
3	Racine Belles	83	45	38	0.542	1.5	Johnny Gottselig
4	Rockford Peaches	91	35	56	0.385	15.0	Eddie Stumpf

Leaders

Bold indicates league record

Statistic	Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average	Terrie Davis	Rockford Peaches	.332
Home Runs	Eleanor Dapkus	Racine Belles	10
Runs Batted In	Eleanor Callow	Rockford Peaches	69
Stolen Bases	Shirley Jameson	Kenosha Comets	126
Wins	Helen Fox	Kenosha Comets	31-8
Earned Run Average	Helen Fox	Kenosha Comets	1.81
Strikeouts	Helen Fox	Kenosha Comets	220

All-Star Game

The league's first All-Star Game was played on July 1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL. The Wisconsin All-Stars, featuring players from the Racine Belles and Kenosha Comets, defeated the Illinois-Indiana All-Stars, comprised of players from the Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox, by a score of 16-0. It was the first night game at the stadium, predating the Major League Baseball debut of nightime baseball at "The Friendly Confines" by forty-five years.

The league played three more All-Star Games in 1952, 1953, and 1954.

Postseason

The split-season championship playoff was a best-of-five series in which the Racine Belles (first half winners) defeated the Kenosha Comets (second half winners), 3 games to none.

Further Reading

• Merrie A. Fidler and Jim Nitz: "July 1, 1943: All-American Girls play first game under the lights at Wrigley Field," SABR Baseball Games Project.